Of Bowii she thus writes: "A year ago last October I planted a bulb of Oxalis Bowii in a small bed. The bulb was so very small that I did not believe the flowers could amount to much, but was soon most agreeably disappointed. Such a mass of flowers on one small plant I had never seen before, and such large, bright-colored flowers! Many stopped to admire it, and ask its name. It continued to produce a mass of flowers the entire winter and part of the spring, until the sun became very hot. From this one bulb I obtained eight, which I wrapped in paper and kept in a dry place. About the first of August they commenced growing, and so I planted them, and the first of September they were in full bloom, though the flower grew large as the days became less hot, until they were nearly as large as Petunias. The soil in which they grew was mostly sand and rich surface earth from the woods, and I sometimes watered them with weak soap-suds."
Mr. Vick, to whom we are indebted for the most of our information on this subject, says that this variety has large, thick, fleshy leaves, and large, bright, rose-colored flowers, the largest, indeed, of any of the cultivated kinds.
In his illustrated article he gives an engraving of one named Cernuus plena, the flowers of which resemble double Portulacas; erect, borne in clusters. We regret that he gives no reference to this variety whatever. It must be a rare sort, probably not in the market here.
"CONSIDER THE LILIES."
THUS spake one wiser than Solomon, even He whose hand created and beautified the Lilies with a glory surpassing that of the greatest of Israel's kings.
This department of the Floral kingdom is too vast for us to explore; we can only make a selection of a few of the numerous varieties for consideration, gathering our information from the various sources at hand, and adapting it to our present use.