Tag: begonia

  • How to store tuberous begonias for the winter

    How to store tuberous begonias for the winter

    Potted Begonia waking up in late winter
    Potted Begonia waking up in late winter (Photo by Dugald Cameron)

    It seems a shame, but tuberous begonias are often flowering at their best in late summer, just when it’s time to bring them indoors. Like most bulbs, tuberous begonias need a period of dormancy – several months where it’s dry, dark and cool. My bulbs spend the winter in a dark corner of our basement. I discovered my storage trick by trial and error over the many, many years I’ve enjoyed these amazingly floriferous plants. It’s actually super simple.

    It’s best if they first get nipped by frost. Wilted foliage is fine, but the the most important thing is to not let them freeze. Better to bring them in a little early. This tells the tubers it’s time to go dormant.

    Be gentle with them at this time of year as their fragile, water-filled stems and swollen tubers are easily damaged. Begonia tubers have thin skins and a tiny nick or scrape can become an entry point for infection that will rot your tuber; minimal handling is best. Bring them inside, pot and all, if they’re potted. If you planted them in the garden, leave as much of the root ball as you can manage. Cut the plants back a bit if they’re huge, but try to leave as much growth as you can.

    Leave potted begonias in their pots. Those planted in the garden can be carefully cleaned of their surrounding soil and stored in dry vermiculite, sawdust or peat moss in open paper bags. A cool, dark spot is best. Now you let them dry out, and then remove the stem and foliage. By leaving your tuber unmolested, it can dry (ripen) slowly, forming the thicker skin that helps it retain the moisture it’ll need when it begins to sprout again.

    Our modern, thermally efficient accommodations tend to be extremely dry in winter. Indoor humidity varies so check on your tubers from time to time. Give your potted tubers a bit of water if they’re starting to shrivel. Bagged tubers can be removed from their bags (media and all) and given a light misting of water.

    Another good reason for these checkups is that your begonias may well start to wake up in February or March which is a good thing. I’ve all too often heard sad stories from begonia lovers with neglected tubers that have grown tall, thin white stems while in storage. This won’t kill them, but will give a poor performance that summer. An early awakening tuber can be restarted early indoors. Remember, with tuberous begonias, the earlier they start the sooner they’ll commence their superb, summer-long display. Besides, aren’t we all dying to get something growing in the depths of winter?

    By now some of you may be wondering if this is worth all the bother. Well, you’ll know if your begonias were properly grown if the tuber is larger at the end of the season than when you started. If not, then they were missing something they need. An important lesson that, if acted upon, will make you a better gardener. If it has grown bigger it may be big enough to divide into two. Even an undivided tuber will produce a larger plant with more flowers. Like potatoes, begonias grow from tubers, can be divided provided each piece has an “eye”.    

    More on tuberous begonias

     

  • Bedding plants catch the eye

    Bedding plants catch the eye

    Is it too early to think about what to plant in next year’s containers, even though many of this year’s displays are still going strong? Especially when I haven’t even planted my fall bulbs yet? However, after seeing some of the new bedding plants that will be introduced next year, it’s hard not to think ahead. I got a peek at what’s in the growers’ greenhouses at the 35th Canadian Greenhouse Conference this week in Niagara Falls, Ont.

    At the conference, growers, greenhouse suppliers, manufacturers and researchers are checking out the newest technology and products. But naturally I linger over the displays by plant breeders and developers who are showing their 2015 introductions.  Here are a few of the new bedding plants from Ball, Colonial Florists Ltd., Dummen and Syngenta that I’ll be watching for.

    Bandana Landscape Pink lantana (Garden Making photo)
    Bandana Landscape Pink lantana (Garden Making photo)

    Lantanas are a favourite for hot, sunny locations, and I love the tonal shadings on their flowers. Plants in the Landscape Bandana Lantana Series from Syngenta grow to a massive size with sturdy, woody stems. They would be ideal in the landscape, as well as in large containers. The pink variety at their booth was especially pretty.

    Miss Montreal begonia (Garden Making photo)
    Miss Montreal begonia (Garden Making photo)

    Two begonias for sun or shade from Dummen caught my eye. The massive blooms on Miss Montreal in the Begonia Red Fox Unbelievable Series are a luscious cream, edged with a thin line of coral-pink. The effect is soft without being wimpy. A Dummen representative told me she thinks the colour trend in gardens is shifting from bright hot colours to rich pastels, and many of the begonias and petunias at the conference reflected that.

    Lucky Strike begonia (Garden Making photo)
    Lucky Strike begonia (Garden Making photo)

    Another begonia in the same series, Lucky Strike, is a blend of clear lemon and peach. The foliage is what sets this begonia apart: dark blue-green leaves are narrow and pointed, framing the flowers nicely.

    Silver Star helichrysum (Garden Making photo)
    Silver Star helichrysum (Garden Making photo)

    Sometimes trailing helichrysums — even the small-leaved varieties — can be stiff and gangly in a hanging basket. Silver Star helichrysum, which will be offered by Colonial Florists Inc., has the smallest leaves I’ve seen on a trailing helichrysum. The stems are soft and flexible, too, making it dainty and accommodating.

