Salmon Colored 4 o'clock

Variegated sage and Ruby Siam in background


Love the coleus, I have Kiwi Fern, which is similar, mine is leggy I need to pinch it.

That really is a pretty coleus, David. Love the lionfish leaf, too!

I'm a diver so have seen way too many lionfish in recent years, and that coleus looks like it's growing as fast as they are breeding.

That's a lovely color of 4 o'clock, too Dawn, and the picture with the variegated sage sure has a nice mix of leaf colors going on.

New flower on my favorite begonia B. Odorata alba. It has a lovely soft fragrance in the mornings. This one is in a huge hanging basket, and has been taking a break while I battled the spiraling whiteflies on it.

Oh yes! That coleus is wonderful. I just got done taking some cuttings from mine. Want to be sure that I've got some for next year. Though I am going to try to over winter the one that I got from Jean this summer. I think I might be able to. It's still young, and I'm thinking if it has a good spot indoors…I just might get lucky! Maybe!?!

David, you've got a great eye! That really does look like those dreaded Lionfish!

Dawn, pretty pictures… The salmon color is one I've not seen on four o'clocks. Do you find them to be fragrant? I've heard others say that they are fragrant, but I've never been able to detect anything from them. We've got some neighbors with yellow, red, and a magenta.

Beautiful begonia, Elaine. I received an already rooted cutting of an angel wing a couple weeks ago, and it's blooming already! I've never been a big begonia fan, but this one may change that. This is my first cane / angel wing, and I'm really 'falling' for it!

Salmons not a common color Dawn and great picture. Your gardening style reminds me of mine. Love it!

Looks like you're winning the whitefly battle Elaine! Looking good!

You are going to really get hooked when your canes start reaching up more and more Tara. Canes are my favorite. ik grow the white and red Dragonwings, and just got my first Angelwing cutting last year. The dragons are all most 5 feet now and my little Angel is at about 2. The leaf shape on yours is really cool with the serrations...

Have a productive day. Feel the cooler air yet?

That's a pretty one, Tara. I love the ones with the jaggedy leaves like that. Not cooler here yet, David, but maybe a tad drier anyway. C'mon coolth!

I got this one as a cutting last fall, and because the leaves are not huge, I thought it would stay a fairly small plant . . . Yeah Right! It's a bushy 3ft. tall and wide, and outgrew its pot a couple of months ago. I really must get busy fixing it up, and dividing it. B. Maurice Amy


This one really does stay a smaller size. B. Don Miller. I love the look of the leaves, like they have snow on them.


Here are a couple more, first is B. Carolina de Lucerna which I think is going to be huge. The big leaf is nearly a foot long and it has very large flowers for a begonia, too. Second is a shot of the B. Odorata alba so you can get an idea of the size. The basket is 22in. I've pruned this puppy twice this season, too!

Wow, Elaine! It looks like you really are a Begonia aficionado! They are beautiful.
Was wondering if you may have any idea what mine may be? The friend that gave it to me said…'It's just a begonia' Bless her heart! She is a dear!
I was looking through the begonia societies site, but some of the pictures are too small for me to tell. Any thoughts?

I agree Tara, and well,.............

O.K.!

What don't you have growing in those gardens of yours Dizzy Pixie!

These were really cool pictures! You are truly a gardener/plant lover Elaine!

Thanks for sharing!

Yes, David I am a collector, not a landscaper! My husband calls the yard my 'private botanical jungle' Tara, unlike my orchid addiction which still has a serious hold on me, I was able to stop after about 10 different types of begonias. They grow really well here as long as you give them the right conditions, and as David pointed out, some of them get really big. So there definitely is such a thing as too many! They propagate so easily from cuttings, I have given away dozens, too.

In your first picture, that one you have looks a bit like Gryphon, but the second picture looks more like my Sophie Cecile. Gryphon has more symmetrical leaves - sort of a deeply cut maple-leaf shape, and are beautiful dark green like that with silver spots. On Sophie Cecile, the leaves are long triangular in general shape, but very jaggedy. Show us another picture in a month or two when the plant's bigger?

I took this pic of Sophie this morning, but the light was too bright and it doesn't show up well. I had a big clump of Gryphons in the ground a few years ago, but they have petered out, not liking the competition from the oak tree roots. Now I sink the begonia plants into the border in big pots so they have a chance to get roots established.


This little NOID fellow jumped into my cart at Home Depot a few months ago. Label just said 'Rex begonia'. It was in a 4in. pot and I brought it home and made 12 divisions out of that pot. This is 2 of the divisions. Cute little shy pink flowers hiding under the leaves.

