My bare front bed now that the raucous zinnias are gone. The canvas awnings are down for winter too, so my house looks dramatically different.
One ageratum still hanging on. Here's the cordyline "red sensation" which I got from Lowe's on clearance for $4. It will be another experiment for overwintering. I have read that propagating the plant is easy by cutting the stem into little logs and placing them sideways in shallow water. Not sure I want to hack the plant up but it's a thought.
Cordyline aka Ti PLant which people used to buy in Hawaii as logs as souvenirs.
I saw ssg's dragon wing begonia today in the flesh, and I think it was the most beautiful plant I have seen all season. Just saying.
Thank you, Happy!
This is the Dragon Wing she saw today:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=9693418&extraimg=0
But as I told Happy, I did absolutely nothing but water it a few times, so all the glory goes to the original breeder!
They ARE worthy of a spot in your garden. Too pretty!
You can get them anywhere --they are considered the "Premium Annuals"--
just like NG Impatiens. Cost about $3-$4--depending where you shop.
I believe you can propagate them from cuttings--like any other Begonias.
I have never tried it....not worth finding room inside for another 6 pots....
Here is a nice shot from July 2008. --also a good one of my Angel Wing begonia---
I always have cuttings of this one...I cannot even tell you how old this is.
Maybe going on 25 years???
I just cut it back every spring to nubs and root the cuttings.
"Mama always re-grows full and lush.
Begonias are all awesome!!! Love them! G.
I'm a dragon wing fan too =)
G. I had your spotted begonia indoors all summer. I should have put it out like yours. It is big but not lush and gorgeous like yours in the pic. Maybe I'll cut it hard like you do and put it out next summer
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
thanks G.
it's such a pretty plant. ours has never bloomed. It is by a northern exposure window. I do usually put certain plants outside, just never moved this one out since we've had it from you, but I will next season!
nice pix Diana. In fact, the orange Dahlia would maybe be quite eye popping next to the dark leafed pepper, in the actual garden.
Gita, the Angel Wing I got from you spent the summer outside, but it still doesn't look as good as yours. Also, the Dragon Wing blooms all summer whereas the Angel Wing blooms only periodically for me.
I saw a begonia at Behnke's that was several feet tall. I'm going to try to overwinter the DW as a houseplant. I'm shopping for a grow light right now!
SSG - if you are interested in a table top grow light, Gardener's Supply sells one that I like. For grow lights, I've bought this table top one and a 3 shelf stand kit. I also put a 4 shelf stand together from pieces and parts from HD and Costco. It is definitely cheaper for a multi-shelf stand to put one together yourself, but for a small table top stand the convenience of buying one may out weigh the cost factor. Not sure what size you are looking for, but here is the link for the table top stand if you are looking for something small.
http://www.gardeners.com/Tabletop-Grow-Light/37-817,default,pd.html?start=2&q=compact%20tabletop%20sunlite%20garden
ssg's photo of her Dragonwing begonia doesn't do it justice -- it is much bigger, and breathtaking. Really.
SS--
The Dragon Wing is not, really, considered a Houseplant. More an annual
You may do better rooting cuttings (so easy!) than trying to overwinter a big plant.
The Angel Wing begonia is a Houseplant....it just LOVES being outside all summer
in dappled shade. Cuttings also root easily.
I am going to take a guess......many people do not cut back the AWB--but leave it
all leggy with long stems. They would look a lot better cut back and then bushing out.
Did you cut yours back before you took it outside?
Teri--That is a nice little light set-up! It would do well for rooting cuttings--
but the cuttings of the AW Begonia are already the size of small houseplants.
They would not fit under that small light set-up. A medium-bright window will do just fine.
Just my 5 cents worth.....;lo) Gita
Gita, you're right, I didn't cut the Angel Wing back this spring! I only cut off a little piece to root it, but didn't give it a good overall hair cut. I'll definitely do it next spring.
Dragon Wing is technically a tender perennial, so I'll try overwintering it. I've read that it overwinters ok indoors, although it may be thin and leggy after a few months. I'll also try cuttings, but I have a terrible track record of keeping cuttings alive.
Aspen, I have a 2-foot Jump Start system and I'm considering getting the 4-foot one:
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-JSV4-4-Foot-Start-System/dp/B0001XLSGQ
SSgardener, I overwinter my Dragonwings on my unheated porch along with my bananas ans EEs. I've done this with 10 pots for 8 yrs now and they do fine. Only light is from East facing picture window and they sit about eight feet from window. I only watered them once. They will drop leaves and get leggy but keep on blooming til they can go outside again. I usually trim them back in Spring and stick trimmings in same pot or start additional. I water them well and give time release fertilizer and in about 3 weeks they are looking pretty good again.
Read somewhere, that bringing in Dradon Wings (and other plants) may cause plant to drop its outdoor leaves and grow indoor leaves as a response to lessened light conditions indoors. I think Ric and Holly usually get 'plugs' of them thru their greenhouse association each year. Would that all plants could be as big beautiful and easy care as these!
I believe DWs are a hybrid cross between an angelwing and a fibrous rooted. Here's a little history
http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plantoftheweek/articles/Begonia_Dragonwings.htm
Am hoping the begonias pictured below will do overwintering as well as DWs.
Coleup, very interesting information! Those new begonias are soooo pretty. I'd love some more begonias (it's probably my favorite genus), but I'm overwhelmed with just two! I don't know how you all do it.
SS--you ignore them--and they don't mind.
Begonias can deal with some level of dryness. They will be semi-dormant.
Don't fuss over them. Letting them dry out somewhat is actually good for them.
If your mama plant ends up thin and leggy--it is OK too! At least the plant will be alive.
