I just love love love the looks of begonias, but have killed several. The only begonia that I have that has done well for me is b. Partita that I got from Logees. Are there anymore sturdy begonias that might not succumb to my black begonia thumb?
Jackie
Good begonia for beginner
Jackie,
Can you tell us which one you have killed and we might be able to point you in the right direction.
I have (sniff sniff) killed a couple of B. escargots, a beautiful large leafed begonia - dusty green with rose-pink splashes, an angel wing begonia, a beautiful pink trailing begonia... I have had landscape begonias but I really wanted to grow the beautiful begonias that I could keep year round.
Jackie,
I have heard that 'Escargot' is a difficult begonia to grow so don't feel bad about losing this begonia. I have some very seasoned indoor-plant-growing friends who cannot keep 'Escargot' alive.
Since you live in Phoenix, AZ, you are going to have a hard time with begonias since the humidity level is so low. You probably have better luck with begonias during the August and September monsoon season since the humidity is much higher, but then heat is working against you instead of just the low humidity.
You may want to try some of the begonias that need terrarium culture to say alive. I have Begonia versicolor and Begonia prismatocarpa 'Variegata' growing very nicely in terrariums (these begonias don't usually get more than 4" to 6" high). Begonia versicolor has beautiful leaves that are covered with red "hairs". Here is a link to a pic of B. versicolor: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/185694/
In your dry conditions it may not be a bad idea to try most smaller-growing begonias in terrarium culture. The begonias I grow in terrariums are grown under fluorescent lights and they never see any actual daylight and they are happy as clams.
Good luck and good growing,
Mike
I saw awsome begonia baskets when I was visiting Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure (www.glaciergardens.com) in Juneau, Alaska this last summer and it revived my yearning for begonias. My cousin in Alabama sent me a picture of her house - she has baskets of beautiful begonias hanging on her front porch. I'll have to give those a try in a terrarium. Thanks for the information.
Jackie
Jackie,
You may want to try B.erythrophylla ( beefsteak begonia). http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62923/
One of my friends has it and swears by it. He gets lots of blooms in the winter time.
Other things to try in your climate is placing the plants in the bathroom for increased humidity and humidity tray ( fill the tray with gravel). Crowding several plants together will also help with the humidity but then you'll need have a fan to circulate air .
all8dogs, I spray my begonias with a mist of water everyday. I am planning on doing it twice a day in the winter, because of the central heating. The humidity tray truongr suggested is a great idea.
Jackie,
Begonia imperialis is easy http://members.tripod.com/~PalmHammockOrchidEst/phoe.html
I usually grow rhizome types, they are the easiest for me.
Rhizome types have many different hybrids so you can have different leaf colors.
This message was edited Dec 31, 2008 1:10 PM
My B. prismatocarpa (green leaf one) has been doing very well in a terrarium in an east window. It has yellow flowers too. Give it a try! I also recommend B. solananthera. It is a trailing-scandent type, so it looks great in a hanging basket. It is a winter bloomer, white flowers with a red center, fragrant. Mine is in a west window. The conditions in my house are probably not all that different than yours: heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summer, humidity around 40% year round. I have a whole house humidifier, but when the temperature outside is much below 30 degrees we have to lower the humidistat or we end up with condensation on the windows. That's a long-winded way of saying that my B. solananthera does just fine in a low humidity situation. One word of caution: if you get one that has been growing in a humid environment, ease it into your lower humidity conditions gradually or it may not survive the sudden change in conditions. Good luck!
My difficulty, in part, is that I have one East facing window, and one North facing window to use inside. I think our extreme dry heat has killed some of the begonias I've had, and too much or too little light. I'm going to lose my North facing window as I'm going to look for a different teaching position, and so won't know how many plants I can have in my classroom. My house tends to have low humidity, as we don't do anything to humidify our house. My husband is on chemotherapy and humidity seems to intensify his discomfort. I am going to try and make myself a lighted plant stand which should help if I rotate my inside plants.
Boy, if that's your home greenhouse Dale, then I'm green with envy - WOW! You folks in Florida can grow it all, it seems!
This is my nursery (see below), the one above is in Miami.
I doubt you would be growing imperialis in Phoenix except in a terrarium but in Miami (Palm Hammock Orchid Estate) it was growing like a weed - it was everywhere.
A tough begonia to consider is 'River Nile'. There are lots of smaller begonias that perform well in the house and terrariums.
Hey Dale, I think I'm still green with envy! I am going to try the Beefsteak begonia. You know, that name just doesn't do it justice. I have envy too, for the brug and plumeria growers in Florida. Too bad my husband loves Phoenix so well...
Oh wow, Dale, Love that Begonia imperialis.
