Cultivar
B. ‘Ginny’
Photos
5 photos
Identity
- Genus
- Begonia
- Name
- B. ‘Ginny’
- Originator
- Watchorn
- Date of Origin
- 1971
- Place
- California
- Country
- USA
- Region
- America
- Plant Type
- Shrub-like
- Female Parent
- B. echinosepala var. echinosepala
- Male Parent
- B. ‘Margaritae’
- Publication Reference
- MLT2; B91 ap176; B98 r236;
- Article References
- The Begonian (43) Dec 1976, p. 319-342.; Begonian 46:191. 1979;
- Photo References
- JBS, Begonias :19. 1980;
Plant
- Description
- A TRIO OF BEGONIAS 'Hannah Serr' - 'Emma Palmer’ - 'Ginny' Cover Photograph by William Behrends A triple decker arrangement for the holidays graces the cover this month. These three beauties were photographed this fall at the garden of Douglas and Goldie Frost in Garden Grove. B. 'Hannah Serr' dominates the foreground, B. 'Emma Palmer' the upper right of the photo and B. 'Ginny' occupies the upper left portion. This group would be good choices for a cool greenhouse or a window location in an apartment. Though they are tolerant of a wide range of conditions, you will have to judge the amount of sunlight they will tolerate in your locality for they do need bright light to bloom well. Because of their size, they require a fairly large amount of water and food. Otherwise they are easy to grow. Begonia 'Hannah Serr' is an upright cane of intermediate size and compact growth habit. It is a hybrid made by Irene Nuss of Los Angeles. The parent plants are B. 'Kentwood' another Nuss hybrid, and the Kusler hybrid, B. 'Lenore Olivier'. It carries ABS registration number 265 and was listed in 1969. The leaves of B. 'Hannah Serr' are of the superba type, with wavy notched edges and a tendency to curve at the tips. The leaf surface is smooth, medium green, with green veins of the same shade. The leaves tend to overlap since the nodes on the branches are rather close together. The flowers appear in clusters of deep to light coral pink shades with perhaps up to 50 blooms in a single cluster. The individual blossoms are quite large. Since there may be four or five very fragrant clusters at a time, this is indeed a spectacular plant. The blooming season lasts from April through February. B. ‘Emma Palmer' is #58 on the ABS register and was listed in 1953. It was introduced at the 1950 national convention by Mrs. Chet Van Dusen of San Diego, and won a division trophy. It is an unknown cross of B. scharffii which originated in the garden of the woman whose name it honors. The plant is a tall grower and sends up numerous stalks. It is hairy as are most of the scharffii crosses. The short hairs are white and cover most of the plant, giving it a frosty look. The leaves are ovate, acuminate, dark green on the upper surface and flushed with red on the reverse. The leaves are depressed between the veins giving the leaf surface a cupped appearance. The cane stems are red at the base, fading to light green at the growing tips. Flowers and leaf stems are red. The flowers are white, large, and covered on the back with pink hairs. They appear in clusters which are usually held upright, but sometimes droop because of the weight of the flowers. B. ‘Ginny' is a recent introduction, a plant hybridized by Walter Watchorn of Oceanside, California, in 1971. It is named for his wife. Although most of its stems are upright, there is branching and graceful spread to the lower part of the shrub. The older stalks are brown, the young growth is green. The leaves are narrow, unevenly lobbed with the narrow lobes toward the stems. They occur along the stems in an alternate pattern and are facing pairs at the tips of branches. The upper surface is dark green with a subtle narrow band of lighter green at the outer edges. The veins are quite red on the underside of the leaves. Fine short hairs are evenly spaced on the surface. The blossoms occur in the growing tips in small clusters on 2 inch pedicels. The individual flowers are small, tending to be all male blossoms at first and female later. The tepals are white with prominent, short, rosy red hairs on back which tend to give the closed flowers a rosy red appearance. The winged portion of the female blossom is deep rose. The male flowers have two large and two small petals, the female flowers have four large and one smaller tepal. B. 'Ginny' blooms almost constantly. It was a strong contender for the Best in Show Trophy at Pittsburgh. The search necessary to locate plants of B. 'Hannah Serr', B. 'Ginny' and B. 'Emma Palmer' might be time consuming, but it would be worthwhile to the hobbyist.
Lineage
3 descendants
Parents
Ancestry tree
Descendants
3 recorded children
As female parent
2
As male parent
1
Female parent: B. echinosepala var. echinosepala
Culture
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