JB said: Believe me, begonias do not get much attention here. I bought an entire collection of the fragrant ones and they grew for awhile and then just looked terrible. I gave them all to my girl that works for me and she had great luck with them. I have some white ones in the barnyard containers but they are not really looking too good now either. I think I had better stay away from begonias.

Tea Rose



Other begonia that died and now looks like this


I doubt anyone will fight over putting these pictures on the database.

JB, your first picture is a begonia but your second one is not. That's a Pelargoniums (Pelargonium)
no relation to begonias.

Cinta: I too hope your dear husband has recuperated and that all is well now. I know how stressful it can be when a family member is going through illness, hospitalization, rehab etc.

JB: I love begonias but they don't seem to like me anymore for some reason. There used to be an on-line nursery that I'd browse all the time (for the life of me I can't remember their name) but they had so many different types of beautiful begonias. Now when I google I don't find them, or for that matter many other on-line sites that sell begonias. Years ago I had a small but nice collection that seemed to thrive and after about eight years or so they all kicked the bucket but it was during a time when I was traveling back and forth to stay with my mom in south Florida when she was sick and all of my plants were neglected for almost two years. I guess they just couldn't take the neglect anymore. I sure love that Tea Rose Begonia in your photo; it's so pretty! That other one reminds me of a Pelergonium/Geranium I once had. And, oh my what can I say about that Streptocarpus ... Gorgeous!!! I tried my hand at them about eight years ago but they did not do well for me at all.

You are absolutely right, that is not a begonia...how funny is that???? It is a geranium and the white ones I mentioned are geraniums also. I certainly had a senior moment on that one. I think I was thinking how both had died and came back, not thinking about what they were. Oh my God...I hate getting old.

That is like the other day I was writing something to send out with my Schlumbergera and ended up calling them Streptocarpus....I am telling you, this is becoming too frequent for me. I do think I try and do to many things at one time and screw up doing them. I will not admit to my mind beginning to perish. No never.

Speaking of Streps....I would love to get into them more, but back in June I propagated a few leaves, well, quite a few and they were old because I had been sick and did not have the energy to cut and plant eaerlier than the 17th. It is now Aug 7th and NOTHING IS SHOWING IN ANY OF THEM. The trick, so I think, is the leaves were too old to sprout babies and it is taking longer, if they do it at all. Lesson learned and now I have to separate the ones that are still possibilities and throw out the others. I lost two of my older ones from mealy bug this year also. Not sure I need high maintenance plants, yet they are not really high maintenance when you have them as pleasure plants and not propagation plants. I just adore them since they bloom constantly. I got a new fertilizer for them the other day and wow, it did work. You could see the difference in just a few days. It is actually for orchids but the numbers are perfect for the streps. Have you seen the website @strepbystrep has put up. It is great and is called Streptocarpus for Beginners, The Sky's the Limit. He drives me crazy with all his wonderful information. I just keep printing it out and making a file...then when I have time I sit quietly and read and try and remember. Here is the link to his new site...check it out..it is wonderful and so easy to understand.

http://streps.simpl.com

Oh my, Thank you so much for the link, what a great site with very good information for both beginners ... as well as to refresh the memory of former kinda experienced growers! I was drooling at the beautiful Strep photo's and really love the one called' Little Polly Flinders' and '4th of Juyl' which are both listed as compact!!

He has a great Cubits with all kinds of pictures and he also stops on here at the strep scoop thread to help us out when we need him. He is just one really neat man. I love the way he describes how to do things. The pictures on the Cubits will make you crazy....if you have not already seen them, take a look.
http://cubits.org/Strepbystrep... some of the Polish and Russians make me just want all of them.

I haven't visited cubits in a long time ... must find the time to pop in over there soon!

It is slow but growing and very few busy cubits...it certainly is a great concept but unfortunately when the garden people moved out, it nearly died. Thanks to some really wonderful people who remain, (including me ) I hope it sticks around for awhile.

Yeah, I kinda got lost because there were so many cubits I'd joined and I just didn't have the time to visit all on a regular basis. I was so happy when Dave decided to start ATP! This is my internet *home*.

Here is a beauty for you to enjoy.....I am new to Sinningias and have only started to propagate them. Here is one of my favorites.
Bristol's Galaxy Tour


Bristol's Love Potion is another blooming now.



The flowers are so heavy I must put sticks in to hold them up. They are just beautiful and I am wondering why they never use these in floral designs...at least I do not think they do....anyhow, they remind me of camellias in a way.

Oh JB, those are sooo pretty! I used to grow a few Mini Sinningia's but the standards with those big beautiful flowers are wonderful!

Forgot to mention above, a lot of the pics I see in the database - the person who uploaded it didn't click that they have it. Some would have been photographed in other locations, nurseries and public gardens, but a lot of them look like personal plants.

Loving your pics, Jacquie!!

plantladylin said:Oh JB, those are sooo pretty! I used to grow a few Mini Sinningia's but the standards with those big beautiful flowers are wonderful!

I bought two mini Sinningia's Danielle, Heartland's Double Day and Lisa.....they are not doing well at all but I keep hoping. I gave them to my girl that works for me and she is really good with miniatures of all kinds, if they don't make it with her I will be surprised.

purpleinopp said:Forgot to mention above, a lot of the pics I see in the database - the person who uploaded it didn't click that they have it. Some would have been photographed in other locations, nurseries and public gardens, but a lot of them look like personal plants.

Loving your pics, Jacquie!!

Thanks Tiff, I am not a good photographer...with one eye I can not even guarantee the picture will be straight. but I try and take my own shots so people who buy my stuff can get an idea what the actual stock plants come from. I do know some of those beautiful plants on the database are taken by a man who goes to those other locations and take the pictures. They are beautiful for sure.

Tiffany: I sometimes upload photo's to the database of plants that I no longer grow or have in my collection. Some people don't have the time to make the notation of whether it's their plant, a photo taken at a nursery, a plant they used to have, or a plant they would like to have etc. I'm happy that members are uploading pictures ... which helps our ATP database grow.

I keep saying that I need to take time and add info and comments to the database but I just never seem to get around to it; maybe I'll find some time during the winter when things slow down.

Excellent points, Lin!

I've been going through my plant list on here and trying to take pics of plants that need more pics, and don't have pics of stem showing leaf arrangement, back of leaf, back of flower, foliage maladies, cuttings, pruning, unopened buds, that kind of thing, not just the whole-plant-in-its'-prime shot & the front-of-flower macro.

I'm not anywhere in the realm of being a great photographer either, but do what I can in the spirit of sharing/learning, and I also just like to take pics of my plants often. I only wish more of them were clear/straight enough to share. Sometimes I have an old pic removed if I add a similar one that's better. Also have a problem NOT having stuff in the background of pics, and/or other plants trying to get in the frame.