Cultivar

B. ‘Emperor’

Photos

1 photo

Identity

Genus: Begonia
Name: B. ‘Emperor’
Originator: James Veitch and Sons
Date of Origin: 1875
Place: Chelsea
Country: England, UK
Region: Europe
Plant Type: Tuberous
Female Parent: B. clarkei
Male Parent: B. ‘Chelsoni’
Publication Reference: C
Article References: Hortus Veitchii 1906. Published by J. Veitch & sons, London p. 455-462. Digital source: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/23407; The Garden, v. 13 1878

Plant

Description: The Garden, v. 13 1878 Queen of Whites, B. Davisii, Emperor, Acme These beautiful, free-blooming, and easily cultivated flowers are rapidly becoming great favorites; and the more widely they become known, the more will they commend themselves to the notice of horticulturists, as undoubtedly the best value they can possibly obtain for their money- in the first instance, during the months of June, July, August, and September as ornaments of the summer bedding garden ; and, secondly, as soon as there is any danger of frost at night, as ornaments of the conservatory for another month or six weeks by lifting them into pots from the beds, which can be done ,without the slightest check, as they invariably lift with capital balls and masses of fibrous roots closely and compactly surrounding the tuber. They thus afford from five to five and a half months of continuous and unintermittent bloom, which is more than any other plant with which we are acquainted will do. All that they require to make them thrive and grow luxuriantly and quickly into large, freely-branching tufts, which soon completely cover the beds, is a light rich soil, and copious watering while making their growth if the summer be at all hot or rain abstain from falling for any length of time. The beds should also not be planted too thickly, as if the tubers be at all strong and of good size they make such vigorous and abundant growth, that if put too close to one another, the plants ,will soon crowd and interfere with their neighbors; but when this inadvertently happens, every second one may with perfect safety be taken up even in the middle of summer and removed to another bed, where, after a good watering, it will next day appear as if it had never been transplanted at all, and the room afforded by its removal will be most welcome and serviceable to those left in the bed, allowing them fully to develop themselves, by means of which growth they will soon cover and fill up the gaps made by the removals in question. All that they require is a sheltered situation, well and fully exposed to the sun, as the only thing to which they object is exposure to high winds, which are apt to break off the soft succulent stems at their junction with the tuber. No amount of heavy rain does them the slightest injury; the blooms are not knocked off by it, and though the heads droop somewhat and bend under it, they rise again absolutely uninjured as soon as the sun shines out after the shower. Those who wish to increase their stock of these lovely' plants (as most who once begin their cultivation will desire to do) should begin in good time to take off their cuttings, just as they would those of a Zonal Pelargonium, about the middle of July, and these cuttings will root freely in silver sand and water in from a fortnight to three weeks, and before the end of the season make good-sized tubers, which often give a little bloom towards the end of autumn, and flower abundantly in the open ground the following year. Indeed, young tubers in about their second year often yield individually finer blooms than older and larger ones, which, as soon as they commence- to start and show the eyes from whence the shoots spring, may be cut up just like a Potato. The accompanying plate gives a faithful and accurate representation of three of the finest hybrids of British origin that have yet been obtained. The white one, named ‘Queen of the Whites’, is not yet in commerce, but it will be distributed by the Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, as soon as they can get up sufficient stock of it. The free-blooming, though smaller-flowered, species named ‘Davisi’, after Messrs. Veitch's collector, Mr. Davis, who sent tubers of it to them from Peru, is also not yet in commerce. The name of the lighter-shaded variety under ‘Davisi’ is ‘Emperor’, sent out in 1877; and that of the fine, darker-shaded variety at the bottom of the plate is ‘Acme’, sent out the previous year, and which is certainly one of the finest and most free-blooming of all varieties. 'The Queen of the Whites’, obtained as a chance-comer among a lot of seedlings of B. rosaeflora, seems also to be an exceedingly free bloomer, a pan of small plants, all of them finely in bloom, being sent by Messrs. Veitch to the great show at Carlisle last autumn, where they presented an exceedingly pretty appearance, the shade of white resembling that of Cypripedium niveum. - W. E. G.