Emerald City

Lyon's Private Dancer
(Thanks for the recommendation, aegis--you were right. It's much prettier in person--and a prolific bloomer!)

Optimara Romance

Optinara Noids from leaf (pink and vioket) and one older plant from the store (Colorado).

...and this other Optimara which has the most adorable semi-double, rose-like, light pink blooms and whose name I wish I knew.
Optimara makes it very difficult to identify the cultivar by sending you to their website to figure it all out by yourself. If anyone knows the name of this beauty I would appreciate the help. :-)

Begonia,

Your plants look great!

Linda

Thank you so much, Linda. :-)
It took a year plus to get the hang of it all but right now I am relatively confident.
I just want to figure out the fancy ones now. I can't wait for Ma's Pillow talk and Blue Mist to bloom. :-)

Does anyone think the pink, rose-like one might be MyDelight?

Begonia - there are oodles of double pinks...it all depends where you got it - if it had Optimara sticker in a very beginning it could be it. But you will never know for sure...

Very nice plants! I love your wicking set up, with the egg crate squares over what looks like shallow glass bowls on the glass shelving unit. It is very elegant and does nothing to detract from the display of your beautiful plants.

Irina,

That rose pink plant is an optimara for sure - and on their variety identification site the only one that looks light pink and smdbl is Mydelight. So I guess this is the name I am supposed to go with, otherwise how do they expect us to identify their plants...I have no idea.

Annececilia,

The containers are nothing but modest plastic saucers from HD. I grow most of the plants on a stand in the kitchen, under some very basic artificial light (I don't have a large collection) . Those that are in bloom I place them on the few decorative spots I have in the house and this corner you see in the picture is one of them. Once they are done blooming I get them under the lights again and then I bring the next set of blooming plants and place them in "places of honor".

In an ideal world, the plants in decorative spots would all be in pretty ceramic pots without plastic anywhere in sight; but I had to leave the wicking in place so this I is as good as was able to do. :)

Begonia
I think it is MyDelight. Is it a semi-mini? Are the leaves
long or rounded?
Joanne 47

Begonia,

What do you use to cut the egg crate? I use tin snips on mine and they always come out a jagged mess. And I agree, your set-up is lovely.

Linda

Fortyseven,

Hmmm...I don't think this is a semi-mini, but then again, I wouldn't know as I never ordered a semi-mini before.

It seems about as large as other standards I have but now come think of it, perhaps the leaves might be a little smaller than those of other standards.

I am not sure...

linda

hacksaw and sandpaper?

or a coping saw.

Yes, cuts look nice and even.

dave

Begonia, Linda,
Where do you buy the egg crate? A hardware
store?
Joanne 47

Begonia, Linda,
Where do you buy the egg crate? A hardware
store?
Joanne 47

HD might have them

otherwise

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160940480636&item=160940480636&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466

Yes, I got it from HD. It is very big though so I has to measure and cut small squares out of it - just the right dimension to fit inside or over the water container, depending on how you want to do it.
"Over" it's better in that the container will hold more water, so you can add more water before it touches the bottom of the pot; but "inside" has the advantage that you cannot easily push the crate off the water tray/container.

I have mine "over" right now but I have to be careful around the plants so they won't fall off, egg grate and all.

Begonia, Dave
thanks for the info. Is the "egg crate"
made of a tough plastic
material?
j

Joanne,

Yes.

Linda

Dave,

I think I'll try the saw idea tomorrow on my egg crate but sandpaper? You really sand down all those edges?

Linda

Linda: you can, if you want. Use a coarse grit first, and then go to a finer grit. If you are concerned about rough edges. Hopefully, most folks would look at the plants, and not the wicking system.

I suspect you could also find someone with a table saw if you are working on the large panels, at least cut them to width. Perhaps HD would cut them in the woodworking department ... if you know your widths and lengths. Sometime they cut for free, other times they charge a nominal fee. I know my Lowes guy, but am not sure I can find the panels there

Begonia: love your setup. Looks cheerful. I am looking for a nice "inexpensive" corner stand.

Yes, egg crate is tough plastic. I would think you could also heat a very sharp knife and get a clean cut, but when you are making one cut at a time, it would take a l...o...n...g.. time to get the piece to size.

Reminds me of the rabbit fencing. You cut flush with one edge, but have all that hangover to the next edge of the next piece, which you can trim, but it's a pain, one at a time, and you get a crampy hand from all the 'lather, rinse, repeat' steps ...

dave

Dave,

Rabbit fencing? You have a fence made of rabbits???

Lowe's carries egg crate, too. Same price as HD.

Linda

Two wild hares, one with brown colored fur and chimera-like eyes - one blue eye and one brown eye - and a slightly larger white furred hare, with albino pink eyes, both armed with foil and epee, slowly struggled to the center of the lot, to square off in a fencing dual.

It was not a pretty sight. When the dust settled, there were two quite unlucky rabbits' feet - one white and one brown - left as a silent testament to what must have been a Herculean struggle ...

dave

@Begonia2005
Would you be willing to share where you got your lovely and awesome plant stand from? I think it's gorgeous!

Dave,

Took you a while, didn't it??????

Linda

I buy eggcrate at HD - and snip it to the the size with some kind of wire cutters.

What, what? Sandpaper? Dave is recommending us to use it instead of Charmin?

I.

Ouch.

L, D, I,
ohhh, if plants could talk ... the stories they would tell ...

Begonia, I sent for a MyDelight from Optimara
after seeing your photo! I like the rosette shapes
as I no longer grow roses!

Joanne

Hi bttrflii

I ran across this stand by accident a couple of years ago in an antique/ vintage furniture store in the area I live in (suburb of Atlanta ).

I wasn't looking for it. I saw it, liked it and decided to pay the 70 dollars they were asking for it. Not necessarily a major deal, but I liked it so I decided to go for it. I have been using it amply ever since. :)