62 



IRISH GARDENING 



Winter Flowering Begonias. 



By William Green. 



This charming race of winter blooming plants 

 are ever on the increase in popularity. Few 

 plants possess such meritorious qualities, giving 

 such a profusion of bloom in the dull winter 

 months, chiefly of that most predominating 

 colour so much appreciated in flowers, a delicate 

 soft pink. For decorative purposes, also grouping 

 in the warm greenhouse, they have few equals: 

 in both departments we have the desired effect, 

 colour and profusion of flower which nature has 

 produced with exquisite neatness. I take it for 

 granted in the pot section, Gloire de Lorraine, 

 which M. Lemoine of Nancy introduced a few 

 years ago. takes place of honour in most instances, 

 but. at the same time, there are a few others that 

 are most attractive and beautiful. They may be 

 divided into two sections — viz., fibrous rooted 

 ami tuberous rooted. 



1 will endeavour to deal with the fibrous 

 rooted section first. Taking the variety Mrs. 

 Leopold Rothschild, which sported from Gloire 

 de Lorraine, which possesses larger blooms of 

 richer colour and texture than its parent, and to 

 my mind is stronger in constitution. Little 

 difficulty will be experienced in obtaining good 

 plants by the winter months if a clean start is 

 made with healthy stock free from the dreaded 

 mite. Plants that have finished blooming should 

 be cut down as early as possible, given a slight 

 rest, which means withholding the usual supply 

 of waler at the roots. Place them on a shelf in 

 a warm house where a good brisk temperature 

 exists, and syringe them frequently, which has a 

 tendency to promote nice soft, short cuttings. 

 When these are ready they should be taken well 

 down at the base and inserted in small pots in 

 light sandy soil and plunged in the propagating 

 frame, where they will soon form roots. When 

 this has been accomplished., potting on in the 

 usual manner must be resorted to. I find a suit- 

 able potting compost consists of good fibrous 

 loam with chopped sphagnum moss one-third, 

 and dried cow-manure broken up small with a 

 liberal quantity of silver sand added to keep it 

 open, which is of the utmosl importance. During 

 the growing season 1 have found this section 1o 



revel in heal and moisture. Anything in the 



nature of drought at the roots or atmosphere will 

 prove fatal, the plant becomes sickly, therefore 

 an easy prey to mite. The soil being of such a 

 light nature dose attention must be given to 

 watering. As the season advances and 1 he 

 plants commence to show bloom, a little cooler 

 temperature will suit them better, as I find the 

 heat has a tendency to produce smaller flowers 

 of a paler colour. Ventilation must be carried 

 out with care, also overpotting must be avoided. 

 I may add this section make delightful subjects 

 for hanging baskets. With regard to white 

 varieties of the former section I have only seen 

 two worth noting. The first one. Turnford Mall. 

 which is far from being a pronounced white, 

 therefore a variety which 1 think will never 

 become popular. The other, I came across quite 

 accidentally, is a variety called Mont Plane, 

 which has I a me. pure white flowers : a very 



attractive plant, with a much more robust habit 

 than 1 he former. 



Another fibrous rooted Begonia of great merit 



is Gloire de Sceaux, a variety which deserves far 

 more attention than it receives at present. Its 

 bold trusses of beautiful pink flowers, set in the 

 midst of rich dark metallic foliage not in excess 

 to make it appear heavy, give it a noble appear- 

 ance, and mixed through the former varieties 

 creates a colour scheme not easily forgotten. 

 This plant requires the same cultural treatment 

 as the former varieties. 



For covering pillars or the roof of the warm 

 house we have a few handsome varieties— viz.. 

 President Carnot, Carolina, and Puchsioides. 

 The first named, a very robust grower with hand- 

 some leaves, producing its blossoms in huge 

 trusses of reddish coral pink, hanging char 

 from the plant, giving it a striking appearance. 

 It does extremely well planted out among a few 

 rough stones in Loam, with an addition of cow- 

 manure added. The next of merit is Carolina, 

 another excellent roof plant — being scarlet is a 

 most desirable change. To see a corner of a house 

 covered with this lovely Begonia in bloom is a 

 most imposing sight : here again we have a variety 

 with rich green foliage of medium size and pro- 

 ducing its trusses with delightful effect. This 

 plant succeeds best with the roots more conlined 

 than the former variety, therefore boxes or pots 

 of a suitable size should be used. The soil should 

 consist of loam and peat, with an addition of 

 sand added. Then we have the old Fuchsioides, 

 a free grower ; not so handsome as the two former 

 varieties, but still very pretty, producing myriads 

 of its small wax-like flowers of reddish-pink in 

 colour, resembling a miniature Fuchsia, which 

 its name denotes. The small tender trails should 

 be allowed to hang loosely from pillar or roof 

 to give it a natural appearance. All three are 

 evergreen and profuse bloomers requiring similar 

 treatment. 



Another old favourite of mine is B. manicata, 

 a Mexican species, which one seldom sees in our 

 gardens of to-day. but at the same time well 

 worth growing. Its large, handsome, shining 

 leaves produced from the thick stem, makes 

 it attractive in itself, but apart from that i1 

 produces long. thin, erect spikes of pretty 

 delicate pink blooms in great profusion. A 

 peculiarity in this species is the hairy nature of 

 the flower' stem. Propagation is usually done by 

 division. The plant must be kept confined to 

 pot room to flower it successfully: ordinary 

 potting material may he used. 



Now we come to the tuberous rooted section, 

 which has improved considerably of later years. 

 They consist of a charming race of Begonias. 

 beinti mostly double; they are a delightful 

 acquisition. At the present time they are not 

 very plentiful, perhaps, for one or two reasons 

 the first, they are rather costly: secondly, they 

 are rather tedious to propagate to obtain a good 

 stock. In cultivation they require similar treat- 

 ment to our ordinarj summer flowering varieties, 

 only requiring more heal. When once the bulbs 

 are potted I find the vinery a suitable structure 

 to grow them in. choosing the warmest corner 

 ('are must be taken not to allow thrips to attack 



them. Should this pesl go unobserved the 



plants will he ruined for the season, but if it 

 does make its appearance measures must be taken 

 to eradicate it l>y either dipping or fumigating 

 with some approved insecticides. Varieties are 

 are not too numerous at present a few I am 

 acquainted with are Ensign, .Mrs. John Ileal, 

 Winter Cheer, and Julius, all rich double pinks. 



