Sure, sure. Leave it to Texas!
You have too many plants! 2
Now you can grow begonias with that kind of weather. No excuses!
blupit - like your rex begonia.
hc: What a gorgeous green begonia! I love it and I'm so, so jealous!
As far as I'm concerned, indoors or out, there is no such thing as "too many plants"--perhaps on Mars....
Nice thread! And Ge, Pirl--I still struggle with begonias, with varying levels of success, as well.
Well, I'm impressed, phoebe! I have all of six AV's and three of them are new. I managed to kill six by trying to do the right thing and repotting them. I won't make that mistake again!
hcm infected me with the begonia bug, again! So I bought a few and so far, so good. I loved the ultra fine white edge on this one:
The color of this one won me over!
Oh! That one is so pretty! First time I've seen it. I was doing fine with the mini versions here til a couple of years ago--now have only one. I used to grow large ones easily in my shade container garden years ago. I just love hcm's begonias! And I drool over them every time I go to Logee's-LOL. Maybe we can teach each other...and BTW, it wasn't re-potting that killed your AV's. Give them another try--I'm always around^_^
EDIT-That pink is gorgeous!
This message was edited Jul 24, 2010 12:37 PM
pirl, beautiful begonias. Names please? Aren't you glad we have hc on this forum? I am.
I am nuts over begonias. Hands down my favorite tropical. I'm addicted.
Names? You want me to face 90 degrees to get you names??? LOL
I'll see what I have on my photo file. Sorry, no names of the begonias here.
This one is Pink Wave and it must be five years old now. It comes inside for the winter and I just let it go dormant. I plant it with new Florida Sweetheart caladiums each spring and it hasn't wilted yet despite the heat we've had and the many times I've forgotten to water it (like today).
I'll look for names on the others tonight but I don't think the peachy one had a name tag when I bought it.
My job is complete. I love it when I get other people infected with begonia fever.
this red bloomer was sold in big hanging baskets,,, all ablaze.. I finally found a small one to use in a planter
Cool Verbena. I like the Bonfire begonia too.
Apparently Bonfire will fill a big container quickly. I put a six inch pot of it into this 18 inch pot just a couple of months ago. The spread must be over 30 inches now.
Does that type of begonia come in other colors?
Yes there are more out there and more coming down the pipe. Bellfire, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Pink, etc.
http://www.tesselaar.com/plants/bonfirebegonia/
http://tesselaaruk.blogspot.com/2009/09/begonia-bonfire-choc-orange-plant.html
http://newsroom.tesselaar.com/photos/begonia-bonfire-chocolate-pink
When are they going to get a blue bloom?
Here is a large black fuzzy leaf begonia - 'Dorothy Behrends' It is stunning!
Thanks for the links. Love that Chocolate Pink. Are they tuberous or not?
Yes they are tuberous. I kept mine in their pots last winter in the basement and watered very sparingly so the tuber wouldn't shrivel too much. It is probably easier to buy a new one (or more) each year if you don't want to bother with the tubers.
How about a big rhizomatous begonia instead.
B. 'Holley Moon'
I find the tuberous ones the easiest to grow! We've had this one for four years now.
Thank you for your help.
Oh, oh, oh, you people are killing me! How will I deal with all the madness?
hc, are those your plants? Name the colocasia(?) please?
I can't wait to get my hands on those new boliviensis varieties.
pirl, I can't grow Tuberous Begonias to save my life. How do you do it? Mine will come up and do OK for a while and then nada. Mine usually rot. Am I overwatering? And the ones that don't rot and make it to the fall won't overwinter for me. I grow all mine in pots.
I decided this year I am going to give up on them. Unless someone can tell me how to grow them.
Do you grow the tuberous, hc?
Well, at least one tuberous I am successful with is boliviensis. I've had it for a few years now. Some will go dormant in the winter and some keep on growing right on till spring. I've even had them sprout from seed.
Yikes!!! Holy boliviensis! ^_^
Ditto to phoebe's comment!!!
Rot indicates over-watering. Hold back on the water!
Mine grow in hanging baskets (and let's hope hc doesn't read this but...) I leave the begonia in the pot all winter, very seldom give it any water (maybe 1/2 cup once a month) and have never changed the soil. I guess I should change the soil but it's one of those things I don't get around to doing.
