Ok....now what do I do?

I was at Wal Mart today looking for a new orchid to add to my collection. I saw these two beautiful begonia's and couldn't pass them up. I have never tried one before. I do have luck with orchids and African Violets. Does anyone want to pass along some growing tips for these beauties? How often do they bloom? Do they live inside all year or do they need to be moved out in the summer? Any specific soil mixes or food they need? Sorry for all the questions. I am just anxious to see what I can do with these. They are breath taking.
Thanks for the help.
Janet

Hi, Janet.
My experience with these, stems from consistantly having them in my flower shop for the last 20 years. My first shop was located in a store that the floral shop was always cold (about 65 degrees year round). I couldn't keep begonias for any tiime, before they developed what I refer to as "cold rot". Maybe that's not the proper technical term, but the stems seemed to rot at soil surface, and the plant quickly declined.
When we moved into our new location, it was much brighter, and the temp stayed around 74 degrees. Here, I carried begonias nearly all year-sometimes over 100 at a time. They just thrived. I found that they really liked being on the dry side- only watered once a week or so, and they kept their blooms for several weeks. Seemed that they almost always sold, before going out of bloom.
Sooo- warm temps, moderately dry soil. Maybe someone else can offer advice on fertilizing schedule? Enjoy! They look like very healthy plants.
DeannaV

Yours is a Reiger Begonia (aka Elator I think) here are some links

Daves of course
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55110/index.html

and another
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/greenhouse/nursery/guides/ornamentals/flowers/reigerbegonia.html

I have one in my greenhouse that is just coming back after winter.

Thank you both for the information! I appreciate it.

I have recently bought two Rieger Begonias also. I just love their cheerful colors -- cute impulse buy at a local supermarket. Be careful not to get the leaves wet and don't put in direct sun or near heat source. Mine are doing fine following these recommendations I read on the internet. Supposedly you can propagate these also by leaf cuttings which I am going to try to do soon.

Sue

See my two Riegers in this photo album:
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=9350133&uid=4348107