B. ‘Hybrida Diadema’

Culture

Comments

For another recommendation of the Begonia hybrida Diadema. In No. 2 of this newspaper of the year 1886, page 16, described the publisher of this newspaper while depicting a begonia, which at the held in the month of September last year here in Magdeburg horticultural exhibition of the commercial gardener CF Krause in Neuhaldensleben under the above name was brought up. The recommendations given by the exhibitor on the way are justified in every respect. The Begonia hybrida Diadema is a winter flower of the first order. It only astonishes me to have not seen this begonia more widely. It almost seems that an article will be considered in our cultures only by the usual contemporary American-English tam-tam, without such advertising but take the responsibility for the excellence of the acclaimed. To such noisy announcements we owe from the last past the prodigy of the New World: Chrysanthemum indicum Mrs. Alpheus Hardy, only too soon did the bitter disappointment, spiced with the rather high costs of association, appear. Why is only something really good breaking down so hard? I introduced myself to this question when, in mid-November of this year, I visited the Handelsgärtnerei of A. Hartung in Schöningen. I was astonished by a number of flowering specimens of Begonia hybrida Diadema. One would think that in any nursery this Pearl among the begonias may be lacking, especially as it develops its pretty bright crimson flowers most numerous in the low-flowering winter months. There is no mention of a rest period for this variety. The plants are always blooming, because already in the summer Idieselben specimens in the last-mentioned nursery fell on me by their abundant flowering. – As Mr. Krause stated in his report, this begonia is augmented in the month of March by the shoots forming below; If one were to take the cuttings from the upper blooms, one obtains plants which show no vigorous growth. A light, strong soil is essential to a successful culture. In summer you have to bring the begonia into a cold, ventilated, sprinkled, but little shaded box, in winter in a house of + 8 to 10° R. near the light. In this way you can see true showpieces in the fall. As far as my observations go, the Begonia hybrida Diadema is more valuable than the recently recommended Begonia incarnata rosea in terms of size of flowers and lush foliage. The Begonia hybrida Diadema also has a high value as a cut flower, because it can be used for every type of binding. - H. Weidner in Buck au -Magdeburg.

Original Botanical Description or Link to

Begonia Diadema and Begonia Flora. By Louis Vieweg, commercial gardener in Quedlinburg About five years ago, the novelty was a begonia called Diadema, which caused a sensation by the abundance of its flowers, which glowed in the purest pure rose. If I am not mistaken, she was first exhibited in Magdeburg and was awarded there. Since then I have them in culture. (Compare year 1886, page 17 of this newspaper, where Begonia hybrida Diadema is depicted and described.) Over the summer I kept the plants in pots under glass, where they formed into pretty rounded bushes. Characteristic of this begonia is that it constantly brings flowers down to the tips of the branches, a circumstance that explains why it is just as similar in the growing season without interruption to a red flower wave. I also tried to plant Begonia Diadema, but it seems to me that she is less suited to it; Growth and Flor was inferior to the potted plants under glass. But I want to say that the plants were in ordinary garden soil and in a little sheltered, completely free location. In a stronger earthen bed and sheltered location, success would probably have been better. I brought the potted plants to the house in September. In the cold-house, in quite bright spots, B. Diadema continued to bloom quite nicely for as long as the weather remained sunny and mild; with the onset of the dull wet time the growth stopped, so also the flowering, and the plants rotted off despite moderate pouring down to the earth. On the other hand, plants placed in the warm house grew and continued to bloom in bright places until the winter, even today, on the 4th of January, I still have pretty flowering plants; of course, I do not come to full-blown begonias because they have to serve daily for cutting purposes. They are also excellently suited to this, for in this season, when Italy's mummified yellow roses predominate, where of finer red flowers almost only Epiphyllum, Achmea, Siphocampylus, and Euphorbia are to be found, a red begonia reminiscent, so to speak, is of great value. (Mr. Vieweg himself tried with great success to make these Italian dried roses unnecessary.) In December of the previous year he showed me his nursery and found the two begonias treated here in bloom, including a small number of potted roses which he told me that it was a offspring of a cross between the Wiphettos and Mad. Pierson, which he diligently strives to multiply. "I further heard that Mr. Vieweg was able to flourish this variety, a red tea hybrid, in every month of the year in fact, the plants standing in a cold-spring were already budding in that month, and if this rose was in bloom from November to April, it would be more "everlasting!" then it is undoubtedly an achievement of high value.) The propagation of B. Diadema presents some difficulties. Not that the cuttings made heavy roots, on the contrary, put in the early spring with light ground heat, they have roots in 14 days. But the main thing: the cuttings, you have to have and they are missing. The tips that are cut from the plant into cuttings are easily rooted, but they do not drive; the end tip only produces flowers, does not sprout from the side and at finger length stops growing. So the well-rooted cutting can live for months, but it does not grow further. The peculiarity of this begonia is that it never seeds; It almost exclusively male flowers appear. Only once, 2 or 3 years ago, a twig with female flowers appeared, after which I peeked for a long time. It is understandable with what zeal I proceeded to artificial fertilization and crossbreeding with other begonias, for the gain of only a single capsule with ripe seeds could have been important in the propagation. Although it would have been very nice, but -it did not have to be; B. Diadema does not seed, does not accept crossbreeding, and the seemingly mass male flowers are without pollen, they are the pure exudates. A tuber begonia Diadema is not either. It has a thick-bodied rhizome and must therefore be moderately poured; however, they should not be allowed to move in as far as, for example, the bulbous B. Sedeni. In order to obtain cuttings, I take a number of plants in January and cut off all flowering shoots, then develop below a number of short, not equally flowering shoots, which are suitable for cuttings; but they are not many. A similar Begonia I met a few years ago at the horticultural exhibition in Hanover. About 100 well-cultivated plants in pots were set up in a round group united outdoors; the effect was a gripping. Begonia incarnata Flora is called this variety. (On page 351 of the year 1889 of this newspaper there is a picture of this begonia.) The first fleeting passage I thought to have B. Diadema in front of me, when I looked at her nearby, but I immediately found the difference. Since then, I have been cultivating B. Diadema and B. Flora, and can now judge both of them before me. In growth, in cultural claims, in propagation, and in the inability to seed, both varieties are equal. Diadema, however, is less suitable for planting on groups, better for pot culture and flower cutting. The individual flowers are 2 ½ to 3 cm in diameter, are of purest pink and really peculiar, noble appearance. B. Flora still flowers in January, but the flowers are smaller and not as pure pink as in Diadema. If the individual flowers are kept side by side, B. Flora appears somewhat more ordinary. However, B. Flora is preferred for planting outdoors in the summer; she is a little harder than Diadema and works through the quantity of her flowers; in a whole group one does not need to look at the single flower. For so-called mass propagation both varieties are less suitable, because they give too little plywood, especially diadema. Propagation will be kept approximately within the same limited limits as in the full-blown begonias.