TJte Cultivation of Begonias. 303 



Art. V. The Cultivation of Begonias. From the Garden- 

 ers' Journal. 



Few classes of plants afford more gratification than the 

 Begonias. Blooming at various seasons of the year, — some 

 in spring, some in summer, others \w autumn, and still others 

 in winter, — a collection of a few of the best species will 

 display their pretty flowers every day in the year. With a 

 peculiar foliage, which distinguishes the whole tribe, they 

 are yet in many particulars quite dissimilar. All have rather 

 thick, often fleshy leaves ; but some are remarkable for the 

 peculiar deep color of their foliage, as in Begonm sanguinea ; 

 others, like B. manicata, for their long, fringed flower stems 

 and foliage ; while others have spotted leaves, like B. argyro- 

 stigma. The flowers are generally displayed in very large 

 spreading panicles, and remain in beauty a long time. Re- 

 cently many very fine additions have been made to foreign 

 collections, which have greatly enhanced the interest in their 

 cultivation, and probably through the process of hybridiza- 

 tion, new and still finer sorts will eventually be produced. 



But like many other plants, to show how beautiful they 

 really are, they must be \vell grown ; no tall, lanky, spindling 

 shoots, with here and there a few meagre flowers, will give 

 satisfaction ; they should be bushy, compact and handsome, 

 and covered with a profusion of blossoms ; by judicious man- 

 agement this may easily be accomplished. 



In England, where the comparatively sunless winters and 

 cool summers prevent the cultivation of many plants in the 

 greenhouse, the Begonias are denominated " stove-plants," 

 requiring a situation where they can have a much higher 

 temperature than is given to ordinary collections of plants. 

 But Avith us a larger part of them, particularly the summer 

 and autumn blooming kinds, flourish to perfection in the 

 greenhouse. The heat of our summers being as great as the 

 average temperature of the " stove," or hothouse. Nothing 

 could be finer than some of the specimens of parviflora, incar- 

 nata manicata, &c., which have been grown with other 

 greenhouse plants. 



