Читать книгу Talks About Flowers - M. D. Wellcome - Страница 11

MY first Begonia was a Rex. It thrived for several years, and then to my regret died, for it was quite a favorite with me. Its large leaves with broad silvery belt and red dots, were very handsome. This species thrive best in a Wardian case and are of rare beauty and size, grown under such circumstances. A cool, moist atmosphere is the best for them; they burn and shrivel exposed to the intense sunlight. They are easily multiplied from the leaves. Cut the leaf so that a small portion of the stem will remain, insert this in a pan of damp sand, laying the leaf out flat upon the sand, upper side uppermost. It can be retained in place by bits of stone or small pegs. Cuts must then be made in a number of places so as to sever the veins, thus checking the flow of sap. A callus then forms at the base of each piece of vein where severed, and just above it, a bud starts out, and thus a new plant is formed. It is essential for success, that there should be bottom heat, and that the air should be moist. A bell glass is the best to put over the leaf, and if there is danger that the air become too moist, the glass can be tilted up to allow of an escape. The leaves best adapted for propagation are those neither very young nor very old, but healthy and vigorous; yet that this is not absolutely essential is shown by the experience of a lady who had excellent success with a leaf that was some what decayed around the edges, and for that reason was cut off and thrown away. Remembering afterward that the plant was sometimes grown from pieces of a leaf, she hunted it up, trimmed off the decayed portion, and planted it at the foot of a tree, about half under ground, and pressed the soil firmly around it. A few months afterward she had a nice little plant from it, with its beautiful leaves unfolding finely.

There are many varieties of the Rex family; some have brilliant colors in their leaves, others are thickly covered with short hairs. These are more difficult to manage, and require great care to preserve from dust, as like all rough leaved plants, they do not enjoy spraying, as do smooth leaved ones. It is well to set them out in a mild shower occasionally. Tepid water is the best for watering.

BEGONIAS, NOT REX

This class are the most generally cultivated, and they embrace a great many varieties, which are specially distinguishable by the diversity of their leaves. Most of them are one-sided, that is, they are larger on one side of the mid-rib than on the other. Some have fern-like foliage, others lobated. Some have large palmate leaves, others are spotted and laced with white. As a class they are very beautiful for their foliage, but when to this attraction is added beauty of flowers, it will be seen at once that they are eminently deserving of the prominent position now given them both in the open border and the window garden.