Re: Hardy Begonia

Hello Marilyn,
    I say you first reference to growing begonia sutherlandii in container,
but we grow hardy perennials as well as tender and annuals in containers
here, so I was asking rather than assuming about hardiness. Besides, I like
getting all the details if possible.
    JoAn, my partner, grows several tuberous begonia each year in her
containers around here. She has one this year that is almost black velvet to
go with her black elephant ears. Saw some wonderful small begonias a friend
showed me after making a trip to Florida and a center that specializes in
begonia... almost made me want to get into houseplants....
    Personally I am strictly a hardy perennial person in my gardens.......
Thank you.
    Gene E. Bush
Munchkin Nursery & Gardens, llc
www.munchkinnursery.com
genebush@munchkinnursery.com
Zone 6/5  Southern Indiana

----- Original Message -----
> Gene,
>         As my note below says, I have been growing sutherlandii for about
5 years -
> maybe longer - in a container outside.  The container stays outside the
year
> around and I don't dig the tubers.  B. sutherlandii goes dormant like any
> other perennial and reappears rather late in the spring ( as does B.
grandis
> for me).  It does makes bubils (as does B. grandis), but unfortunately
> because my plant trails over the container, the bubils fall on the cement
> driveway, not on soil. :( Ratz!
>         We are zone 8 here with occasional dips down to zone 6.  Here is
what
> Kristl says in her Gardens North catalog -  "A tuberous sort, surviving
> freezing in Britain (Zone 7?).  Can be grown indoors or as an annual
> outside, storing tubers over winter.  Beautiful salmon colored flowers on
> pendulous branches from fleshy stems and leaves.  Early and long bloom
> period, from summer to frost.  Beautiful in a gorgeous pot set a bit high
> and in a shady corner so that the flowers can gracefully arch outwards."
>         To be safe, I would say to treat it like any other tuberous
Begonia by
> storing the tuber indoors in a dark, cool, dry spot and checking the
tubers
> once a month during winter to make sure they aren't shriveling up.  There
> are some excellent pix of this pretty Begonia on the African Garden web
> site...or do a Google image search.
>         This reminds me that I saw another hardy species Begonia a few
weeks ago
> while on a garden tour.  Begonia boliviensis.  There is a good picture of
it
> on the Plant Delights online catalog.  Long, narrow leaves and long,
narrow
> flowers with flared tips....enough to drive a hummingbird crazy!  Tony
Avent
> lists it as zones 7-9, but it is also tuberous.
> I gotta have one of these!  There is no end to plant lust!! :)
>
> Marilyn Dube'
> Natural Designs Nursery
> Portland, Oregon
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