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greenelbows1

Plant Auction

greenelbows1
16 years ago

I'm still so flabbergasted I had to post. Our more or less local horticulture society had their annual meeting today. I couldn't stay, but took a few plants for their auction. A friend called after the meeting in amazement to report that my THREE INCH pot of Begonia 'Five and Dime', a nice plant to be sure but three inches!!! went for One Hundred Dollars!! It's a donation to the society, and they have a tendency to get carried away, but my goodness gracious! (Now don't you want to go out and buy one, even if they're five or ten bucks?)

Comments (5)

  • hc mcdole
    16 years ago

    That is great news GreenElbows. Don't you wish we could sell all begonias for that price if you were a seller? Then as a buyer be able to buy 8 inch pots for $5?

    Here is one 8 inch pot I got a week ago for $5. I just wish he had more begonia varieties.

    Looks like River Nile in this picture

    {{gwi:431815}}

    A bunch of them

    {{gwi:431816}}

    My Special Angel and I think Little Miss Mummey

    {{gwi:431817}}

    Rita's Gold Fern
    {{gwi:431818}}

    I think this is Silvermist although he had it as Sophie Cecile.

    {{gwi:431820}}

    Bonfire or boliviensis - cool bulb

    {{gwi:431821}}

  • greenelbows1
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Now those are worth the price! Y'know, club auctions are really interesting. When I lived in Nebraska, I belonged to an Iris society that bought each year's introductions from some of the top hybridizers, and while they would go for a hundred dollars or more retail, we'd get 'em for prices like $20.00. That was a club service for the members. This hort. society really does quite a bit of research, and plant explorations sometimes, and things like that, and their auctions are to support the society's projects. Took me a bit to get used to when I got here, but I really think both purposes are worthwhile and wish more clubs did things like that (both ways!) Maybe there'd be more clubs! (In case anybody isn't familiar with B. 'Five and Dime', it's a true miniature and won't ever get big like those gorgeous ones you showed--but beauty comes in all sizes. At one point in my misguided past we were moving an awful lot, and I had to kinda put my fascination with begonias on the shelf because the only ones I knew were so large and I couldn't move with any more big plants. Then I found little ones-- And then we stopped moving, and I get even bigger ones--too!)

  • hc mcdole
    16 years ago

    You are right on the clubs. I think I've gotten my $20 worth for joining the local club. Unfortunately there isn't a club for most people. I used to be big into iris too. I'd usually get the buy so many and get some free or half price from Schreiner's and Cooley's. I think I had over 120 different ones but then the trees we put out started shading them out. The only problem with iris is they only bloom for a very short period in the spring.

    As for miniature begonias they are quite amazing. Rob's Violets is a great place to buy the smaller begonias. Sometimes that can be misleading though. I bought Shamus from them as a miniature and its leaves are probably 5 to 6 inches across and the plant covers nearly a 20 inch round table now.

    One lesson I learned is don't plant small begonias in the same pot as big begonias. THe big ones will quickly shade out the small ones. That's probably true of any plant.

  • greenelbows1
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Yeah, I've had that experience too with so-called small ones that just didn't stay that way--even got Shamus from Rob's too!--but then some are even smaller. The one that pushed me out of resisting getting any more was B. prismatocarpus 'Variagation'. That one stays small!

    I wish there were more clubs too. Tried to get a begonia club started here, but it turned out almost all the people who came were my friends from the African Violet club that is now a general gardening club and it just seemed silly to have two clubs--and most of them are also garden club members. And most aren't as addicted as I am, which makes them good people to keep me encouraged and propagating, but not usually sources of new plants for me!

  • greenelbows1
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    It's prismatocarpa, not --carpus!

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