Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Surviving the Winter , 1 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
Welllll.....

I just caught up with this Post....Need to venture "outside the box" (MA Gardening) now and then.....:o)

Holly---I have NEVER grown Bouganvillia--but have seen here some people had great blooming results....
That's all I need! A new plant to drool over....
Your plants indoors seem all to be fairly large. Takes up a lot of room, no?
I have, maybe, 4 large plants--My Angel Wing begonia--My Shiffelera Amate (new this year)--
My forever getting cut back and re-growing Shifflera Arboricola--and, aa newly acquired, large Clivia
I got from a customer at HD. I think he took a fancy to me---we talked a lot--he always wanted a hug....
Remember--I have 12 pots of my own--over wintering in my shop! Will post picture.

Sally--

I think the Begonia (from me) you are referring to must be the Angel Wing one.

AW's have wing-shaped leaves with silver speckles on them. Dragon Wings are all pale green.
Took tip-cuttings from several--and, I think, I will have a good crop this summer...They are all rooted.
I have done the same thing with my AW's. One stem grows too tall--I cut it off and stick it in the
soil right next to the plant i cut it off from. Just, maybe, removing a couple of the bottom leaves.

My big AW always overwinters near a so-so window in my guest bedroom. It grows tall and lanky.
Loses most of the leaves (except the growing tips) and survives in semi-dry conditions (My ignoring it)....
In the Spring--I cut off the tips and root them. Cut out the cane-like stems in the middle and get rid of them--
and allow the Mama plant to re-grow from from the base. Every 2-3 years--I remove Mama from the pot,
sort through the roots, get rid of the old, dried up ones and re-pot the good ones in fresh soil.
BAM! A wonderful, new, BIG plant for the season!

The only thing you lose in this cutting back and regrowing from the base is earlier bloom. That comes from the tips.
Been doing this for over 25 years! Same plant--only propagated from cuttings each Spring.

Judy--
LOL on your advice on begonias at the HD!
Hey! I saw a totally black Wooly Bear caterpillar on my sidewalk a few days ago.
Picked him/her up and tossed it on my flower bed....They are SOOO fluffy! Winter coats?????

OK! We need to be talking here about "Winter gardening".....

I have a small light set-up for seed growing (3' lights and shelf).
As it is NOT in use for seeds--I am using it for growing my Sun Coleus cuttings. SOOO easy!
They are ALL thriving! In another few weeks, I will have to decide if I want to take new cuttings (NO!)
or if I want to just pinch out the growing tips to contain the growth.

Here they are--a few weeks ago! Bigger now!
I have 3 trays-full. NOT all for me--I take care of a few people at my HD with my propagation.....