Tropicals & Tender Perennials: A few new Begonias, 1 by hcmcdole

hcmcdole wrote:
Yay, Laurie. Bonfire/boliviensis is a great addition. I cannot believe how much growth it has put on in a few weeks. You will love it. (Watch out for the begonia police though).

RainGazer, not sure what you mean by proper etiquette to change the cultivar name. Are you talking about the seller? There are so many mistakes on the web and by growers (HD sells a lot of rexes as serratipetala for example), that I don't know why the hybridizers even bother naming them. Some ID's are unmistakeable but others are so similar to other named varieities that it is hard to tell the difference even for judges. I bought a few begonias at last year's convention that weren't labeled and even one of the judges wasn't sure exactly what they were.

Here are some black begonias. Going in a clockwise direction, 'Joe Hayden' is on the top, 'Black Velvet' on the right, 'Mo Reese', and 'Bashful Bandit'. 'Black Coffee' is in the center.