GROWING WATER LILIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 143, 19 June 1941, Page 13

GROWING WATER LILIES

Water-lilies do best when grown in still water or where there is not too much current. Where a pond is available or where one can be formed, the depth should not be less than two feet, to allow the leaves and flowers to float gracefully on the surface. In forming a pond the design should be as informal as possible, with the objject of giving it a natural appearance. The lily roots burrow into and thrive on the silt and mud at the bottom. The pond may be lined with cement, but the upper part will look better if some rough stones are worked into the cement, hiding the formality. If a few aquatic and marsh plants are set on the banks and in the water they will help in the same way. If the lilies can be placed in position i before the pond is filled with water it greatly simplifies the operation. The roots should be covered with some good loam and decayed manure and a circle of stones or bricks placedround each plant to keep it in position. To ensure the roots not getting disturbed when the water is let in a few flat stones may be placed on top of them, leaving the crowns of the plants clear. When the lilies have to go into a pool or stream already full of water the way to plant them is to put them into baskets filled with soil and drop the baskets into the desired position. The baskets should be fairly large but need not be elaborate or strongly made, for they will soon decay, leaving the lilies to root into the mud or natural soil. If there is any fear of the lilies floating away or the, soil being washed away the baskets' can be covered with a piece of scrim

and the growth brought through a hole in the top.

The plants should not be crowded or the foliage and flowers will rise in heaps instead of gracefully floating on the surface of the water. With the smaller varieties a space of from one and a half to' two feet between the roots is sufficient; the large kinds should be at least three feet apart,

Cultivation consists merely of seeing that the lilies have plenty of water and agitating it now and then to prevent it getting stagnant. Adding fresh water now and then will help to keep it in fit condition. A few gold fish or a few newts will do much to keep the water fresh; also they will see that it is not made a breeding place for mosquitoes.

Water-lilies may well be introduced into a garden even where no pond or stream is available. Though naturally the leaves and flowers are best displayed on a fairly broad sheet of water, excellent effects can be obtained ,by growing the lilies in half-barrels slink in a lawn or in suitable spots in the rock garden.

It is, of course, necessary to have the adequate depth, as the roots being confined a greater quantity of soil must be supplied. This should be at least a foot deep with an equal depth of water over it.

The lilies should be planted before the water is added.

With this method of growing the water is much more likely to become stagnant, and this must be avoided by changing part of the water occasionally. A little charcoal will also help to keep the water sweet. There must always be an adequate supply of water, especially in the summer.