THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
251 
seed; in fact, they seed themselves as freely as the petu¬ 
nia, although, to secure good bulbs, they should receive 
liberal culture, with which they will flower freely the sec¬ 
ond year from seed. Sow the seed in the same manner 
as for an onion crop, take up the bulbs and store the 
same as those of gladioli, and plant out the following 
spring. This is a better plan than to leave the bulbs in 
the ground, as the soil can be much better worked. 
* 
* * 
Oxalis.—We have no better house plants than many 
of the oxalis when properly grown. Prominent in this 
class is O. cernua, or 0. lutea as it is not unfrequently 
called. The bulbs of this species, which we receive from 
the Dutch bulb growers, are usually quite small, and fail 
to produce flowers as freely as do those of our home¬ 
grown bulbs. The former are not, as a rule, larger than 
small peas, while the latter are as large as filberts. Half 
a dozen of these large bulbs will fill a large hanging- 
basket, and make a beautiful subject for the bay-window 
or any sunny situation. There are but few plants that 
will thrive in the heated temperature of the room near the 
ceiling. This oxalis delights in just such a place. Plant 
the bulbs in a light, rich soil, one inch below the surface, 
about the first of October, and by the first of December 
the hanging-basket will be a mass of bloom, and will 
remain so for several months. Water liberally, as the 
plants suffer from drought. 
* 
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Bouvardias as Window Plants.—The following useful 
information- with regard to bouvardias we fully endorse : 
Mrs J. D., of Morgan County, Ill., writes to an exchange : 
“ I have grown bouvardias for fifteen years and had 
them blooming abundantly long before I knew the name 
of the flower. My practice then was to sink the pots 
on the north side of the house in summer, where they 
bloomed constantly, and then they, were wintered in a 
west window where they bloomed most of the time. In 
April of 1883, I had eight varieties sent me by mail. 
They began to flower in June and continued to bloom in 
partial shade until October, when they were placed in a 
bay-window with an eastern exposure, and bloomed until 
a bitter night, when they were frozen dead. The double¬ 
flowering variety, Alfred Neuner, was the most florifer- 
ous. A friend of mine, with a single plant, reports that 
it is constantly in flower, winter and summer. She picks 
off the dead flowers and fresh ones fill their places. 
Next summer I shall not allow them to flower so con¬ 
stantly, and hope by this method to secure a more steady 
and abundant bloom.” 
* 
Grant’s Face in Flowers.—“ About a hundred feet 
from the Drexel fountain in South Park,” says the Chicago 
Tribune, “ stands a large canvas tent. The front of it 
opens to the driveway, and every vehicle that passes stops 
and the occupants devote considerable time to gazing into 
the tent. The attraction is a large picture of General 
Grant made of foliage plants. So good is the likeness 
that no one who had ever seen the maa or his picture 
would fail to recognize it instantly. The picture is about 
five by six feet, and stands upon an easel of draped tim¬ 
bers decorated with palm branches, which produce the 
effect of plumes. The frame is made of heavy planking, 
and the plants are growing and thriving on the two inches 
of soil contained in the back of the frame. The back¬ 
ground of the picture is composed of Sedum acre, some¬ 
times called ‘ stone-crop,’ which produces the effect of a 
solid neutral tint, and looks at close range like moss. 
The face is made up of hundreds of small rosette-looking 
plants, with solid wax-like leaves. The botanical name is 
Echeveria secunda glauca. The eyes are composed of 
sempervivum. The eyeballs are small cacti. The neck¬ 
tie is Echeveria rosea and the vest Echeveria compact a. 
The coat lapels are Echeveria lanceolata. The several 
varieties of the echeveria differ in shade, size and effect. 
There are about one thousand plants in the picture. The 
whole is nearly on a level, except that the forehead and 
nose are slightly raised. The plants, in those parts of the 
face where the effect of shading is necessary, are artifi¬ 
cially darkened. The collar, necktie, coat and all the de¬ 
tails of the bust, however, are clearly and nicely shown by 
t’he natural difference in the shading of the plants. The 
effect at twenty-five feet is surprisingly good, and is that 
of a well-executed mosaic.” 
Dicentra eximia.—We have nothing in our collection 
of hardy plants that gives us more pleasure than our long 
rows and masses of Dicentra eximia. Its beautiful 
fern-like glaucous foliage gives our borders a cool, re¬ 
freshing appearance, which is enlivened by clusters of 
pink-purple flowers, that are produced through the sum¬ 
mer and fall; in fact, it is an ever-blooming plant. 
Both in foliage and flower this plant is very different in 
its habits from Dicentra spectabilis, that is now in the 
“ sere and yellow leaf.” There is one fact, however, not 
generally known in regard to this old favorite—if it is 
cut back as soon, as its flowers are developed, a new 
growth will be stimulated and the plant will flower freely 
again in September. 
* 
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Rural Life versus Character.—At a recent convention 
of the Central Illinois Horticultural Society, Mrs. H. R. 
Dunlap read an admirable paper upon the “ Influence of 
Rural Life upon Character,” from which we quote: 
“ Rural life is the nursery of virtue and genius. Fewer 
temptations to sin against our moral nature are met than 
elsewere. It is a life of comparative quiet and time for 
thought and reflection. For the majority of mankind the 
country is the great school of morality; it is the place for 
the development of' generous impulses, pure hearts, and 
fair dealings, but the bane of hypocrisy, deceit and jea¬ 
lousy. It encourages independence of thought and action, 
as well as habits of observation and experiment. ... If 
more rural husbands would spend a small portion of their 
valuable time in helping to plan, arrange and make con¬ 
venient the house and its surroundings, our rural wives 
and mothers would have more time not only for their 
own improvement, but for training and rearing their chil¬ 
dren.” 
