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dkotchey

Silver Maple Begonia ??

dkotchey
19 years ago

I was watching A Gardner's Diary on HGTV and saw a beautiful begonia. The lady said it was a sliver maple begonia. I was looking for information on it online but cant find anything. Has anyone heard of this? I have no idea what type of begonia it is. It was good size, the leaves where maple shaped and very blue-ish silver with red underneath. I'd love to have one so I was looking to see where I could purchase one.

Anyone info?

Comments (9)

  • ooojen
    19 years ago

    I didn't see the show (no cable) and I'm not familiar with that common name, but it sounds like it could be a description of Begonia 'Benitochiba'. It's not a real large-leafed Begonia, but the color matches (bluish silver to silver-pink, depending on light), and the leaves are palmate--- similar to Maples' lobed leaves.
    It's just a shot in the dark, but it'd be worth doing an image search to see whether that's it.

  • dkotchey
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    OH - You're good! That is it!

    Can this be dug up and brought in for winter storage and then brought back out the next year (spring/summer)?

    Thanks for your help

  • hc mcdole
    19 years ago

    It was probably 'Little Brother Montgomery' if it was the same show I saw.

  • greenelbows1
    19 years ago

    I guess you could plant it out for the summer, but if you dig it up and bring it in and force dormancy it will be permanent. Neither Benitochiba nor Little Brother Montgomery have a tuber. You could grow them nicely in a light but not too sunny window, especially on a pebble tray. For me at least they are a little touchy, but I don't know how they'd be for you--lots of begonias I grew easily other places I have trouble with here, and lots I had trouble with other places do well here. They're both very nice begonias. Wouldn't it be nice if those wonderful gardening shows were a little more careful about giving us names?

  • hc mcdole
    19 years ago

    dkotchey,

    Did the show say anything about it being a tuberous begonia? I didn't see anything in your post about this.

    Did the begonia look like this? My deceased 'Little Brother Montgomery' is in the two pictures below. I bought the darn thing at a Target about four years ago and lost it this last winter. One day I'm just going to have to break down and order one via mail (I keep hoping to find one locally). A close relative is 'Connie Boswell' in leaf shape and form but a more silver color leaf overall. I've had a couple of those as well.

    I saw one of Erica's shows where the couple showing their garden had a very large, very nice, maple leaf shape begonia in a large pot or in the ground for the summer. The woman said it was a maple leaf begonia or something like that (I take it she did not have the real name for the show).

    Butch

    {{gwi:441845}}

    {{gwi:441846}}

  • dkotchey
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    hcmcdole, I'm sorry to hear yours died! :( It's a beauty. I think this is like the one on the show (or least very similar). I'm still debating if I should get one since our season here is so short.

    Thank you for the info on this everyone.

  • greenelbows1
    19 years ago

    The length of your season really shouldn't matter for a houseplant. You could have it outside for the summer, but it will be fine inside for the rest of the year, at least with a little attention to humidity and being careful not to over-water.

  • plantjen
    19 years ago

    hcmcdole:

    I had just decided I'm going to order a "Little Brother Montgomery" from Logees, when I saw your beautiful pics! Isn't it great when you find something like that at a place like Target? You never know what treasures you're going to find at the local discount stores and home centers.

    I'm wondering, though--Logee's says that Little Bro. Montgomery is a cane type that gets tall. Did you pinch yours a lot to keep it in a hanging basket like that?

  • hc mcdole
    19 years ago

    PlantJen,

    That was surprise when I went through Target's tiny plant department 4 or 5 years ago and found a small collection of begonias there. I ended up buying 3, one was LBM, one was a plant similar to 'Cleopatra' but this one has attained large leaves and is easy to propagate, and the last one was a form of maculata (which kicked the bucket last year as well). I blame myself for losing LBM since I repotted it at the wrong time (winter), and then probably overwatered it. Lesson learned - make sure you have another start of a treasured plant first. I just ordered another one from Lauray of Salisbury. I've heard good things about this nursery so I thought I would give it a try.

    As for it being a cane, I think it is a cross between a cane and rhizomatous so it does seem to get a little tall but nothing like a cane. It defoliates in winter dropping a lot of the long stems as well (at least in a cold greenhouse). I never pinched mine - just let it do its thing. Then in late winter it starts putting out new growth and by the end of summer it has filled out very nicely.

    P.S. It looks like Logees is carrying 'Connie Boswell' again.

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