All you will want next year is the growing tips (to root)--Cut away the bare stems (canes).
I bet you the stem sections will root as well--if you want to try it.
Then when the mama plant is all cut back--and put outside in the early summer,
it will put out good new growth and be a lot fuller.
That is how I do it--and it works wonders....
Don't fear my dear! Plants are tough. Gita
Yes Coleup we do. They are beautiful easy care plants. We get 2 types the Dragon Wing and a Dwarf Red Leaf the two planted together looked wonderful at my parents house last year with some white caladiums. We used some in hanging baskets last year and overwintered them in the GH. They are a bit big for HB but looked great.
So Sean got me this bouquet recently from Trader Joe's. Nice, right? I need to know what this foliage element is. Some kind of Euphorbia? I HAVE to have it in my garden. Now!
(Sean and Adele carving pumpkins in the background)
Ooh, very pretty, typ. I love the red stems.
I know! Any idea what it is?
I tink Euphorbia is a good guess. Might try googling for floral supplies?
Since Florists get most of their flowers from S. America--it could be
almost anything....could even be something that does not even grow around here.
May come from some kind of a shrub?? G.
Gita, I believe the flowers are from California. Sean knows that it's important to me that the flowers are from the US. Trader Joe's sells bouquets from CA that are beautiful and reasonably priced. Ah well, I was hoping this was an easy one for you guys. Thank you! I'll just have to keep an eye out for it at nurseries.
How about calling the florist the bouquet came from and asking them?
G.
If you break off a leaf or two does it have the euphorbia sap? If so, try rootin the tip as many grow easily from cuttings.
I did see some new euphorbias for sale this year one called 'Rudolph' was interesting (see below)
Karen, your pic reminds me more of a tropical milkweed than an euphorbia.
Maybe asclepias 'curassavica' red.
Karen's plant is alternate leafed- our local milkweeds are opposite…I like the advice to see if one will root and grow!
My Plectranthus from coleup, at the beginning of this thread, has been IDed as P. saccatus.
Pacific mums from Gita. I wish they would stay small but they love to spread around. The pink in the foreground is muhly grass which doesn't photograph well.
Sedum ... Siebaldii? I can't remember the spelling. Very pretty blooms this year.
My asters are finally blooming but I don't know if they're worth all the space they take up. Does anyone have asters that they love?
SS--
Your Mum is called "Chrysanthemum Pacificum".
Yes, they DO sprawl--but you can pinch them back as they grow--
just like regular Mums. The pinchings can be rooted easily--
just stick them in small pots or anywhere in beds. Or--you can just let it spread out
These multiply by underground root-runners like many other plants.
You can pull sections off to move to another location or to propagate.
I have the huge clump of new England Aster. It is really big.
Just this year--here--someone mentioned that it can be pinched back
as it grows--I had never thought of that....
As it is--it is hard to keep upright in a nice clump. I have been tying it to stakes.
Both the Chrysanthemum and the Asters provide late fall blooms--when
nothing else is blooming.
Here is my big Mum. Is yours the same?
pretty blooms SS and G. love the purple. I think ours are pretty much done blooming. Sun is now shining on our still blooming salvia black and blue patch though
wind--
Yes! My B&B Salvias are still blooming too-as are the "lady-In-Red"
Salvias. I have had to pull some of them up as I clean up my beds...
I have also collected a lot of seeds from the LIR Salvia.
Just bagged up all my collected seeds yesterday. I have 33 different seeds--
just from my garden...
G.
Gita, your New England asters are *much* prettier than mine. Hm... I'll give mine one more year to get established.
SS-
You may have a different aster. Mine has really wooden stems. yours?
Next spring, I will try to remove some root sections and pot them up to share.
I do want to keep it a bit more in bounds.
The fact that it is doing well in my "YUK bed--is admirable.
Any plants that can thrive there get my kudos.
Seems to be quite a lot of plants in there that do. I just keep wondering
how much better all those plants would be doing if they had a soft, loamy soil
to grow in. They do not--and the tree roots take up all the moisture and nutrients.
G..... :o/
Here is a more distant look of where it sits. Those are B&B Salvias on either side of it.
They sure have grown big!
So pretty, Gita!
Gita, mine's a no-name aster, and no woody stem. Yours really is a very pretty aster! That purple really pops against that wooden fence.
Thank you all--It IS pretty--but it is also a Hog.
BUT--it fills a good amount of space in my most difficult bed.
I am happy for that....
Promising myself that next year, i will pinch.cut it back and put the
plastic fencing around the base before the rabbits strip all the stems of foliage.
They really went to town--also on the Heliopsis daisy not too far away from it.
I may just have to go back to fencing all around the bed like I used to.
hate the look!!!
Gita
ssgardener: I'm glad you posted that about asters. I have some I really don't like but had been limping along with -- most are in containers because I couldn't come up with a spot in the ground for them. But I think I'll walk away.
I kinda sorta think Gita's aster is Purple Dome -- mine looks like that (and that is an aster that I do like). But it is supposed to only grow to 18" and Gita's looks taller.
Happy, I have some places for asters where they can 'go wild' as part of a butterfly nectar patch. If you are walking away I'd re home them...
I picked up a Pineapple Lily eucomus 'Sparkling Burgandy' on clearance (Pic 1+ 2)
https://store.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/summer/productview/?sku=71-09
Gita, I also picked up a relative of your Bazilian Plume Flower called 'Maracas Brazilian Fireworks'
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/101794/
Happy--
My Aster is a "New England Aster"....
I bought it at season's end at a small roadside stand.
it was just a few wooden sticks about 20" tall.
I know I have mentioned the name several times through the Posts.
Gita
