Look what I found today!

Blossom, beware the signs of begonia addiction..... 1. Planning your next begonia shopping trip. 2. Buying every variety you find. 3. No more surfaces to grow on so you get extra shelving units so you have room. 4. Wondering how you'll get them all back in the house next fall.... When you start knowing all their names, you know you've had it.

Sounds like someone is an addict by knowing all the signs. Glad I'm not - just like them a lot and can't live without them.

LOL, good one :)

Well, here they are looking sad and puny, but they do have some new growth! YAY!

Guess they just needed to go dormant for a spell. Just a little tidying up and maybe they wil see spring and outdoors!

Now after seeing them go from leaves, to leafless and back again, it makes me game to try again!

Yeah... hooked on rex!

3jsmom, I already display number 1 and 2 on your list but soon to get to 3 and 4... It's not quite like the 10 steps of a loss.

Blossom, here's a pic of mine that had gorgeous leaves which subsequently dropped and now they are reborn like the phoenix...

Good thing I forgot about them and they sprouted cuz I was really gonna toss them!



I best go water my houseplants!





(......mumble, mumble, extracting boot from rear portion of body from when I was at the nursery and they had unteen kinds of new lovely rex on display a few weeks ago... grumble mumble...





NOTE TO SELF....DONT DO THAT AGAIN! Dont walk out without getting another when the opportunity arrises! OH Lordy and they were sooo gorgy!



OUCH!!


Pass me the baby oil and a hanky plez!)



WHAAAH!

Wait a minute, blossom. I thought you were crying. What's the oil for, sounds more kinky.

Well, Hc,, did you get some pics of the show??? Your begonias?? I didn't get to go.. But next year,,,,,

LMAO, your making my tail hurt.

Well, glue that thang back on and quit messng yer keyboard! Its either the Farmacy for you or the nursery. I can tell your a begonia addict!

EF,

I went the last hour of the show last night and got a few pictures. If you've been to one of the shows, then you've been to them all. I haven't downloaded the pictures yet so not sure how they will come out. Personally I think the dead of winter is the wrong time to have a flower show and certainly isn't a great time to show begonias. The light is always dim at these venues too but it doesn't matter where you are - every convention I've been to always has dim light (for pictures). Anyway I entered seven begonias and got some 3rd place and honorable mentions. Some that won I'd be hard pressed to give an explanation why they won but it doesn't matter - I enter them to help get people interested in the darn things.

Here is one I entered - Plum Gorgeous and I don't think it won a thing.

Well, I agree and wonder why they have a winter show for the SE. You would think they would hold it in May or June. That's a good question to ask the sponsers... I am guessing that most judges don't have a clue about specific plants!! Anyway, I love that Plum Gorgeous.. It is "just gorgeous" I have started some cuttings in perlite/seed start mixture. Will see how they do. Need to go read some more.. lol

Pink Diamonds is my guess on the begonia I posted.
Thanks,
Elaine

Elaine,

The Flower Show has always been in the winter (usually Feb) but it makes you wonder why they do this nonetheless. March or April would be a lot better but they didn't ask me (or the millions of potential customers). The admission price is too high too - $18. I did pay $14 since it was the twilight hours (after 6 PM I think).

I used to want to see every detail when I went years ago but it got old after a number of shows - maybe the design changed a little bit but it is always the same old thing. After I went in 2004 and was shocked at the rudeness of one of the vendors from FL and the scarcity of plants to buy (I paid the most I ever have for one begonia - $30) I swore to my wife I would never go again. So in '05 we went to Miami's begonia show and sale and loved every minute of it. I got my arm twisted into entering some plants in '07 and won some 1st and 2nd place awards then. Last year I helped pass but did not enter any plants so I didn't even go to the show.

Here is one of the first place winners. I'm not sure if it should be first place but it was unique being grown in a windowsill box and did have a couple of large leaves. B. carolineifolia.

I'm having a bit of a problem learning a new OS. We bought new laptops yesterday so Windows 7 takes some getting used to.

Our big flower show is in Feb too-- usually the last weekend. It doesn't make sense at all--except maybe it is a slow time for vendors? Ours is an eclectic (generic)mix--no plant societies except the Iris society and they just bring literature--no plants. When Arkansas had a cactus & succulent club-- we sat up a booth there and made tons of money-- but no new members-- the real purpose of the booth. The club eventually disbanded for lack of new people. I digress-- I will make the annual pilgrimage again this year--weather permitting. it IS nice to get a dose of spring in the middle of winter. I would never enter a plant tho--usually too cold between here and Little Rock. It sure would be nice if there were a begonia vendor there!!!

We have several different horticulture classes but I don't remember them all. I know they had an orchid display, cactus and succulent, ivy (what?), bulbs, camellias, cut flowers, and a few others. I don't mean to disparage the show - it has gotten a lot smaller over the years (probably because it is the same old thing and the economic downturn) and is also more expensive.

Some of the pro exhibits are very, very nice but you would probably need at least $50,000 to have them install something similar at your home where they lay stone, create waterworks, put in decks, masses of trees and shrubs, etc. Nice to look at but kind of impractical unless you are mega rich.

