January, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



13 



There are few plants for indoor culture and for outdoor bedding more satisfactory than the Begonia. This is one of the new, single tuberous- 

 rooted types 



The Peerless B 



eeriess Degonia 



By F. F. Rockwell 

 Photographs by Nathan R. Graves 





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HERE are no other flowering plants adapted 

 to so wide a range of uses as the Begonias. 

 Out-doors, in the sun and in the shade, for 

 edges, in solid masses, or for borders where 

 the beauty of the individual flowers is de- 

 sired, on the porch, in veranda boxes; and 

 inside, Winter and Summer, for flowers or for foliage, and, 

 what is more valuable still, for a combination of both — for 

 all these uses there are Begonias that give the greatest satis- 

 faction. They are, too, as a general thing, healthy plants, 

 and, except that they require a fairly warm temperature, are 

 as easy to grow successfully as almost any plant there is. If 

 I were restricted to the use of one sort of plants only, I 

 think I should choose the Begonias; they constitute almost 

 a whole collection of plants in themselves. There are, in 

 fact, so many varieties that one is likely to become confused 

 by them and make mistakes in selecting the sorts desired for 

 any particular use. Let us straighten the matter out once 

 and for all by taking a look at the three general types — 

 fibrous^rooted, tuberous-rooted, rex-leaved. 



7 he fibrous-rooted group is by far the most important, 

 as it includes the best of the flowering sorts for both house 

 culture and out-door bedding. The range of flower-forms 

 and foliage is very wide, and the colors, which include all 

 shades of white, pink and red, are all most attractive. In 

 habit of growth, the fibrous sorts are for the most part 



upright and branching, forming bush-like plants of much 

 grace and wonderful beauty when covered with their pro- 

 fusion of flowers, born freely, in many cases, from one end 

 of the year to the other. The tuberous-rooted type is not 

 so well known, but is becoming more popular every year, due 

 largely to the fact that recent improvements in the flowers 

 have placed them among the most beautiful of all flowering 

 plants. In habit of growth they are stocky and upright, the 

 thick, succulent stalks attaining a height under good con- 

 ditions of from one to one and a half feet, covered densely 

 with the large thick leaves, which are very attractive in both 

 shape and coloring. The individual flowers of the tuberous- 

 rooted sorts are more beautiful than those of the fibrous- 

 rooted sorts, some of the new ones having blossoms that 

 measure over five inches across and are wonderfully full and 

 fringed. The new double-fringed, while not so large, are 

 even more beautiful. 



It is a rather difficult operation to start the tuberous sorts 

 from seed, and unless one has every facility for handling the 

 delicate little plants, it will be much better to get good, strong 

 tubers from the florists. These are placed on damp moss, 

 concave side up, and put in a warm place until they start, and 

 then potted up, a single bulb to a pot. The best results will 

 be obtained by using at first pots only slightly larger than the 

 bulbs, and shifting them until each plant fills a five or six-inch 

 pot, using a soil very light and quick, such as one made up 