Where are you holding the pots over winter? If they fall over and die an unhappy death after they've been growing I'd bet it's the over-watering problem.
Great looking Bonfire or boliviensis Kill. I should either put my pot on a pedestal or start staking since it is hitting the ground now. All the plants I've been showing are mine. Are you talking about the Alocasia 'Frydek'? It is one of the best you can grow - very easy and multiplies rapidly. I have several other Alocasia/Colocasia too.
The problem with tuberous in the south is rot and heat. They grow great for a couple of months then disappear. I've had some over the years but they never last more than a couple of years. The best thing here is to use them as short term annuals in spring and fall, maybe winter indoors. I basically quit buying them. Most folks in FL say they cannot grow them there and I can see why.
You should see the monster tuberous they grow in CA. The blooms are 9 inches or more across!
I've had some begonias in the same soil for years too but I've tried to repot, replenish the pots that show poor growth starting last year. It makes a world of difference.
It's a sauna out there this morning and I was soaked after half an hour just walking around taking pictures and this was 10:30. The dogs were ready to come in after five minutes. The plants love it though - tropical heat.
Here is another Alocasia 'Frydek' and some canes in the same hanging basket from this morning shoot.
hc, your plants are tremendous. Thanks. Ya know I think I read somewhere once that tuberous don't like heat. That's probably the biggest reason I've been unsuccessful and the watering thing I could never figure out. Too much or too little.
The boliv. in the photo is the one that grew all through last winter. I cut it back severely before I brought it in and it just kept growing. It hasn't been repotted since last year but I give it weak fertilizer about once a day.
Thanks for the Frydek ID and info. It goes on the 'to buy' list for next year. :-)
Try a coir lined basket for tuberous next time. You can't overwater (or it's hard to overwater) with these baskets. I kept a couple of tuberous going for 2 years in one and hung it off my front porch so it got some indirect hot afternoon sun. I watered it once a day and then stored in the cool, dim garage for winter.
hc, I did that just this year. No such luck. They died after a short time while I have 2 in small plastic pots that at least are still growing. I know it's not the coir basket's fault but mine somehow. I am trying growing mine in more shade this year. Bad idea?
I wouldn't worry about them. You can always try them again and again until you've had your fill of them, then you can try some simple begonias like B. 'Big' var. red.
I have this one which looks pretty similar. I've been keeping it for 4 or 5 years now. It's Red Dragon isn't it?
Same variety, different pot.
Dragon Wings are such a great full sun begonia.
I have been trying to use them as in-the-ground bedding plants. So far not much luck. They stay alive but don't grow much. Must be the soil I'm planting them in?
Just keep them watered and they should do fine.
I do water them regularly and they never dry out. They just sit there and pout.
hc - the begonia is wonderful but that iron plant stand is glorious. Where did you buy it? I have a big collection of both cast iron and wrought iron.
Pirl, if I remember right I got that stand at Hobby Lobby. I've gotten a lot of pots (glazed, metal, fiberglass, glass) from them over the years. Wait for their sales since they always have them.
Thanks for the information but we don't have a Hobby Lobby here.
Ah, rats! Lowe's and Home Depot sometimes has nice planters.
We're still waiting for a Lowe's to come to a town near us. Right now they're an hour away. HD is closer but devoid of anything beautiful. We have bought a lot of cast iron on Cape Cod, at a flea market, and this is my favorite planter from there.
Simply gorgeous!
Very Charming.
I quit buying pots about two years ago (at least decorative pots). I still buy plastic pots from Walmart or Home Depot for potting up. My glazed pots aren't displayed any longer - sitting in some cubby hole or in the basement. I have many 18 inch resin pots bought over the years from Sam's Club and are great for displays but too big to bring indoors. I now use those for annuals and some perennials. I have a few trees in bigger pots and had three 22 inch pots with bamboo in them. One died and the other two died back but still have some sprouts. As time goes by I see that trees should be put in the ground for best results and large pots are good for some perennials so they don't have to compete with tree roots for water. Lessons taught by mother nature.
Thanks!
I no longer use my big heavy ceramic pots. At some point they just got too heavy, probably the year after I bought them.
hc, that last pic is awesome! What is the dark-leaved variety?