Always so beautiful Butch, that serratipetala looks like a nice one to have in the collection. It doesn't get very large does it? I don't remember seeing that last picture of plants. You have so many that keep the eye constantly looking around in ahhhh!!.
Begonia Rajah
SCBegoniaGuy that is a nice Thurstonii. How often do you water it?
3j, I did save the Alocasia lauterbachiana. This past summer I ordered several from Brian Williams on eBay since our Home Depot did not get any more large Alocasia/Colocasia for a very low price like they did the year before.
Thanks, Mary. Serratipetala does not get large but it can spread. I pulled it out of the aquarium a few years ago where it was close to 2 feet long and sprawling.
Talk about B. 'Thurstonii' - that was the most expensive begonia I ever bought. Got it at the Southeast Flower Show a few years ago for $30 (Ouch!) I hated to go home empty handed.
Here is a cool Alocasia - 'Stingray' I picked up at the begonia convention this year at Excelsa Gardens.
I have a very small stingray. And hilo beauty! I can't wait til they grow up. I am going to get some plants from Brian in the spring.
Hilo Beauty is another one I let out in winter. Live and learn. Some are marginally hardy such as Black Magic and Illustris.
Here is Thurstonii when it was quite large.
Thurstonii is one of my favorites--yours is very nice!! I would be hard pressed to pick my absolute favorite tho.
I wished I could narrow my top favorites to 50.
Here is one of my favorites this year: - Deco Twirl (at least that was the name when I bought it years ago at PHOE, now the name is Deco Drive or something like that. I lost the original last year but bought two this summer. I will continue calling it Deco Twirl.)
LOL I understand-- if none of them were "favorites"-- I wouldn't grow them ^_^ I really tend to lean toward the ones with leaves that look like other stuff--nelumbifolia, ulmifolia. Here is my nelumbifolia--my plants look a little rough-- our cool rainy fall was hard on them.
looking_glass1, in response to your question about the Thurstonii...
I water it only when the surface is dry...even forgetting it occasionally...and it has never even wilted. The plant pictured is either 3 or 4 years old now. It's a little 'leggy' this time of year...with leaves only on the tips.
Come springtime, I'll chop it back near the crown (and root the healthier tip cuttings). The 'mother plant' will come back with a vengeance. I put it outside in mid-April...on the west side of the house...and it gets very dense and very full. Oddly enough, it's NEVER bloomed for me. But the foliage is well worth the effort of keeping the specimen.
One other habit of mine: Each year, I lift the plant, break up the spent soil, and add new soil in the bottom of the pot (for nourishment's sake). It takes off quickly thereafter. It also appreciates growing-season fertilizer. It gets pretty big, with both height and width about 18-24 inches...even in this hanging basket. I might put it in the ground this year...just to see how big it can get in one season...then start over with 'babies' next year...or dig it up and save it...depending on how obsessive I'm feeling. (Smile)...
Somebody mentioned Begonia Prismatocarpa above...as being humidity dependent. Here's a picture of one that does fine, completely enclosed in glass. I'm hoping to get blooms in the spring...although I'll probably keep it inside or on the deck. It has GREAT foliage...very bright green. It also roots quickly and easily...by tip cuttings. Anyway, I thought I'd share this picture...
Butch you gave me a starter piece of that Stringray. It is doing quite well. All of this has been great information and I am loving all the pictures too. SCBegoniaGuy I will try and follow that watering lead to see if that doesn't work alot better. Thanks for the follow up.
My nelumbiifolia didn't do well this year. I may have to scrap it and start over.
I like the prismatocarpa begoniaguy.
Mary, good to hear Stingray is doing well for you. It really grew for me in the heat of summer.
Nice prismatocarpa begoniaguy!! wish mine looked as good-- it thrived outside this past summer bloomed like crazy and then we had that unusually cool dreary drizzly damp fall and I almost lost it-- I have it indoors under glass now and it is rebounding slowly. Any body have any tips for B. sutherlandii? Mine is dormant now and i don't want to kill it--since of course just like the hundred or so other-- it is one of my favorites;)
No tips on sutherlandii - lost mine. I probably over watered them when they went dormant.
Here is a nice stand of nelumbiifolia at PHOE.
Very nice!! Oh for the days when such things could be grown outdoors year round. I understand on the over watering killed a bonfire that way--this year I put it and (new)bonfire on the top of a high shelf-- out of sight-- out of mind--have to climb on a ladder just to see them--I poke them periodically and they are still firm.
I watered my boliviensis all summer this year but quit when it started getting chilly. I just brought them indoors after a few frosts and the tubers are nice sized and firm (so far). I plan on watering them very sparingly through winter - maybe a teaspoon once a month or when I think they are shriveling.
Any pictures of boliviensis?
Here ya go.
B. boliviensis on the right and 'Bonfire' (a select strain of boliviensis) on the left. You can see why 'Bonfire' is preferred over the species.
This message was edited Dec 30, 2009 8:42 PM
Very helpful...for a friend who's been trying boliviensis. (I was quicker to give up). She's been fairly successful, but I think maybe she has the 'species' you show above...instead of the choice cultivar...