ATTRACTIVE FOLIAGE PLANTS 



107 



ous-rooted Begonias, the Fibrous-rooted Begonias, and the 

 Rex Begonias. The Tuberous-rooted Begonias have recently 

 become very popular as bedding plants for out-door gardens, 

 their waxy flowers showing extreme brilliance in coloring. 

 They are most commonly propagated from seed. The 

 Fibrous - rooted Be- 

 gonias are the flow- 

 ering kinds generally 

 grown for winter 

 blossoming as well 

 as for the summer 

 garden out-doors. 



The Rex Begonias 

 may be propagated 

 either from seed or 

 from leaf cuttings. 

 The seed is sown on 

 the soil surface in 

 shallow boxes in Feb- 

 ruary or March, de- 

 veloping in about ten days into tiny green seedlings, difficult 

 to see without a reading-glass. After some weeks of growth 

 they become large enough to transplant into other boxes, 

 and when an inch high may be transferred to two-inch pots. 

 For leaf cuttings, mature leaves of good size are so cut that 

 two of the principal veins meet at the bottom. These are 

 planted in sand or in a cutting garden like other slips, and 

 will develop into good-sized plants after some months, being 

 transferred, of course, to soil when the root system is suffi- 

 ciently developed. 



A good peaty soil or a soil composed largely of leaf mold 



Rex Begonia in a Japanese Flower-jar. 