The vendors also seem a bit high. Probably because once you are inside they have you as a captive audience. I used to like buying plants at the show but now I look through the vendors hurriedly but haven't bought a thing at the last two shows I've gone to.

Now I prefer to spend money at the begonia conventions - (tours, plants, transporation, and hotel) but we get to see real gardens outdoors in warm weather and get a chance to buy begonias rarely seen in the general public (well at least we are the first chance buyers - some begonias then become mainstream in a year or two).

B. U475 at Doris Happel's home (co-chair of last year's convention in West Palm Beach).

hc, now that first place begonia is ok, but not quite the kind I like. Love the one from West Palm.
Need to check on those begonia shows.... And I agree on the prices for the shows. Think someone needs to figure out that the economy is in a real slump..

I guess the reason they keep the prices so high is they figure that for the few folks that do show up will help defray costs but I wonder if they lowered the price to say $5 if they might actually make more money.

I like the big rhizome and the two big leaves of the B. carolineifolia but I'm not sure if it should be first place either.

I have the same U475 which looks almost as big as Doris' begonia. The reasons I did not enter it is I started some Caravan leaves in the same pot and the pot is bigger than it should be. This is one thirsty plant.

Here is mine back in September: (valida and U578 are there too)

Hey Butch,
I notice a lot of your outdoor shots are taken in a woodland setting. Do you have any deer or other pest problem munching on your begonias?

The deer have never bothered my begonias but hostas are another matter. We have a five foot fence which doesn't keep deer out but keeps our two dogs in but they only go out for a few hours during the day.

Rabbits enjoy the sunflowers but I haven't seen any pest damage except the occasional caterpillar damage. I get more damage from falling debris from the trees with pine needles doing the most damage. Last year our dogs got into a play fight and knocked over my best pot of Plum Gorgeous and broke each and every big leaf - I was P.O.'ed.

Anyone know what this one is? The leaves are 2 to 3 inches across but have markings of bowerae.

Butch-- try Milorganite on your Hostas--as a deer repellant--it works pretty good! Also awesome for daylilies--another deer favorite

Thanks Hillbilly,

I will look into that this spring. I only have two hostas in the fenced in backyard and no problems so far. The other 20 or so are hidden in among some shrubs next to the house and I plan on digging those as soon as they come up. Loropetalum has grown a lot bigger and faster than I care for so when I say hidden, I mean hidden.

When we moved here a few years ago I brought 3 hostas with me and lost them all due to deer. I just got into daylilies again so I have not seen any damage (yet).

I really don't have a problem with deer--but only because I have 2 basset hounds that keep them away-- my good friend who lives in a remote area same as we do--has no dogs and and up until I convinced her to finally try Milorganite--could not keep hostas or daylily buds. She swears by it now-- a bonus--daylilies absolutely LOVE it-- in fact it was at our winter flower show 3 years ago that a daylily vendor out of florida told us about it--

cute critter-- baby rat snake?

This message was edited Feb 9, 2010 11:19 AM

I raise thousands of daylilies in the heart of deer country and the deer leave my daylilies alone. Cant say the eat my hostas either, but then the gardens are fenced, but not like that keeps them out. Worst nibblers are ducks and geese here.

is this a miami storm,if it is my died as well.i'm trying to pics of my begonias on here but not having much luck.

From what I can tell it may be strawberry begonia (not a true begonia).

If you are on a PC you should be able to right mouse click on your thumbnail and do a rotate clockwise or counter clockwise to get the picture in the right orientation.

The other thing to do is make sure your subject is in focus and your shutter speed is fast enough to get a fairly sharp picture.

Well, my rexes came back from the near dead! They went thru PM. I sprayed them, then cut all the leaves back and set them aside. I forgot about them and was actually goign to through them out. All four of mine now have brand new leaves.

I need ot put them in larger pots. Will probably have to get some special soil for them? The stuff they are in now is like a peat.

I hope to put them outdoors, but I think Im gonna have to wait intil the weather is better.

Will have to remember to take pix!

Did anyone ever figure out the name of this one? I have one just like it.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7544698

My rex just like the one that started this thread. Anyone know what they are?

Maybe 'Miami Storm' or 'Omaha Beefsteak'?

http://www.provenwinners.com/plants/?doSearch=1&searchSeries=Great%20American%20Cities

hcmcdole....could this be it???

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/Veg%26Repro/V%26R039.jpg&imgrefurl=http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/imaxxbeg.htm&usg=__iW5l3q1Iw3j-s1x4L6ZSPPjjIVY=&h=351&w=515&sz=38&hl=en&start=52&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=fRFcNsypOtjWVM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deyelash%2Bbegonia%26start%3D36%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Ds%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1

begonia boweare

This message was edited Mar 20, 2010 9:48 AM

Deb, I mentioned in the post that is was a bowerae hybrid but which hybrid? There are probably hundreds to choose from. I sent the same picture to a begonia expert (an ex president of the ABS) and that is all he can say too - it has some bowerae in it.

I have Tiger Kitten, Kit Kat, Little Darlin, Chantilly Lace, and at one time Persian Brocade but those all have small leaves compared to this one.

Sorry about that hcmcdole....guess I need to read more carefully :)

deb

LOL, Me too, I guess I messed it too!