.«>TO?iP7^'^«up''"5. •'«^^''l:*vrr^*.'' 



.:.^.frr\^[ 



8)6 



The Weekly Florists' RcviCTwC 



Makch 2, 1905. 



riu'tive foliage from their dark metallic 

 .sliading, flowers blush white; manieata 

 aureo-inaculata, mostly grown for its 

 striking foliage; semperllorens gigantea 

 roseti, green foliage with large deep 

 pink flowers; argenteo-guttata, shining 

 green foliage, flowers pinkish white. 

 Then there was old Sandersoni x Fuch- 

 sioides, which we used" so much for cut- 

 ting twenty-five years ago. Several fine 

 flowering varieties had no name, as they 

 ^^•ere grown from seed imported from 

 France. For a long continued season of 

 flowering and beautiful in both flower 

 and foliage the shrubby begonias have 

 few equals, especially for the decoration 

 of the amateur's conservatory. 



William Scott. 



WINTER-FLOWERING BEGONIAS. 



■With the original of the semperflorena 

 class as the oldest in my memory and the 

 brilliant acquisition of yesterday, the 

 widely grown Gloire de Lorraine, begin 

 and end the long list of winter-flower- 

 ing begonias which have come under my 



one was a world conqueror. And yet I 

 do not hesitate to say that we have 

 quite a number among shrubby begonias 

 which merit more general cultivation by 

 florists, especially as they are of easy 

 culture and therefore well adapted to 

 thrive under the care of the amateur 

 grower and cheer up the homes of people 

 in moderate circumstances. 



To commence with the seinperflorens 

 class, of which we have the gigantea, or 

 tall growing, and the dwarfish gracilis, 

 or Vernon types, the first is best known 

 in our country. Begonia semperflorens 

 gigantea rosea, as the botanical name 

 reads, has a tall fleshy trunk with a 

 natural habit of branching out. Its flow- 

 ers are borne on strong, erect or grace- 

 fully bending axillary stem^s, extending 

 over the smooth glossy green foliage. 

 They are in evidence practically all the 

 year around but are most abundant dur- 

 ing the winter months. The carmine and 

 deep rose hues of the cymes throughout 

 the season materially add to the bright- 

 ness of greenhouse and window. 



As for B. semperflorens Vernon, B. 



Begonia Manieata. 



care. The former variety, of strong 

 growth, dark green, glossy foliage and a 

 never failing willingness to produce its 

 modest white or pinkish flowers was the 

 favorite of housewives half a century 

 ago, while the latter, when in good form, 

 literally covered with its wealth of pink 

 bioom, is at present the pride of the 

 skillful florist and gardener. Of the 

 many varieties which, during the last 

 fifty years, have been introduced, few 

 have aroused general interest, fewer still 

 are holding their own permanently in 

 our list of greenhouse plants and only 



gracilis and their offspring of dwarfish 

 strain we have seen little so far. We 

 know they are favorite bedders in Eu- 

 rope, where for this purpose they are 

 grown from seed sown under glass in 

 early spring. Their floral effectiveness 

 within the formal line of design is sur- 

 prising, but whether they prove equally 

 free flowering in our summer climate is 

 a question I am not fully prepared to 

 answer. 



Among the shrubby winter-blooming 

 varieties I mention as good, B. suaveo- 

 lens, a tall species, with dark green foli- 



age and pure white cymes, appearing 

 from December up to May. Larger in 

 size is the individual flower of B. nitida, 

 a robust but lower growing variety. Its 

 waxy petals are of a very delicate and 

 glossy pink. B. incarnata, a species 

 from Mexico, is known as one of the 

 most prolific to flower. The color of its 

 countless nodding peduncles is a soft 

 rose, which gains in vividness as the 

 days pass. Of drooping habit are the 

 axillary coral-red male flowers of the 

 tall growing B. rubra. Here the female 

 flowers, as a striking feature, form tas- 

 sels of a wonderfully rich hue. Two- 

 year-old specimens of this plant some- 

 times throw up erect shoots from five to 

 six feet in height. I therefore recom- 

 mend the planting of from three to four 

 rooted cuttings together in a 6-inch pot 

 in May. The ' result will be a shapely 

 specimen by November. With me B. 

 President Carnot has always been rather 

 tardy in flowering; neFerthe]e.=s its hand- 

 some foliage, which assumes a bright 

 reddish color when exposed to the full 

 sun, makes it worth having. Likewise 

 would the old B. Sandersoni, of low bushy 

 growth and very rarely without its pro- 

 fusion of little red blossoms, be the last 

 to part with. Begonia metallica com- 

 bines ornamental foliage with a strik- 

 ingly admirable floral display. Its 

 growth is erect and tall. Its hirsute 

 leaves are of a peculiar purplish bronze 

 color, with metallic lustre, contrasting 

 well with the pink hue of its axillary 

 cymes. 



There are quite a number of short- 

 growing varieties with thick, fleshy 

 trunks and more or less ornamental foli- 

 age which are classed as winter-flower- 

 ing. They include Begonia Verschaffel- 

 ti, B. ricinifolia, B. heracieiiolia, B. 

 Reichenheimi and B. manieata. Of the 

 last mentioned we have a sport with 

 variegated leaves, named B. manieata 

 aureo-maculata. Best known, however, is 

 the original form, distinguished by its 

 wealth of pink blossoms borne on strong, 

 erect stems above the handsome leaves. 

 Begonia Feastii is named after the 

 late Samuel Feast, of Baltimore, with 

 whom it originated. The dark purple of 

 its glossy foliage is most agreeably 

 matched with the delicate rose color of 

 its erect cymes. Another distinct Ameri- 

 can representative in this class is B. 

 Gilsoni. So far as my knowledge goes 

 it is the only double flowered shrubby 

 variety in existence. Attractive speci- 

 mens are best obtained by planting a 

 number of rooted cuttings into a deep 

 seed pan, where they have ample space 

 to develop their foliage in all directions. 

 Bushy plants never fail to be admired 

 when, in February and March, their pale 

 pink cymes begin to show above the 

 leaves. 



We fill our hanging baskets with varie- 

 gated periwinkles or ivy geraniums. 

 There was a time when Saxifraga sar- 

 mentosa and the running tradescantias 

 were in vogue. Of late we have occa- 

 sionally availed ourselves of Begonia 

 Gloire de Lorraine, but we usually for- 

 get entirely that we have among winter- 

 flowering begonias genuine creepers 

 which are just the thing for our pur- 

 pose. There is hardly a rambling plant 

 that excels in attractive beauty a well 

 grown Begonia glaucophylla scandens. 

 Long suspending vines, are thickly set 

 with oval, at their ends pointed, leaves, 

 and during February and March enliv- 

 ened by masses of bright red clusters of 

 blossoms. In fact, I doubt if there is a 



