Thursday, August 14, 2014

My Favorite Plant in the Garden - this week....

I've been wanting to share this plant for a few weeks now but life has gotten in the way recently. The good news is that Doug's knee surgery went very well and he started PT this morning.  I'm still his chauffer for the next month or two so that has been putting a crimp in my gardening time but he's on the mend so all is well.


My favorite plant in the garden this week (and many other weeks as well, to be honest) is Begonia 'Anna Feile'.  This angel wing begonia is robust and a vigorous grower.  It produces beautiful, heavy, glossy leaves with burgundy reverses and in addition to the beautiful foliage it's a prolific bloomer. The only downside I can think of is that it grows such tall canes (my plants are now six feet tall) I have to stake them to display the flowers at their best. It produces enormous panicles of blooms that go on and on.  What's not to love?








This lovely begonia does well outside in shade to part sun (morning) in rich well drained soil.  I feed once a week with a liquid fertilizer. It also does well as a house plant in a sunny east or west window or under lights.

Thanks to Loree of Danger Garden for hosting our weekly favorites.
Posted by at

13 comments:

  1. Mark and GazAugust 14, 2014 at 2:17 PM

    Glad to hear Doug is on the mend. Quite a specimen that begonia is Deanne. It'll look great as an indoor plant too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deanne FortnamAugust 14, 2014 at 2:52 PM

      Many thanks for the comment. Actually I have two of these begonias in that massive size range. I'm hoping to donate one to a local botanical garden and the other I'll prune back to the nubbins and put under lights for the winter

      Delete
  2. HannahAugust 14, 2014 at 4:47 PM

    Wow, I hadn't thought of growing my begonia outdoors in the summer. It really seems to like being outside. My problem is that many times when I brought something in for fall, it had aphids or spider mites that got on my other plants. Do you have that problem, and what is your solution?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deanne FortnamAugust 15, 2014 at 5:37 AM

      Thanks Hannah, I actually normally prune the plants back to the nubbins before bringing them indoors. With these Cane Begonias I actually prune to about eighteen inches, strip most of the leaves off and spray with an indoors insect spray, Safer has a good product, they bring them in after they've sat for a few days. It takes a month or so before they start growing and leafing out again so they don't require much in the way of water or care until they start growing again.

      Delete
    2. HannahAugust 20, 2014 at 4:20 AM

      Thanks for the information, I may have to try that next summer!

      Delete
  3. AlisonAugust 14, 2014 at 5:18 PM

    That is a beautiful plant! So many flowers and wonderful foliage as well. So glad Doug is doing well and has started PT. That will help a lot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deanne FortnamAugust 15, 2014 at 5:34 AM

      Thanks Alison, I'll tell Doug you are sending well wishes his way

      Delete
  4. MindyAugust 14, 2014 at 9:40 PM

    Wow, wow, and wow. Never have I grown a begonia, of any variety, that big!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deanne FortnamAugust 15, 2014 at 5:34 AM

      Thanks Mindy, me neither. I didn't know they could get that huge

      Delete
  5. outlawgardenerAugust 14, 2014 at 10:12 PM

    She's a beauty! Glad to hear that Doug is on the mend! Soon he'll be ready to help you bring all of your plants inside for the winter!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deanne FortnamAugust 15, 2014 at 5:33 AM

      Thanks! Yes I'm so happy Doug is getting around better now and he is always a big help with the moving indoors phase of my plant obsession.

      Delete
  6. danger gardenAugust 15, 2014 at 8:39 AM

    You probably know me well enough to know I'm a foliage over flowers girl. I love the leaves on this plant!!! The flowers, well...I'm glad that YOU like them. Isn't it great that there are so many plants we can all have our favorites? Speaking of (favorites) I'm glad your fav guy is on the mend.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hoover BooAugust 16, 2014 at 8:11 PM

    We have a common begonia here called 'Irene Nuss' that is something like your 'Anna Feile'. Great plant.

    Excellent news about Doug. I'm happy for you!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)