Very nice!

My guesses are:

1) a mix of canes - probably Lana (biggest one) and Torch

2) Joe Hayden

3) sericoneura

4) common cane - maybe coccinea hybrid

5) maybe odorata

6) Looking Glass

7) Curly Beefsteak (Erythrophylla Helix)

8) Rex Curly Merry Christmas

9) thelmae (or as it is sold in some places - Brazilian Lady)

10) nelumbiifolia (water lily begonia)

Hc mcdole, thank you very much for taking the time to ID my plants and this is a personal question, do you have any favorites? I would like to keep adding to the ones that I already have in the future because I found them to be easy to grow, the only thing that I have to do is pruning and sometimes re potting.

Silvia

That is a hard question to answer. I wished I could whittle my favorites down to 50 but that is impossible right now because what was a favorite last year may take second chair this year. What I should do is whittle down to the best growers and then decide which ones I like the best then.

Wow, 50 is a lot! lol. I guess that I have homework to do. I mostly grow veggies in my garden and I feel the same about tomatoes, I have so many favorites that is difficult to mentioned just one or two....

Silvia

I wished 50 was a lot - HA! I quit veggie growing probably 30 years ago due to limited space at our last house - got into flowers then eventually foliage plants with begonias occupying most of that category. Flowers are nice but so short lived.

I agree with you, foliage plants are the way to go and begonias are some of my favorites.

'Looking Glass' is a beauty. I might succumb to a purchase if I saw it somewhere, provided that little gremlin that asks "but WHERE will you put it?" didn't get the best of me. I just have four now so not in your league.

There is a guy in Alachua who is trialing begonias in his gardens for hardiness. Most looked very good when I visited last month and some have seen two winters already.

Hi June

The just id Looking Glass and the others are the easiest plants to root, if you are ever around my area, you can have any cuttings from my garden...

Hi hc mcdole

That is interesting, in my area I am more worried about the sun in the summer than winter, I don't have too much shade for them.

I planted this cane begonia from one of mine in the ground and survived the winter and is growing.

Silvia

No shade? Heavens to Murgatroyd!! HAHA! You will just have to get some shade then and start experimenting.

I forgot to ask you about this begonia planted around the oak tree, it goes all the way up and got white flowers.

This one is the same planted around the porch where it gets some shade, I have them outside for a few years now. All the other begonias are in pots in the porch get some sun but mostly shade.

Silvia

Great discussion! Convolvulacea is one of my favorites of my few begonias. Silvia, it makes a great hanging basket plant. Looking Glass has a reputation of being difficult, but it is a beautiful cane.

Russ

hc mcdole, thank you for the id, I don't know if it is weedy in some gardens but it is not in mine. It does look better in winter when it is flowering, recently I had the oak cleaned by the tree service and told him to leave the begonia.

Russ, that is a good idea! and I am going to try that and put it in a hanging basket.

I had a garden party and most of the people left with a cutting of the Looking Glass, for some reason they all like it. It is interesting but that was my first begonia that was sent to me in the mail a few years ago from a gardening friend, I propagated a bunch of them to give away and I kept one.

Silvia

That's what I read from other Florida growers on the morning glory begonia - throw on the ground and it spreads. Guess they are further south in Florida? I saw one decades ago at the University of Georgia conservatory. I didn't know what it was at the time but it had leaves twice the size of yours and vines that ran on the ground at least 15 feet in all directions (it actually covered the entire ground under a small tree) that were kind of thick much like a trumpet vine (not the trunk of an old established trumpet vine, mind you - maybe the size of an index finger on a man).

Here is a good example of one (he is calling it shield leaf begonia - first time I heard this nickname).

http://www.louistheplantgeek.com/a-gardening-journal/453-begonia-convolvulaceae

Be careful on too much cutting as well. Looking Glass is a much sought after begonia but it is very mildew prone (for me at least). I still have one but it is a pittance of what it once was. By end of summer it will look good but then go into decline when I move it indoors for winter. UGH!

Very interesting link! thank you for posting it. I might have a different opinion on this begonia if I was growing it in good soil. The soil around here is not of a good quality, sandy, has no nutrients, etc. Where it is planted around the oak is competing with roots and I never fertilize there, gets water only from the sprinkles or when it rains, for sure not the best conditions and probably would do better in a greenhouse setting or like the link said under the shade of the table and in pots with decent soil.

I will pay more attention to the Looking Glass care, don't want to lose it.:) For me all the plants do better in winter and with the summer they are at their worst. In summer, it is time for my fruit trees harvest and that keeps me busy.

Love the look of that convolvulacea under the bench, it's really thriving there. Thanks Butch! I have many pots of it, I could plant some under a big live oak but I'm afraid it'd turn into a weed.

Russ

GO for it Russ! It's tame compared to the other very invasive vines such as Kudzu, honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, trumpet vine, wild grape, and poison ivy.

Post photos when you get a good stand of it going. I have mine in a clay pot that stays inside a big aluminum tray (so I can pick it all up when I have to bring it back indoors for winter) so not all that attractive display for it but it works for me.

I'll look for a good tree to plant under Butch. Not much organic in the sandy ground here, so I'll have to amend with peat, leaves, bark etc but will be difficult with tree roots. Right now I have some in hanging baskets and some in 6" standard plastic pots, the flowers aren't showy but I love the 'happy', bright shade of green in the leaves as well as the shape.

I'd never heard the 'shield leaf' name before, I guess anyone can make up a common name.

Russ