    Several breeders are working on alternatives to downy mildew-prone impatiens (Impatiens walleriana). Selecta, part of Ball, will be introducing Bounce and Big Bounce interspecific impatiens (I. hybrida), which have the flower power of standard impatiens, but the disease-resistance found in other impatiens, such as New Guinea impatiens. Plants in the Bounce Series grow in sun or shade, and if water stressed, will “bounce” back after watering.

    Also from Ball: Blue-Eyed Beauty, a bi-colour osteospermum in their Serenity Series, with bright yellow petals and a purple eye; and several new colours in the EnduraScape Series of verbena, including a deep, rich purple. This series of verbena is noted for its non-stop flowering, even in extreme heat.

    It’s clear that plant developers and breeders have been busy in their labs and greenhouses, and there’s much to look forward to next spring. After admiring the plants, I went on a hunt for new technology that that would take my many bags of fall bulbs and plant them for me but, alas, that has yet to be invented.

  • Sparks Will Fly begonia worth saving

    Sparks Will Fly begonia worth saving

    Begonia

    Last May one of my impulse buys was Sparks Will Fly begonia (Begonia boliviensis ‘Brothglow’, 18 x 18 inches / 45 x 45 cm). Its bright tangerine-orange flowers look dazzling against bronze leaves with light green veins. Displayed in a shady corner on my deck, this plant carried on blooming until early August. After a 10-day rest, it’s now full of flower buds and looks like it plans another brilliant show. I intend to bring it indoors for the winter, with the hope it will brighten a north-facing bay window. There are three plants clustered in the very full pot, and these could be separated and grown on for a bigger display next summer.

    Now is the time to decide on what plants to bring inside for the winter. Day temperatures remain warm, but the nights are growing cooler; plants will begin to react to the change and eventually deteriorate. The best time to move a plant indoors is late summer, while they’re still tender and flush. Whenever I’ve waited until late September to move a pot or two inside, the change from outside to inside temperatures caused plants to drop their leaves. Considerable time was lost to rehabilitating them, and some never returned to healthy form. The shock of temperature change was too much for them.

    I don’t bring many plants indoors, and those I do are already growing in containers. Lifting plants from garden soil invites problems with fungal infections and insect larvae. I use soilless mix in containers, so many soil fungi can be avoided, but potted plants can still carry insects. After the unusually wet summer, I won’t be surprised to find a few earwigs crawling out from my begonia. I just hope it’s a small number and not an entire nest.

    Aside from being vigilant about critters on plants brought inside, I’ll do some pinching and cutting back of leggy stems. The transition period to inside growing conditions lasts about a month as the plants acclimatize to new temperature and light. Hopefully, they’ll stabilize without losing foliage. I’ll give them a feeding of liquid transplant solution, which contains a rooting hormone as well as nutrients; the same solution used when setting new plants into the garden outdoors. Thereafter, I won’t provide fertilizer again until late February, when plants sense spring’s arrival and want to get growing.

    Sparks Will Fly is categorized as an annual, but it has a USDA hardiness Zone 9 rating, and is listed as cold tolerant down to 1°C. That makes me think it has a chance of being more permanent (with the right care and conditions) than an annual plant expected to complete its life cycle by the end of autumn. Gardening is all about risk, and I’m an incurable gambler. Sparks Will Fly will be coming inside for another lease on life.

     

  • Tough little begonia

    Tough little begonia

    Nonstop Mocca White begonia and Wizard Jade coleus (Photo by Brendan Zwelling)
    Nonstop Mocca White begonia and Wizard Jade coleus (Photo by Brendan Zwelling)

    Heat and drought have stressed the garden, and it’s a short list of plants that are showing no effects from the hard conditions. Petunias, verbenas and calibrachoas look good, and self-sown ‘Purple Queen’ cleome are starting to bloom where their seed fell last summer. And, surprisingly, some little Nonstop Mocca White tuberous begonias think this is a fine season for growing. Now, here’s my confession: I bought these plants in May and they’ve stayed in their small pots since then, waiting patiently for better accommodations. They’ve soldiered on, managing to keep up appearances all this time. I was attracted to their green-brown foliage with prominent chartreuse veins, and double white flowers with butter-yellow hearts.

    This week, I began emptying containers with exhausted plants, and looked around for substitutions — and there were the little Nonstop Mocca White begonias. I also had a cell pack of Wizard Jade coleus sitting about. (See how I just slipped that in? More plants desperately needing a pot to call their own.) Both are 14 inches (36 cm) tall and they’re now sharing new spacious quarters in a deluxe terracotta container. I suppose all’s well that ends well, but this isn’t a conscientious example of installing plants promptly and in good growing conditions. The begonias and coleus have shown their ability to perform well in heat and humidity, along with the abuse of constrained root expansion. They’ve earned some tender loving care for the rest of the season.

    I’m beginning a triage campaign, cutting back perennials that have peaked early or simply withered in the heat, and emptying containers of annuals that have failed to perform well. This makes spaces that can be filled with autumn plants soon to be found in garden centres, once the days return to more reasonable temperatures. If we could get the cool nights back, that would go a long way toward helping plants develop resilience and set new flower buds.

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