|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| Pools, ponds, and plants |
I hope I am not dwelling too long on the practical aspects of waterlilies.
I would want you to consider that, with the possible exception
of their wonderful therapeutic value and the satisfying outlet they
provide for artistic expression, water-lilies have no practical use whatsoever.
They are a sheer, out-and-out luxury, existing solely and completely for whatever pleasure their beauty and fragrance may give you.
Types of Water-Lilies
There are only two basic types of water-lilies, hardy and tropical.
They are cousins, so to speak, but nobody so far has been able to crossbreed them.
Hardy water-lilies are, for the most part, perennials which propagate
themselves without any help from the gardener. Once planted and left
undisturbed, even though ice covers the pool in winter, they will burst
into new life from the original root each spring for several years.
Hardy lilies, some no larger than the face of a pocket watch, some a
foot or more in diameter, come in many tints and shades of every color
except blue. Some of them float upon the water among their round,
smooth-edged leaves. Others, reaching for the sun, stand above the water. Many are fragrant.
The "hardies" open their flowers to the sun in the forenoon and stay
open until late afternoon. They begin blooming in May in most parts of
the United States and continue until frost.
"Tropicals" might be called annuals, for they are so handled by most
casual water gardeners. They differ in many ways from the hardies.
They require more pool space because they grow bigger in both blossoms and leaves, which are frequently scalloped or frilled along the
edge. They must be planted outside a bit later than the hardies, but
they grow rapidly and their blooms open by midsummer and continue
to appear long past the time when September frosts put the hardies to
sleep for the winter.
Tropicals come in many shades and tints, including blues and purples, but there are few yellows. Yellow is comparatively rare in any type
of water-lily. Tropicals bear their blossoms on stiff, strong stems which
carry most of the blooms well above the surface of a pool.
Day Bloomers, Night Bloomers
Tropical water-lilies are of two kinds-day bloomers and night bloomers. Day bloomers open their flowers, like the hardy lilies, in the
forenoon, closing them in the late afternoon. Practically every dayblooming tropical has a fine fragrance.
The night-blooming tropicals open their blooms around 6 to 7 o'clock
in the evening and close them about 11 o'clock the following morning.
In dull weather, particularly in the East, they will stay open all day.
This blooming pattern, which enables even the busiest commuter to see
them at their best twice a day, has caused them to be called "the businessman's flower." Only a few of the night-blooming tropicals are
fragrant.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
