Wednesday, July 23, 2008

A Pass-along Plant and Fred

My sweet neighbor Jane gave me some cuttings from an Angel Wing Begonia. I am really excited! I have seen these beautiful plants, but never had one myself. Jane got the cuttings from her sister Sally. My instructions are to plant the cuttings as soon as they root. Since I've never had one, I wanted to know more about these hybrid begonias. According to Wikipedia, Angel Wing Begonias resulted from a cross between begonia aconitifolia and begonia coccinea made by a plant breeder from California in 1926. "The plant gets its name from the shape and color of its leaves. Usually Angel Wing grow upward on one stem. They flower and produce blooms that range in color from red to white." Interesting also I read that the leaves range in color as well. The top is dark green with kind of silver specks, but the underside is dark red. The article I read says they are easy to grow as long as you keep them moist. That I can do! In all my research today, I came across comments from gardeners that have grown them. All of them said these begonias will not bloom without good light. Because they are advertised as shade plants, they are sometimes placed in a spot without any light--so good thing I saw this advice! So, thank you Jane and Sally very, very much!! I will take good care of this "angel" and hope it will grow to be big and beautiful!


Oh, and Fred???
This is where Fred lives. He sleeps here all day, and as I was watering last night, he let me take his picture. He's not very patient, so I didn't get a real good shot of him before he yelled "stop that!"




This is Fred!

6 comments:

MrBrownThumb said...

Man, you are lucky to have such diversity in your garden. I'd love to find a "Fred" of my own in my garden. I have to settle for large city rats and the occasional lost pigeon ;0)

Meadowview Thymes said...

Ugh...large city rats? We just have the common frogs, toads, armadillos and ocassional SNAKES!

JenningsJunk said...

You're new plant adventure looks nice as is. I can't wait to see it rooted and planted.

Fred is terrific! Good pic :-)

Anonymous said...

I love the foliage on your Angel Wing Begonia! I can't wait to see it blooming in your garden. Oh and say hi to Fred for me. ;)

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

I am trying without success to grow a begonia. I forgot what type it is but I know it is not the angel wing. It has tubers. I have leaves but it has not flowered. I have fertilized it and I keep it watered etc. Not sure what the problem is.
Fred looks very happy in his little home(-:
Yikes mrbrownthumb....I don't think large city rats would be to fun. Jack would love to catch one though(-:

Meadowview Thymes said...

jenningsjunk--it does look pretty in the vase. I can see little tiny roots starting to come out of the stems. Exciting!


perennialgardner--I hope it does well and blooms! I always fret over new plants--probably way too much!
PS--Fred says hello!


Cindee--in my reading about these angel begonias, I saw the comment "some begonias just do not bloom, but have pretty foliage." Maybe yours is one of these. Let me know if you get blooms!