hardy begonia

9 years ago

Reminded by Laceyvails despair at the loss of a treasured plant, it occurs to me how very little I know about this genus. Being a rampant plant snob, I dismissed those lurid scarlet, pink, orange things which feature heavily in hanging baskets.....and having killed every house plant which has ever had the misfortune to spend time under my careless regime, they sort of passed my by. However, the combination of a) seeing images of Heron's Pirouette and other evansia types.....
b) a tall and lush long caned type which my son has...but most importantly, c) I find myself gardening in shade for the first time in my life and have been at something of a loss at how to fill 5 acres with zero funds.

So, obviously seeds or cuttings are the way (and I certainly recall the fun of taking begonia leaf cuttings whilst at hort.college).

So where to go from here. Any and all advice on growing, propagating, caring for and sourcing some of these ridiculously exotic looking plants. Should I even bother?
I need to reward myself for growing hundreds of common, but reliiable warhorses (hesperis, foxgloves, lunaria, campaniula) and the long wait for tree seedlings. Arisaema are calling (but the expense....).
What other uncommon and surprising lovelies are easy(ish) to grow, cheap to propagate and would kick me out of the doldrums which always threaten around this time of year (just after the mad rose flush and before late summer exuberance)?

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Comments (5)

shadeyplace
9 years ago
wow, 5 acres! Lucky you. I find that the begonis grandis reseeds with abandon.
There are plenty of reseeding (to be invasive) spring perennials but if you are looking for "after the mad rose flush", there are a lot of things that do BETTER in sun but you can easily have in some shade. Among them are the coneflowers, Kirengoshima, hydrangeas, hostas, ferns, ligularia, daylilies, lilliums, calamintha, gentian, rudbeckia, and hakone grass
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Original Author
9 years ago
Ho, you mentioned gentians - another possible genus to get lost in. As it happens, I have a huge clump of kirengoshoma I have never had the courage to uproot and divide (it is in a tricky spot to reach)....but would rather fancy having it in the woods. When best to attempt this? Spring rather than autumn, I would assume? I haven't a clue what sort of rootmass to expect so please elaborate (I am back to being a complete novice in this situation)

Mmmm, 5 acres of poplar plantation comes with a whole lot of terrifying restraints - not least being the total coverage of nettle and bramble apart from where we made free with brush-cutters and some deadly broadleaf herbicide (I know, I know....) One day though........
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Karchita
9 years ago
I say go for the hardy begonias. I've only grown them for a couple of years, but they are lovely and very low maintenance. I started with two expensive Heron's Pirouettes and I've had exactly two seedlings appear so far, so I would welcome more. Rampant seeding certainly has not been a problem for me. I'm envisioning a large patch of them in my shady corner. I haven't had a single problem and they bloom late in the summer when not much else is happening. I really like this plant.
shadeyplace
9 years ago
maybe the Pirouettes is not as invasive as being a hybrid..the straight grandis is however. I have never divided my Kirengoshoma so I cannot tell you anything about transplanting it. turtlehead is another late bloomer and likes shade.
Karchita
9 years ago
Yes, it is possible that the Pirouettes are better behaved. A little self seeding never bothers me. I do tend to mulch heavily, and they are growing under a camellia where I rake up the spent flowers in the spring while the begonias are still dormant. So it is also possible I am interfering with self-seeding. Nevertheless, they are truly lovely in a very special way. I really like this plant.