Peter Bisset - The water gardening idea book : how to build, plant, & maintain ponds, fountains, and basins

HARDY NYMPHAEAS AND NELUMBIUMS

Copyright 1924 Peter Bisset
Copyright 2015 by Skyhorse Publishing

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Laura Shaw

Print ISBN: 978-1-62914-718-5
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220-181-2

Printed in China

AN AMATEURS WATER GARDEN

Preface

T HERE is no more fascinating pursuit connected with horticulture, none that gives greater pleasure and enjoyment to the owner, than the cultivation of a water garden. This is brought about from various reasons, chief among which is the important part played by water in all well-ordered landscape effects; secondly, the wealth and diversity of color, the great range of beauty, the interesting historical associations of many of the water plants employed, and their unique manner of floweringfor some varieties there are that unfold their untold loveliness when kissed by the first rays of the morning sun; others, again, like fairy craft, anchored in a miniature moonlit sea, disclose their gorgeousness and glory to the Queen of Night, and hold sweet communion with the silent stars. Then, too, there is the attractiveness which the plants necessary to the embellishment of the environments of a water garden present.

While the charm of running streams, lakes, and ponds in the landscape has ever been patent to all Nature lovers, it is only of late years that the intrinsic worth of the water garden proper and its lovely denizens, both vegetable and finny, as part of the adornment of public parks and home grounds, has become fully appreciated.

A little over three-fourths of a century ago the only plant of importance found in greater or less expanses of water, in most landscape designs, was the Richardia alba, popularly known as the Calla or Lily of the Nile, immense specimens of which are recorded. The beautiful native pondlilies, floating peacefully, silently, on the surface of pond or pool, their gorgeous blooms sparkling in the summer sun, had always been admired; collections of waterlilies had been gotten together by botanical institutions, but as yet their decorative value in garden work had not been fully realized.

We read that in England, in 1849, when the aquatic greenhouse was built at Chatsworth for the sole purpose of growing Victoria regia, Nymphaeas, and other water plants, it was regarded as a new departure in ornamental gardening. It was nearly thirty years later when the capabilities of waterlilies in garden work began to receive deserved attention in the United States, the seeming neglect of or indifference to them here being accounted for by the fact that the varieties then available were not of such color and character to appeal to the general public, being mostly tender kinds, needing special care and facilities possessed by but few growers. There was, of course, a fair number of varieties of the hardy white Nymphaeas, but it was not until the discovery of the pink sport of Nymphaea odorata on Cape Cod, and the introduction of Nymphaea alba rosea from Lake Fayer, Sweden, a few years afterward, that interest in these plants in America was quickened.

Perhaps the greatest impetus given to water gardening, both at home and abroad, resulted about the year 1887, when M. Marliac, a French specialist, introduced his magnificent hardy varieties, many of them still unsurpassed in shades of yellow, pink and red.

Since that time the enthusiasm in water gardening everywhere has kept on increasing. Hybridizers have been bringing forth new and improved varieties, both hardy and tender, of resplendent colors and graceful forms, and today there is hardly a garden of any pretensions without its waterlily pool or basin, quietly nestling amid its appropriate surroundings. Our park superintendents now fully recognize the attraction which the waterlily pond possesses for the general public, and are catering to this admirable popular taste by the installation of water gardens in these breathing spots of the people.

But it is not alone to the gardens of the wealthy, nor to the public parks, that the cultivation of waterlilies is confined. These plants are grown and admired by hundreds throughout the land to whom the art of gardening in its every phase forcibly appealsa taste that is ever increasing with the growth of our population and which, above all others, reflects the refined character of our people. And it is a branch of gardening that comes well within the limits of the purse of the masses, the necessary first outlay for the full enjoyment of waterlily cultivation being practically nominal.

The volume now offered contains a record of the authors practical experience with this class of charming plants, extending over a period of over thirty years. It is a heart to heart talk, devoid of literary pretension, with those of kindred tastes to my own, and it is intended to form a working vade mecum which may lead to a better knowledge and a more complete understanding of everything connected with the cultivation of a race of garden subjects which, for beauty and grace, comprehensiveness of colors, and historical associations, to me, stands unrivaled in all Floras realm.

The preparation of the illustrations contained in this volume, the great majority of which have been made by the author direct from the material obtainable in the water garden under his personal supervision, has been a labor of love for some years, and it is his trust that they will add to the interest of the book and prove an incitement to its readers.

For the preparation of the manuscript for the printer I am indebted to The Florists Exchange of New York.

I also desire to acknowledge the many valuable suggestions made and helpful aid otherwise rendered by A. T. De La Mare, president of the publishing firm, distributors of the work.

My earnest desire is that my interested readers, who follow the advice herein contained, will reap the great pleasure in this healthful branch of gardening practice that has been mine these many years.

PETER BISSET

Washington, D. C., November 1, 1924