Sweet Flower Is Surely at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

Navelwort (Omphalodes linifolia)or more properly Venus' navel-wort (wort is an Old English word for plant), is aptly named. For this sweet flower is surely as charming as the goddess' navel. Individual flowers look like large white forget-me-nots. They bloom in long sprays on gray-green stems and make excellent cut flowers. The inspiration for this plant's common name becomes apparent as seeds develop, four to a flower: They look decidedly like tiny navels. Plants prefer a moist, shady spot, especially in front of a wall. In the plan shown on page 19 they are protected by the tithonia. They grow about a foot high and are hardy annuals.

There need be no question in your mind about the market for good flower photography. One of the big slide film distributors has found flower fanciers the most consistent buy ers of all among slide collectors, even though the pictures offered are strictly of specimen flowers. These cannot possibly have the same appeal as pictures of flowers grown by the buyer in his own soil. The only flower fancier who is not an eager prospect for pictures of his blooms is one who has never seen a color slide transparency of a beautiful flower projected. A close-up of a lovely flower on a screen is a sight to make anyone, flower lover or not, gasp at its beauty.

The Victoria waterlily (Victoria amazonica) was discovered in 1837 in British Guiana. Seeds packed in wet clay and flowers preserved in alcohol were brought back to England in 1846. The first flower appeared in 1849 and was presented to Queen Victoria. She must have loved it. Blossoms are 16 inches across and have a pleasant smell of sweet pineapple. Petals appear as white on the first day, turning to rose early on the second morning, then rapidly change to red, finally dying some 48 hours later as crimson. Each flower is surrounded in the water by leaves 5 to 6 feet in diameter, with edges turned up and so buoyant from air-filled veins beneath, they will usually support a child's weight—and have been known to float 200 pounds.