ruminate vb. to chew (the cud)
I put this in a Six on Saturday post in July 2024. Here is the entry: Saccharum officinarum ‘Rubra’ is the name I was given this under but no such name is on the RHS website so I’m unsure. It may well be ‘Pele’s Smoke’, which Tony featured a while back, or S. officinarum violaceum. It roots absurdly…
I don't know how many Begonias I now have, I have a list of them but haven't updated it in a while. I will admit to more than a slight tendency to being obsessive but I really try very hard to restrict new purchases to things that are distinctly different from anything I have already…
The American Begonia Society maintains a list of unidentified species of Begonias in cultivation, allocating each a number consisting of the letter U followed by three digits. The whole number should be italicized, turning Begonia U614 into Begonia U614. U614 was originally introduced to cultivation by the late Michael Wickenden, then proprietor of Cally Gardens…
Nine months on from my last posting on Begonias and it seems a good time to put some notes together by way of an update. My collection has come through another winter and has been added to both by plant purchases and with seed raised plants. Begonia pedatifida ‘Apalala’It is clear that this is a…
They're a funny group of plants, Begonias. In the UK, for most people what comes to mind when you mention Begonias is the bedding plant Begonia semperflorens and all the other brassy and brash bedding types, followed by the houseplants, typified by the rex tribe and their propensity for dying in short order. I already…
Sometimes things come together nicely. Last week one of my sisters paid me a visit and I told her about my nightly torchlit forays to hunt for slugs and weevils. A couple of days later an Amazon parcel arrived, containing an LED head torch. I often look at plants for sale online. I had been…
Only July and already I am writing about Begonias, stalwarts of my late or very late summer display. I continue to add more forms to my collection and such is the impact that some are already making that it seemed appropriate to write a few notes about them, even at the risk of having to…
Begonia 'Garden Angel Blush' 2nd July 2022 This is undoubtedly a contender for best performing plant in my garden this year. I put it into a "Six on Saturday" post on 11th June, noting that it was shaping up well, and now, on 6th November, it is still looking good, if a little windswept by…
My Begonia collection continues to grow, to the point where my list making instincts are about to kick in. This year has seen the addition of a number of species and varieties and I've just placed an order for another five so I'm not easing up on them just yet. My focus continues to be…
I obtained Begonia 'Torsa' in 2020 and I cannot remember from whom. It may have been from Tregrehan Plant Fair but if it was I still don't know which nursery was selling it. Never mind. It was kept in a pot through 2020 and over winter into 2021, under glass but with minimal heat. It…
garden ruminations 