Author |
Message |
Chad
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:03 pm Posts: 2343 Location: Inland Cornwall UK
|
Begonia taliensis
This Begonia is new to me this year and I am busy 'bulking it up' before risking it in the garden.
It is an Eric Hammond introduction [via Crug] and supposed to be hardy in the Pacific North West, so should be a good bet at least for a trial outside down here.
Has anyone any experience of it?
Chad.
|
Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:45 pm |
|
|
Kev Spence
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:59 pm Posts: 10902 Location: Loughborough, Leics, central UK
|
|
Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:17 pm |
|
|
Steve in Brookings
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2007 6:15 pm Posts: 855 Location: Brookings, OR, USA
|
Heronswood Nursery in Washington offered this begonia just before the nursery was bought out a few years back and moved to Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, that seems to have been the end of commercial U.S. supply.
The variegation seems to be quite variable and Chad's specimen is better than most. I think the main question for many of us in the PNW will be mollusk resistance rather than cold hardiness.
|
Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:38 pm |
|
|
Zac in NC
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:35 pm Posts: 1008 Location: Raleigh, NC
|
Well, I'll be damned! I would have sworn it was a Podophyllum with that coloration. I wonder if Tony Avent has it? I know he got a ton of material from Dan over the years, and especially after he got bought out, and the garden was being done away with.
Zac
|
Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:09 pm |
|
|
Chad
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:03 pm Posts: 2343 Location: Inland Cornwall UK
|
I asked Sue at Crug about propagation. They propagate vegetatively specifically because it is a good form. If it sets seed I will be growing some on to look for variability, and to select interesting forms. An all 'black' or all 'white' hardy Begonia would be interesting.
Googling it, it seems to still be quite uncommon, with an all green form for sale in USA [why?].
I have had damage under cover from a caterpillar as well as slugs.
Chad.
|
Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:22 pm |
|
|
neobb
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 9:17 pm Posts: 582 Location: vancouver, canada
|
Just thought I'd add my 2 cents about hardiness.
According to UBC Botanical Garden records, there is a planting there dating from 2004. If they check their plants for survival, and it lives ( I guess can't be sure), then it has survived -8 to -10 C on several occasions since these are temps I have experienced living quite near to the garden.
Hope this inspires growers.
_________________ Ted
green dream saturated
|
Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:55 am |
|
|
Peter Reid
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:16 pm Posts: 145 Location: Milford on Sea, UK south coast
|
Hi Chad,
The good news is I have found this to be reliably hardy down here on the UK's south coast. I've had it planted out for, I think, three winters and it always comes back and is bulking up nicely, if slowly. I've never had any snail or slug damage.
Here's a picture of mine, with the standard unit of measurement for scale. It was taken a couple of weeks ago and, since then, has come into flower. The bloom colour is embarrassment pink. Forgive me if the picture is on the large side - I store my pictures in i-Photos and don't know how to re-size, or even if one can.
|
Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:35 am |
|
|
neobb
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 9:17 pm Posts: 582 Location: vancouver, canada
|
_________________ Ted
green dream saturated
|
Thu Aug 21, 2008 7:22 am |
|
|
Chad
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:03 pm Posts: 2343 Location: Inland Cornwall UK
|
Peter and Ted,
Thanks for the encouragement.
I think this is going to be a great addition to the understory.
I'm sorry my squash bottle let the measurement side down, but the choice of which plonk bottle to admit to defeated me!
Peter, have you tried propagating it from leaf cuttings? I'm keen to bulk it up quite a bit, and division looks like it will take a while. AND.... when did it break dormancy [Crug wouldn't sell it till theirs came up in June]?
Chad.
|
Thu Aug 21, 2008 7:56 am |
|
|
Conrad
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:38 pm Posts: 429 Location: NE Ireland
|
|
Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:49 am |
|
|
Zac in NC
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:35 pm Posts: 1008 Location: Raleigh, NC
|
|
Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:22 pm |
|
|
Peter Reid
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:16 pm Posts: 145 Location: Milford on Sea, UK south coast
|
Hi Chad. No, I haven't tried propagating it from leaf cuttings, but I can confirm that's it's no early riser. Early June sounds roughly right. I vaguely remember seeing a bit of activity at ground level before that, but it faffed about for quite a long time before putting out a leaf or two.
While we're on the subject of hardy begonias, here's a photo of one I have a particularly soft spot for because it's a more energetic performer than Mick Jagger. I've had it outside in heavy clay and a hard winter, in a raised bed with good drainage in mild winter and, last year, in a pot through another mild winter, and it always comes up smiling. It emerges with the lark and has been flowering non-stop since about the end of May which puts other 'hardy' Begonias to shame. I grant you it looks blousy and is doing a convincing impersonation of bedding, but that doesn't diminish my enthusiasm for it. Sadly, I don't know its name because the label was illegible when I bought it - in North Wales, of all places.
|
Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:46 pm |
|
|
David Matzdorf
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:06 pm Posts: 5321 Location: Islington, London UK
|
_________________ 51º33'07"N x 0º07'21"W
43m (142 feet) ASL
|
Thu Aug 21, 2008 11:38 pm |
|
|
DaveP
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:51 pm Posts: 345 Location: TORQUAY S.W. UK
|
|
Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:25 am |
|
|
Peter Reid
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:16 pm Posts: 145 Location: Milford on Sea, UK south coast
|
Dave (M) - I'm sorry, but the plant isn't big enough to yield a chunk for swapping. However, as Dave (P) has kindly just identified it as a form of boliviensis, then it should be easy enough to source.
Thank you Dave (P). I'd assumed it had some boliviensis in its parentage, but assumed it was some obscure and sophisticated hybrid. The label said "Berlin somethingorother". But I'm happy enough calling it boliviensis. It really is a stonking plant for people who like a good long show without an interval.
|
Fri Aug 22, 2008 1:59 pm |
|
|
|
Who is online |
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 33 guests |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum
|
|