tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post5931587042271730226..comments2024-02-05T23:24:54.601-05:00Comments on DC Tropics: The begonia that broke my heartDC Tropicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325534376342345900noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-3414147914728332902021-12-27T02:55:44.852-05:002021-12-27T02:55:44.852-05:00My friend Mimi Fleurs just shared this blog entry ...My friend Mimi Fleurs just shared this blog entry with me. She's the Begonia queen of SoCal and is largely responsible for getting me far more into Begonias since I first commented on this entry. <br /><br />Right now I have a very nice pod developing on my Begonia burkillii silver edge from pollen of a random rex with white and pink leaves. Have you ever seen a burkillii crossed with a rex? I haven't. <br /><br />If I get any seedlings, I'm pretty sure that none of them would be able to grow outdoors year around in your neck of the woods. But this doesn't necessarily mean that my seedlings can't be indirectly useful to you. <br /><br />My seedlings can potentially facilitate the Begonia colonization of California, which in turn facilitates the Begonia colonization of marginally colder/hotter states, and so on.<br /><br />Colonization is a function of mass. More Begonia mass, more Begonia colonization. Yes, the mass is a mess, in the sense it's a very mixed bag, but the bigger the bag, the more beautiful outliers, and the faster the colonization. <br /><br />If you visit SoCal you could spend weeks seeing different gardens with plenty of Begonias. But if you walked around a random neighborhood, I doubt you'd spot many, if any, Begonias, which is a real shame. We need a much bigger bag of Begonias. Xerographicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14978832439622230018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-551516486041613582020-03-28T17:55:12.993-04:002020-03-28T17:55:12.993-04:00Did any of the seedlings produce aerial bulbils as...Did any of the seedlings produce aerial bulbils as does B granis?Wallace Wellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16243213321017334543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-72800385534435870512014-09-30T15:12:06.463-04:002014-09-30T15:12:06.463-04:00John, keep up the great work. I can hardly wait to...John, keep up the great work. I can hardly wait to try some of your begonias here in NJ. You are really doing a service to all of us plant nerds. Thanks.Steve B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-7542817977351922572014-04-09T13:10:01.054-04:002014-04-09T13:10:01.054-04:00The seedling in the top photo above is long gone a...The seedling in the top photo above is long gone and I am not naming or distributing any of the other seedlings from this cross. They are simply too badly flawed, including the ones that survived (although after this past winter, I'll be amazed if any of them come back at all).DC Tropicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18325534376342345900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-46305227238954531332014-04-04T17:01:00.038-04:002014-04-04T17:01:00.038-04:00John, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing a...John, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing about what it took to cross <br />B. grandis × U489. Sometimes we have to step away from a project then come back to it. Well, hopefully you will pict it up again down the road. I meant starter plant not piece.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17489743843017051973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-18321899103066485232014-04-04T16:24:57.329-04:002014-04-04T16:24:57.329-04:00So, is it possible to get starter piece of B. gran...So, is it possible to get starter piece of B. grandis × U489 at the stage it is at now? Just asking, the plant is so beautiful. I like unusual hands on creative hobbies. I have maybe 50 begonias. Canes and Rhiz. two Rexes.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02953713042338568944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-71166058645471569902014-02-10T12:57:57.360-05:002014-02-10T12:57:57.360-05:00Thanks Rick!Thanks Rick!DC Tropicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18325534376342345900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-18036252654518429232014-02-07T18:32:42.265-05:002014-02-07T18:32:42.265-05:00Thanks John, I really enjoy reading your posts!
Thanks John, I really enjoy reading your posts! <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-34769061719984620602013-12-13T16:00:16.440-05:002013-12-13T16:00:16.440-05:00Thanks guys!