Interesting that you mentioned the 'Sophie Cecile'. That is one that I thought looked very much like it, and I don't remember seeing 'Gryphon' at all…I'll have to go back and look more! I'll definitely post again as it gets bigger.
Gotta love those that have the 'talent' of jumping into the cart! Very cute!
Do you have any tips on keeping them happy? I'm so much further north than you, so I can't imagine being able to plant them in the ground. At least not without really good shelter. Guess they'll be container grown…Indoors? Or maybe prefer the covered deck during the more temperate months?

Mine do great through the winter, and don't seem to be all that tender but I do throw a blankie over them if the temps are going down into the 30's. I don't think you'd need to bring them indoors, but David could give you better advice there.

They like moisture, and I fertilize them generously in the warm weather, then taper off as it gets colder. Mine all grow either inside the pool cage, under the shade of my tall brugs, or out in the shady border where they get dappled shade all day long under my big oak trees. Some of them get a little sun in the early morning, like the Maurice Amy - it puts on nicer red color in more light.

When they get leggy or crowded, don't be afraid to prune and/or divide them. Just make lots of new plants!

I'm suddenly feeling the need for more Begonias!

Good night all!

DavidofDeLand said:I agree with Elaine a lot, Jan.

My Father used to own/operate a small exterminating company until retiring, and would like to add these thoughts.

When I noticed during a bi-annual attic maintenance and check here, I noticed a few Rat turds in my attic.

Dad said, "Go ahead and put the Rat bait up there David. You have no water in your attic, and the bait creates extreme thirst. The rats will have to go out the way they came in looking for water and will die outside."......... It worked, and I did find 2 or three dead in the gardens in the next few days... I found the area they were coming in and sealed it and haven't had a problem again so far.

These are only ideas from my experience, and it's always wise to get a second opinion from your favorite local exterminator of course.

I did that once and they crawled down an inner wall behind the bathtub looking for water and died there. I ended up tearing out the wall separating the bathroom from the kitchen and crawling under the kitchen sink to dig out 6 dead ones with long barbeque tongs. Never again. And before you ask, yes the tongs went in the trash with them. LOL

Right, David. More begonias and less rats!

This is a better picture of the leaves of Sophie Cecile, although this is an older stem, and the new leaves are darker green and glossy. It also can have splashes of pink near the white splashes.

I have just started collecting begonias, I have Cracklin Rosie, Irene Nussbaum, a rescue from Walmart for 2.99, and a Tom Ment. I wish things like that NOID would find their way into my cart

My 4 o'clock is a 6:30 pm o'clock, guess it's on daylight savings time or Greenwich Mean Time. I happened to be out and caught it in the evening.

Tara - I have 2 Dragon Wings in pots. Last winter I put cardboard boxes over them on the COLD nites. They lost most of their leaves but came back fine last Spring. If I can do it, so can you!!!!! I am finding it difficult to find a good spot in the yard for them. One did really wekk then died back. The other started off really slow but looks much better now. Both in almost identical conditions on either side of the studio porch.

Need to start stocking up on more boxes for the coming winter.

Good Morning,

I'm enjoying the Begonia talk, and I really will be keeping my eyes open as I'm out and about. The main and nearly only Begonias I have are the red and the white Dragonswings. They are the old fashioned unhybridized one popular in older days with the solid dark green leaves that look lacquered red on the underside and get about 5 feet tall.

I have left them out evety Winter, and they have survived really cold temperatures, but the are in a huge ceramic pot (way to big to move) next to the wall of the house and under an Oak tree. I do bring a few smaller ones into the garage or greenhouse though...

Slightly different views of the front yard. Now that I've mowed & pruned, this is what it looks like out front. Took quite a bit off the Crepe Myrtles and tore out a lot of Mexican Petunia.

I plan on widening this garden toward the street side.


Same bed, but fromt he sidewalk side.

I'm realizing how much the path of the sun has changed in the past couple months (since it has been cool enuf to be out there in the afternoons). Where I once had a lot of mid-day sun, now the sun comes much later in the day.

I need to start concentrating on some low growing plants to fill in around the taller ones. Most of the front area gets a good dose of all day sun. Any suggestions are welcome.

Will Crown of Thorns survive in your area? I love them as front-plantings and they are maintenance free.

No, I bring my COTs in for the winter. Even out in the summer they stay really small and I don't want anything thorny I need to work around.