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Begonias
Posted by: Adam Pasco, 25 March 2008, 02.10PM
Big, blousy and beautiful, either you love begonias or hate them. I'll admit to being torn between the two, loving them in private but being a little embarrassed to admit my affections in public. Perhaps they appeal to my feminine side, but let's not go there.
The brown tubers look so unpromising when they arrive in the post from mail-order suppliers, but planted with the slightly concave surface upwards you'll soon spot signs of growth as green shoots emerge. Trailing varieties are available, but I like the upright ones with big double blooms packed like petticoats with swirling layers of petals.
The large flowers are quite heavy, so to avoid plants toppling over I always grow begonias in terracotta pots instead of lightweight plastic ones. I carefully slip split canes down the sides of the pot and tie in the thick fleshy stems with soft green string.
Then come the flowers; I usually bring a pot indoors to brighten the kitchen window sill while I'm doing the washing up - it's good to have a distraction.
Last autumn I stopped watering my begonias and left the plants to die down on their own, thinking their tubers could safely overwinter in pots of dry compost. How wrong I was. I've just tipped some out to replant into fresh compost but discovered the tubers being eaten away by vine weevil grubs. None of my begonias has survived. Next autumn I'll remember to empty out the pots, clean up the tubers, and store them in clean dry compost for winter instead.
Comments
Pauline Cumbria
29 March 2008, 10.03PM
wendy graham
11 April 2008, 08.51AM
Catherine B
18 April 2008, 10.28PM
Adam Pasco
01 May 2008, 01.31PM
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