Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Blooms, almost November, or other garden pretties?, 2 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
Dianna--

First--the above picture id from 2008. It does not bloom like this every year.
The problem is that--by cutting all the stems back--I also cut off all the growing tips
which are where the blooms form. So--I seldom get a big bloom flush--but some.

ALL my plants are taken outside for the summer (minding light requirements)
except my African Violets.
The Begonia sits on my front steps which face sort of North.
I keep it to the back--so it never gets any sun--maybe a smidgen of AM sun.
It seems to thrive in this location.
This summer it shot up several tall canes. Looked kind of sprawled...
I may still cut back some of the taller stems--even if it IS inside already.

It lives in a 14" pot. About every 3 years, when I am cutting it back, I also
un-pot it--remove the older. so-so roots, and then pot it back into the same pot
with the better roots and fresh soil--with some time-release fertilizer in it.
That is ALL the fertilizer it ever gets!

When I cut it back--I only keep the cut off ends to root and share.
Two to 3 cuttings in a 6" pot makes a nice plant.
I cut out the canes part and get rid of them leaving good lengths
of base stems behind to re-grow. Works like a charm every year.

1--Here is how big it grew this year--this was taken in August--it got bigger yet.
You may see some small blooms on the lower section...
2--Here it is in my guest bedroom on the floor by one of the beds. There is
"some" light from a window available. It will drop most of its leaves by spring
and have only bare canes with top growth. The other big plant is my Braz. Plume.
3--This shows you how beautiful the blooms are. This was taken in Aug. 2006.
4--This shows about how it will look when spring comes. Nothing between the
tops and the base except baare canes. You can see where the cuttings
will be taken. This pic. is from March, 2011.

Hope this gives you some confidence to put plants outside.... Gita