316 W. Chew St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
REX VARIETIES 
Rex—meaning King—truly names them for 
they are the kings of the Begonia family, because 
of the beautiful and varied coloring of their 
leaves. The Rex Begonia is a native of South 
America, introduced into England in 1857, from 
Berlin, Germany. The majority of Rex varieties 
have a decidedly dormant period, so when they 
start to drop their leaves one by one in late De¬ 
cember, keep the soil a little drier and watch 
for signs of renewed growth. Renew the soil 
and start them off, and by July they will be beau¬ 
tiful again and will remain that way until late 
fall. 
Rex need little or no fertilizer, will stand a 
little warmer temperature than most Begonias, 
and a little more water on the soil. It too is 
grateful for a spray of water (room temperature) 
over the foliage. Many successful growers use 
straight leaf mold for potting soil; rather coarse. 
Rex varieties can be readily started from leaves. 
Use the method suggested in propagating. The 
varieties seen most frequently in the east are Car- 
malita, His Majesty, Emeraud, Velour, Robert 
George, Bronze King. 
CALLA LILY BEGONIA 
The most beautiful and the most difficult of 
culture is the Begonia Calla Lily. Like all others 
of its kind is it well worth the effort to cultivate. 
The most essential points are to have a very 
porous soil, (regular potting soil for Begonias) 
so that the water will drain through quickly with¬ 
out water-logging; to keep very dry—almost as 
dry as the winter flowering or Christmas Begonia; 
to keep cool; and to spray the foliage every morn¬ 
ing. A tin container seems to give the best re¬ 
sults. If you are growing it in a deep window 
sill, keep it close to the window. Heavy mucky 
weather—it sure does not like and many times 
will apparently die down to the top of the soil, 
but do not throw your root out, keep quite dry but 
don’t allow the soil to dry out completely and 
when the weather gets cooler and the air drier, 
you will be rewarded with new shoots. 
It displays most of its growing activity during 
the spring and summer. In the winter the foliage 
shows very little white, even the leaves are al¬ 
most altogether green. In and around Philadel¬ 
phia it will stand a very little of the morning sun 
until about the 15th of February, then plenty of 
direct light thereafter. During the summer, place 
it in the coolest and best ventilated spot you can 
find. 
TUBEROUS ROOTED BEGONIAS 
Tuberous rooted Begonias were first discovered 
in Central and South America. But their de¬ 
velopment since they were found is almost beyond 
conception. The flowers are the most beautiful of 
the Begonia family and you will be well repaid 
for all the time and effort you spend on their cul- 
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