MRS. HEAL BEGONIAS 



FOR HOLIDAY BUYERS 



Shrewd growers, with well balanced proportions of courage and of caution 

 in their mental constitutions, may shun untried novelties, but are keenly on 

 the alert to secure new plants that have really been proved worthy. Perhaps 

 some of these growers may be favorably impressed by Begonia Mrs. Heal, 

 a comparatively new winter bloomer. 



OTANICALLY speaking, 

 and also classically 

 speaking, the begonia is 

 "the whole thing" in 

 its wide circle of related 

 or associated plants. Not 

 only is it an unusually 

 large genus, comprising 

 species and varieties un- 

 numbered and almost in- 

 numerable, but it is the only genus of 

 any importance in its family, the be- 

 goniacese. It gives its name to the fam- 

 ily and practically is the family — with 

 unlimited emphasis on the "is." The 

 other two or three genera in the be- 

 goniacesB family are so small and insig- 

 nificant that they really * ' don 't count. ' ' 

 They are "poor relations." Speaking 

 classically again, the begonia is It, un- 

 rivaled in its domination. 



Parentage of the Heal Begonias. 



Since the species and hybrids of the 

 begonia are already so 

 nearly countless and 

 many of them are ex- 

 ceedingly beautiful, 

 any newly introduced 

 variety must have ex- 

 traordinary merit to 

 win favor or distinc- 

 tion, or even an indif- 

 ferent nod of recogni- 

 tion. It seems prob- 

 able, therefore, that 

 John Heal, of James 

 Veitch & Sons, London, 

 England, has worked 

 sufficiently hard for 

 such success as he has 

 attained in producing 

 from Begonia socotrana 

 his new type of winter- 

 flowerinjj plants, now 

 commonly known as 

 the Heal begonias. He 

 has earned his reward 

 by means of persistent 

 and intelligent experi- 

 mentation. The credit 

 due him is increased by 

 the fact that his hy- 

 brids must endure the 

 test of close competi- 

 tion with such prime 

 favorites as Gloire de 

 Lorraine and Glory of 

 Cincinnati, which also 

 are descendants of B. 

 socotrana. 



Like many human be- 

 ings, B. socotrana de- 

 rives its chief renown 

 from its children. Yet 

 it could scarcely be one 



of the ancestors of so fine a race of 

 plants without having some excellent 

 qualities of its own. It could not be- 

 queath characteristics that it did not 

 possess. Though its habit of blooming in 

 the winter may be its greatest recom- 

 mendation to the hybridizer, it has other 

 merits. 



From a Tropical Climate. 



In describing the peculiarities of B. 

 socotrana, however, its native climate 

 should first be mentioned, since the 

 original habitat largely predetermines 

 the habits. B. socotrana was discovered 

 in Socotra, otherwise spelled Sokotra, a 

 tropical, sandy island off the coast of 

 East Africa and south of Arabia. The 

 species is distinct and beautiful, with 

 large, deep green, orbicular, peltate 

 leaves. Or, in everyday English, the 

 leaves are almost circular, and are held 

 like a shield or "pelta," with the petiole 

 or leafstalk attached to the under sur- 



Begonia Mrs. Heal in a 6-inch Pot. 



face of the leaf, near the center, instead 

 of at the margin. Its flowers are bright 

 rose. It belongs, of course, to the semi- 

 tuberous or bulbous group of begonias, 

 about the base of which are formed a 

 cluster of bulbils or bulblets, ordinarily 

 called bulbs. 



From Socotra the bulbs of B. soco- 

 trana were taken to Kew, where they 

 were grown in 1880, and where Mr. Heal 

 soon afterward observed the plants and 

 shrewdly took an inventory of their la- 

 tent possibilities. By crossing B. soco- 

 trana with several other species, he pro- 

 duced a series of hybrids of greater or 

 less excellence, including Agatha and 

 other sorts that have become more or 

 less known in the trade. 



Begonia Mrs. Heal for Christmas. 



But the greatest of the whole succes- 

 sion of Heal successes, as far as they 

 have been tried and proved commer- 

 cially, is Begonia Mrs. Heal. 



The Mrs. Heal is the 

 red or rose-carmine va- 

 riety which is shown in 

 the illustration on this 

 page. It has been put 

 to the test in America 

 as well as in Europe. 

 When it was exhibited 

 by a gardener in Bos- 

 ton in the fall of 1914, 

 it was greatly admired, 

 and one of its closest 

 observers stated in 

 The Review at the 

 time: "If commercial 

 growers would take 

 this variety up, it 

 should make a grand 

 Christmas plant. " Ap- 

 parently the growers 

 are beginning, at least, 

 to take it up. The 

 specimen seen in the il- 

 lustration was shown 

 at Boston by A. M. 

 Davenport, of Water- 

 town, Mass. 



Since B. socotrana is 

 a native of a tropical 

 region, its descendant, 

 the Mrs. Heal begonia, 

 naturally prefers a 

 somewhat high t e m - 

 perature, but this idea 

 may easily be carried 

 to an extreme. One 

 successful grower 

 states that its tempera- 

 ture during the season 

 of growth should not 

 exceed 60 degrees at 

 night and 65 to 70 de- 