I wonder how begonia perform in Hawaii, bet they have good luck.
Fairchild Botanical Garden, Miami>
I bet you're right Dale. Probably most if not all would do very good in tropical places. They do very good for me in the summer but winter is another matter.
B. 'Lotusland' at Lotusland, CA.
HC,
Do you 'stalk' begonia everywhere in the US? I am a coleus stalker myself.....(:-)
Fairchild's sunken garden>
Dale,
I started going to the National Conventions the last 3 years so I'm just beginning to really stalk begonias. Went to Miami and Fairchild 2005 (Miami annual show) and 2006 (ABS national). Love Fairchild's sunken garden but I got there in the heat of the day so there was a lot of contrast.
Here is another one of their ponds with Dale Chihuly's glass works of art in it.
I didn't see the work in your photo, but, I am guessing this is a Chihuly also.
Here is another - only saw these two.
Those are definitely Chihuly and may have been left by him when the exhibit was over (March or April 2006?). He did the same thing for Atlanta in 2004.
i also have an escargot that looks like it is about to die, what am i doing wrong. should i put it ;under a light, or water from bottom on does it need to be under glass??? Help!!!
lusarytole,
'Escargot' is a very hard begonia to grow, IMHO. I know of only one person that has done well with this plant while everyone else has failed miserably, myself included. (:o(
Good luck,
Mike
'Sophie Cecile' is my Acme-Indestructo begoina. It's a cane type, one of the "Superba" hybrids. I have abused that plant in shameful ways, but it endures. Granted, not the original plant, but descendents grown from cuttings. I think I gave the original away.
Sophie is a great cane begonia but rarely blooms for me or never bloomed and I've had it over 25 years now. Some other canes to consider for leaf patterns and blooms are Irene Nuss, Lana, and Silvermist.
Sophie has never bloomed for me either.
My Sophie just got done blooming for me. I have my plant in a west window, though. If your plant does not bloom, try giving it more light. I had my Sophie outside last summer in *almost* full sun (some afternoon shade) and it did quite well.
I met Belva Kusler, the lady that hybridized 'Sophie Cecile'. Belva lived 6 miles from my grandmother, in Western Wisconsin. She was a very neat lady.
Mike
I've given mine plenty of light over the years including full sun. If it bloomed I don't remember - I was more smitten with the leaf pattern.
It still looks good in the landscape. (Here is one of mine with a few extra begonias in the same pot).
Thanks for posting the beautiful pic!
Yes, SC has beautiful leaves.
The plant really does not need flowers to make a statement, but the flowers are a nice bonus. (:o)
Here is a begonia at Discovery Cove in Orlando that might be Sophie (maybe Lana). The other one is Maurice Amey.
A recent issue of Garden Design magazine, maybe the latest, has a picture of a large concrete container planted with B. 'River Nile', B. helmsleyana and a narrow-leafed iyy. No flowers on any of them, but still drop dead gorgeous. River Nile looks very similar to Sophie Cecile.
Mike, How nice that you met Sophie's "mom." Did she tell you who Sophie is named after?
B. 'River Nile' is rhizomatous whereas 'Sophie Cecile' is a cane.
http://www.terranovanurseries.com/wholesale/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=22
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/126830/
http://www.kartuz.com/pc/69112/2BEG06/Begonia+River+Nile.html
http://www.logees.com/prodinfo.asp?number=B3032-4
Wandy,
You know, I'm sure Belva told me, but I cannot remember who Sophie is named after. Sorry.
I have a bunch of old Begonia newsletters from the Twin Cities begonia society, when it was a fairly new group and Patrick Worley was the editor and still lived in the Twin Cities. I'll go through them to see if I can find any info on Sophie. I would guess that Belva may have belonged to the local society here since she lived about an hour and 15 minutes away. If I find any info, I'll post it here.
Mike
That would really be interesting to hear about who Sophie and some of the old varieties are named after. I went through a fast search of the old Begonians and found an article on Belva (October 1961) and some of her hybrids but it didn't show who they were named after.
hc, you're right about River Nile. Was definitely mis-identified in the magazine.
Sophie Cecile was named after Belva's elderly aunt. That's what I
remember reading yrs ago in one of the Begonian's.
Jackie
I can't compare humid NJ to Arizona except I can say which hold up inside during the dry winter without dropping many leaves. That would be B. bunchii, Morocco and Snoopy among most rhizome types I've tried. I don't do terrariums or pebble trays or anything else that increases humidity.
I just looked at this thread after several months. Thank you Patootie for the note about the origin of Sophie's name. I'm going to look up the article about Belva. I would like to know more about her and what she accomplished with begonias.