I brought in some of my semperflorens late this fall. I don't recall the specific name of either of them. Both with small half dollar sized reddish foilage. Very deep and glossy. One type had very pretty, almost shimmering white flowers, the other had red flowers that did not stand out against the dark foilage very well.
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I plucked them from an outside bed in Nov. They were looking very sad and leggy. I cut them back to almost nothing, repotted them in good soil, watered and fertilized, and they started bouncing back nicely.

They set under a basement window as well as two 48" T8s. The foiliage color has perked back up and the plants are growing very compact and neat.
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The red one.
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I love them all but I have Apple Pie, and Needle point and Gobe. Always looking and wanting more. Is it spring yet? God its cold and snowny in Canada(ontario)

Are these kinds of Begonias? Do you have any pics of them?

Cold here in Michigan, recently in the 40's though can't beat that and the days are slowly getting longer Yes!!

WOW!that's what i'm talking bout. How could you not be obsessed with these guys? I'll admit the winter has mine looking a little stragley. Do they like humidity & to be misted on their leaves? How about direct sun? I will go out of my way to make these guys happy & @ home. Thanks!

Begonias appreciate humidity in my observation. All mine go in the basement during winter under fluorescent shop lights. I do not mist - just water well when they need it (some twice a week, some once a week, and some may go for weeks - check the moisture level with your finger if you aren't sure). I don't water until the pot dries out some.

Some begonias need extra humidity due to the tropical jungles that they came from. For these I provide plastic covers, cookie jars, and aquariums from ten gallons up to 120 gallons.

Direct sun in winter should be fine unless you see burning. While the sun coming through a window may feel hot on the back of my neck, the (few) begonias I have upstairs seem to love it.

Here is my mother's Irene Nuss from this past summer. I gave her a couple of cuttings a couple of years ago and she can grow them into monsters.

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Way cool! Never seen any that big. What's her secret? I love them. What part of the country?

New potting soil and water from a dehumidifier is all I know she uses.

TN and GA.

These are not begonias but like the same conditions as begonias.
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Nice pictures! The varieties listed, 'Island Magic', 'Bashful Bandit; and 'Redington Shores' are my hybrids - and well grown. Where were they taken? Well grown plants!
Greg Sytch in war, balmy New Port Richey FL (usually zone 9b but mostly 10a)

Hey Greg,

Right outside Atlanta (about 20 miles west). I know the 3 hybrids are yours. In fact I visited your place about 4 years ago and bought 20 or so from you that day. Two that I had to buy from you were 'Alligator Alley' (lost it but bought another one from Harmony a year later) and 'Island Magic'.

Love 'Bashful Bandit' - it is probably the one that got me started nearly ten years ago after seeing Julie and Mike F. post pictures of theirs on the Y group.

Did you do 'Kissimmee' too? It can become a beast! Here was the giant one next to 'Holly Moon'.

hcmc,
that irene nuss is unbelievable! does she take it indoors for winter? cut it back or not?
i tried another rex (again!) this past summer, but it went caput in 6 weeks! so, still can't do it.
may be i'll try Hugh McLaughlin next ;). or irene ness!
ii have to say that i rebloomed my b. reiger very successfully. and am just in love with them.
this is a pic from mid november as they started going into bloom.
i am now trying to regrow/rebloom them a 3rd time.

This post was edited by petrushka on Wed, Feb 5, 14 at 13:07

Yes it goes inside for winter. She did cut it back last spring but it still did very well. She keeps it in a very cool basement with very few lights for winter.

Your rieger did very well if you got it to come out and bloom like it did. I would say you have a green thumb!

here is that same Irene this past summer. Not as big as the summer before though.

there all so beautiful wish i still had all mine!

I have had good luck with growing these varieties on windowsills over the winter:
Cracklin' Rosie
Sophie Cecile
Tom Ment
Tea Rose
(thanks to the begonia forum for helping me decide these would be good varieties to try indoors :) )

Tea Rose didn't seem to be very happy with how I was watering it in regular soil so I converted it to semi hydro growing in the fall. It did a lot better after I did that. The other ones were doing fine in soil, but I am converting them to semi hydro as well just because I am finding that I like that method of growing better for my houseplants in general.

This post was edited by summersunshine on Sun, Mar 16, 14 at 11:34

the above reiger is regrowing the 3rd time and is already setting flower buds. once the leaves grow enough i also put it on water-wick (my mix is 50% perlite for wicking), which could be considered semi-hydro too. it needs enormous amounts of water once grown - and i was able to grow it very casually without worry of drying it up or drowning it. and i also do all of my moisture loving plants on the same water-wick semi-hydro.