Xerographica: My attitude is that ...Thanks guys! <br /><br />Xerographica: My attitude is that there are already lots of (I would say too many) beautiful rex and rex-like hybrids out there--many good ones, but some not-so-great ones and many that just require too much fussing. I don't want to contribute to that mess unless I can come up with something truly different and distinct, as well as (relatively) easy to grow. Most of all I want to develop bedding (or possibly container) plants for the east coast, to be grown outdoors rather than as houseplants. There are already plenty of begonias well-suited to areas with cooler summers; heat tolerance on the other hand is something that is sorely needed, in cultivars that are not truly tropical (which often require more consistent moisture, humidity and warmth--most of these are best as terrarium or greenhouse plants). Finally, I'm trying to interest some commercial growers in my hybrids, and that means producing plants of the highest quality.<br /><br />Paul: I didn't try it but wouldn't expect the reciprocal cross to give me any different results. Ideally, I should have grown out several hundred (or even thousand) seedlings and then I would almost certainly have gotten the right combination of attractive foliage, vigor, and hardiness. Sad to say I just don't have that kind of space (or time)!. I have several hybrids from other crosses coming that have promise, but I will certainly use U489 in future crosses to try to re-capture that great leaf pattern. (I could go on, but I don't want to give away too many secrets!)DC Tropicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18325534376342345900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-40663488815052404532013-12-13T15:35:41.770-05:002013-12-13T15:35:41.770-05:00Hi John . . . nice attempt and you are to be congr...Hi John . . . nice attempt and you are to be congratulated for incredible self-discipline to stick to your standards. One question . . . did you do the cross in both directions. It might make a difference in cultural characteristics. Good luck!<br /><br />Paul in Sacramentobegoniaboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05816248217425783830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2430461288790146786.post-83771513658557912012013-12-13T15:18:13.620-05:002013-12-13T15:18:13.620-05:00Wow!!! Really great post!! Super nicely document...Wow!!! Really great post!! Super nicely documented!<br /><br />Do you regret not propagating it before you tested it? I'm definitely interested in tolerance as well...but if I thought some Anthurium leaf pattern was nice enough...then I probably would have propagated it before testing its limits. And a begonia is far easier to propagate than an Anthurium (unfortunately!). <br /><br />Regarding lack of heat tolerance. Kartuz recently e-mailed me a link to <a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2013Nov291385684453IRG47November2013.pdf" rel="nofollow">an issue of International Rock Gardener (PDF)</a>. It has some really neat plants...including a couple of those awesome epiphytic Gesneriads from Chile (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Sarmienta&ss=2&s=int" rel="nofollow">Sarmienta</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Asteranthera&ss=2&s=int" rel="nofollow">Asteranthera</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Mitraria&ss=2&s=int" rel="nofollow">Mitraria</a>) that I would love to try and grow. The title of his e-mail..."We can't grow these"...hehe. Kartuz says that they can't handle our SoCal heat but that they grow great up in San Francisco. He's probably right but I'd sure love if he was wrong!<br /><br />So personally, if I had created a Begonia as beautiful but heat intolerant as yours...then I probably would have sent it to my friend Dan Newman (<a href="http://hanginggardens.org/" rel="nofollow">Hanging Gardens</a>) in Pacifica (it's just South of San Fran on the coast). I would also have given it to my friend Dan Yansura who also lives in Pacifica. Newman has a greenhouse full of some of the neatest plants...mostly orchids and mostly cool growers...but with some other gems mixed in. Yansura has the largest collection of tree ferns that I've ever seen...around 20 or so different species all outside year around. So so amazing to see such a wide variety of tree ferns happily growing outside year around up there...many of them from unlikely countries. Right now Yansura is in Burma with some of our other friends in the LA Fern Society! I'm so jelly!!!<br /><br />I'm sure that both Newman and Yansura would have really enjoyed your beautiful Begonia...and I'd be surprised if it wouldn't have thrived in their cool coastal conditions. <br /><br />Of course I'm not saying that sharing it with errrr..."cooler" friends is what you should have done...I'm just saying that it's something that I probably would have done. I guess it's just something that's worth the effort for me to share with you...to perhaps keep in mind for future reference.<br /><br />Are you going to keep trying the cross? The more times you try it...the greater the chances that you'll get an individual that has the best of both worlds...right? There's certainly an opportunity cost though. Xerographicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14978832439622230018noreply@blogger.com