hi korina,

B. partita should have green leaves and there may be a reddish area by the petiole. also, there is an elongated lobe on the leaf. a lot of people grow this plant as a bonsai, and it will eventually develop a caudex if you keep it constrained. how do you have it growing? i would give this one a space under your fluorescents, too!

as for B. bowerae nigramarga and probably 'Tiger Kitten,' i think anything with bowerae in it is pretty hardy and easy to grow. sounds like you have them in a good situation. i haven't grown 'Peridot,' so i don't have too many tips there. i weakly fertilize mine, too, but held off during the winter and my move. when i started up again, they seemed to really respond. i wouldn't worry about the lack of blooms as long as the rest of the plant seems happy.

-ming

Hi Ming! Thanks for the help. Partita is in a window that gets some mostly direct sun during part of the year. It has a wonderful caudex and looks spectacular in it's rectangular clay bonsai pot. So the growth is supposed to be a bit 'rangy'? I'd kind of hoped it'd be more compact. It's still pretty nifty. I'd love to put it under lights, but they're all full up. Not only the AVs, other houseplants, and other begonias, but some orchids too. Time to re-evaluate my space again, I think.

Again, thanks for your response.

Korina

'Cheeeeese!' -Wallace

Umm, Ming, would you perhaps be interested in some Peridot? It's very cute and easy. Heck, if I can grow it, *anyone* can.

Korina