A BEGONIA AFTERMATH. 



225 



Yes, I shall have tuberous begonias if my dreams 

 prove true ! — Hyacinth, Iowa. 



Notes from England. — I am pleased to see you are 

 taking the tuberous begonia in hand. Your readers 

 will find this plant the most accommodating of plants 

 both for greenhouse and flower garden. I grow thous- 

 ands every year, both double and single. The colors 

 are most variable : white, cream, yellow, apricot, orange, 

 salmon, pink, rose, scarlet, crimson, red and many 

 other shades such as magenta-lake, crimson-scarlet, 

 orange-scarlet, etc. I sow my seed in February (March, 

 April, May is not too late) in pans or shallow boxes 

 well drained, I use rich soil rather light and open, but 

 not too fine. Sow the seed on the surface after watering, 

 and slightly cover with some soil, just sufficient to pre- 

 vent the seeds from 

 moving when they re- 

 quire watering. Cover 

 the whole with panes 

 of glass, then cover the 

 glass with white paper 

 or newspaper, plunge 

 the pots, pans, etc., or 

 place on warm hot-bed. 

 Great care should be 

 used to see that the seed 

 does not get dry, or 

 failure will be sure to 

 follow. When the 

 plants are strong 

 enough to handle, pick 

 off into pans or boxes, 

 using some soil as for 

 seed. Place the plants 

 about two inches ap;irt ; 

 return the pans, etc., to 

 hot-bed. When strong 

 enough, remove to a 

 cooler frame or house. 

 When sufficiently 

 strongplantoutin beds, 

 carefully prepared, with 

 light rich soil, mulch 

 the surface with ma- 

 nure, give a good water- 

 ing, and shade from bright sunshine for a few days ; water 

 frequently during dry hot weather. If the above hints 

 are carefully followed, the grower should be reward- 

 ed with one of the grandest floral displays ever seen, 

 particularly if he has secured a good strain. My blooms 

 average four to five inches in diameter and stand on stout 

 erect stems, looking you in the face, not ashamed to be 

 seen but pleased at your viewing of them. If grown in 

 pots the tubers should be started into growth during 

 February, and placed in boxes or on a bed, and just 

 covered with rich damp soil and shaded with paper to 

 prevent evaporation. When the growth is about an inch 

 long place the tubers in the flowering pots, using rich 

 open soil. Shade from bright sun, keep warm and 



Begonia Semperflorens var. Sieberiana 



comfortable for a few days ; then gradually expose to air. 

 About the middle of June the plants will be in full 

 bloom ; should be assisted to expand their flowers, with 

 liquid manure, given rather weak but frequently. 

 Artificial manures are dangerous unless the greatest 

 care is used in watering. They are often used too 

 strong, and in the act of watering the liquid is too fre- 

 quently splashed up the stems and so causes decay or rot 

 in the stems; plenty of air and not too much pot room, 

 moderate amount of shade, generous treatment, and you 

 will be rewarded with a gorgeous display of bloom. 

 After flowering, the tubers should be removed from the 

 pots or beds, dried slightly and placed in boxes with 

 dry soil, sand, cocoa fibre, etc., and then removed to a 

 dry cellar, shed or green house ; keep from frost and 



damp and all will be 

 ready for another sea- 

 son. — Robert Owen, 



Begonia Scharffii.* 

 — (See cut, page 223.) 

 — Among the newer or- 

 namental foliage plants, 

 one which I consider es- 

 pecially valuable is Be- 

 gonia Scharffii. It is a, 

 magnificent plant and 

 well adapted to window 

 culture, and a grand 

 plant for brackets, 

 where it shows to the 

 best advantage. It is 

 not one of the tuber- 

 ous-rooted section. It 

 is a plant of robust 

 habit ; the leaves are 

 large, ovate, unsym- 

 metrical, hirsute, and 

 crimson beneath. I 

 have some plants 

 twenty-six inches 

 through, grown in eight- 

 inch pots, which are 

 partially hidden from 

 view by the beautiful 

 large leaves. This species has just flowered here. 

 It bears enormous fine headsof flowers, which last a long 

 time in oerfection. These plants have been raised from 

 seed. The seeds were sown in March, i88g, in shallow 

 pans in light sandy soil. In sowing such fine seed the 

 soil should be well watered beforehand. Sprinkle the 

 seed evenly over the surface, but do not cover except 

 by laying a piece of paper on the soil to prevent the sur- 



* Begonia Scliai ffii, Hooker, is a new species to cultivation, 

 having been first described no longer ago than December, 1888. It 

 is a native of South Brazil, and was introduced to horticulture by 

 Haage and Schmidt, ol Erfurt. It was obtained from the Island o 

 St. Catherine. It was first discovered by D. Scharft", for wliom it is 

 named. It is one of the noblest species of the genus. The species 

 appears to have been first known in gardens as JB. Haageana. — Ed. 



