One more pic!

I just realized how small it looked when I came back to check! Trying again...:)

I tried to get a closeup of the silver tips of the leaves, an interesting feature that may help with ID...

Thanks for the resource hcmcdole! I think I found it...begonia Amelia. After some more googling, I found an article by the hybridizer and it definitely sounds like my plant. It is a great plant and definitely the easiest begonia I own other than Sophie Cecile (but she rarely blooms for me.)

Glad you found a name for it and FYI, Sophie is known as a shy bloomer - meaning it rarely blooms for most of us but the leaves are all I need to keep it in my collection (for nearly 40 years now). Here is a pan of some last October with a couple of Silvermist in the same pan.

Good to know about Sophie. She bloomed one year and it was glorious, but i agree the leaves are more than enough of a show for me!

Greenrose80, Since you have both Begonia Amelia and Wiightii, what are the major differences between the two plants? I rooted a cutting of what I thought was Wiighti. I am not so sure now. Thanks a lot.

B. maculata (var. Wightii) is a species whereas B. 'Amelia' is a hybrid with maculata in its ancestry (probably).

I have several seedlings I grew out from my maculata that I purchased from PHOE years ago. Some of the seedlings looks very much like its parent (probably crossed on itself) and some that are similar but different. One I have named 'Butch's Mac' as it is different enough to stand out from the herd. I have a feeling its male parent was 'Mrs. Hashimoto' as it and maculata occupied the same pot.

Here is that pot back in 2009 with several begonias in the same 18 inch pot.

Thank you hc mcdole for your lucid explanation.

HC, I always enjoy your photos and explanations. Thanks for posting that. Who/what is PHOE?

Thanks!

Carol in Jacksonville, FL

PHOE is the abbreviation/acronym for the now closed Palm Hammock Orchid Estate in Miami. So if you see PHOE's Cleo you know what it means and where it came from. It was a taste of old Florida (I am assuming) and a wonderful place to visit when it was open. I had the opportunity to visit 5 times over the years.

My last visit was in 2014 where it looked like a tropical storm when I got there so I had the parking lot to myself and didn't run into any of the associates inside for at least 40 minutes.

I was unable to get a good photo shoot on my last and final visit so I had to stay under cover and shoot out to what I could see.

The previous year I was able to get a good walk through on the many greenhouses and open shade areas.

Wow!! Thanks for taking us on this fascinating walk thru the grounds of PHOE, Butch. Enlarging that last picture, looks like pots of leaf cone cuttings being propagated. I was using that technique eons ago before I realized someone else thought of it and coined a name for it.

I've been perusing some of my old 'The Begonian' mags at night lately, and I'm sad to see that many of the nurseries that advertised in those pages aren't in existence any more. Used to be dozens of mail-order sources for begonias, but they are few and far between now. Not having ordered begonias in a long time, I'm also shocked at the prices.

Does anyone know if Greg Sytch still sells? He's probably the closest grower to me. Red Fred is on my want list after comments here lately and reading about it.

Love your Butch's Mac! I'll buy it if it's being distributed somewhere for sale.

Thanks again for sharing the pics.

Russ

HC, that was very, very cool! Thanks for the PHOE definition and all of those wonderful photos! Great begonia eye-candy.

Russ, I don't know if Greg still sells, or not. I last ordered from him in 2013. In spring 2014, I contacted him to order some more and he said due to a shoulder surgery, he was selling only locally at the time. In 2017, I received a new email address from him. If you want it, send me a Houzz message and I will send it to you offline.

Carol

Hi Carol, thanks for the info, it appears your Messaging isn't turned on. Mine is on, or if you would contact me by email, my address is bluesea14808@yahoo.com. Thanks for the help regarding Sytch.

I did find Taylor's Greenhouses last night, they still sell for fairly reasonable prices and do have Red Fred as well as many other begonias I'd like to have. Free shipping over $85 order. Have you ordered from them? Anyone else with experience with Taylor's?

B. Amelia is a beauty, I'll be looking for it.

Thanks again, Russ

Greg got out of begonias for a while after the loss of his partner from what he mentioned last year on some other sites.

I do think PHOE was big into cone type propagation. I prefer wedge cuttings myself but to each their own. Here are wedge cuttings at Harmony foliage for instance.

Thanks Butch. That's quite a leaf propagation system at Harmony, thousands of wedge cuttings. I did a lot of wedge propagating when I was in San Antonio with a big collection of begonias.

Do you also use the petiole with an umbrella of leaf at the top, or toss that in favor of wedges?

I guess you have to have a tax number to buy from Harmony, or can one just pay the tax if a large number of plants are bought?

I toss the petiole if I do wedges on a medium to large leaf. If it is a small leaf variety I usually do the whole leaf with a piece of the petiole (less than an inch long).

I think you have to have a retail license since they are wholesale only.

in a tray I can use the entire leaf

But with pellets, the wedges root faster I find.

Thanks Butch, interesting that you're using a tray or flat in the top photo. Is that straight Miracle Gro or with added perlite?

I never paid enough attention in the past to count progeny, but I think a wedge with the thicker tissue from the cut-off petiole at the tip should produce one or two more plants than wedges from interior veins.

I don't know why but I never used pellets, if I see a for sale I'll try them.

Russ - I’ve ordered from Taylor’s a few times and highly recommend them. Their plants are healthy and surprisingly big for the pot size. Kartuz is also a good place to order.

Straight Miracle Gro. I only use perlite for succulents these days or if I am out of potting mix. Jiffy pellets are so EASY. HAHA! These Bashful Bandit were still in the same tray in pellets so the weaker ones got shaded out. I never know when to pot up - too small, too big, etc.

So cool to see those propagations Butch, I love it. In lower pic, what's the olive, pointy lobed one in the middle, maybe Chumash? And the bright green one with black markings underneath the pile of leaves?

I'd like to have heracleifolia v. nigricans and Sunderbruchii but not seeing them in the few mail order sources I've found. They are fairly hardy in the ground here, anyone know where available? Also looking for Helene Jaros, these old varieties may be out of favor now.

Hi Russ and All,

Russ, you mentioned that it appears my Messaging is not turned on? Houzz has become so flaky and quirky! From what I can see, it's turned on:

And here's what I see when I preview my profile - it looks like the Messaging button should be there for you:

You also mentioned that your Messaging is turned on, but here's what I see when I look at your profile. Messaging is not available, at least not for me:

Regardless of the above, I emailed you Greg Sytch's 2017 email. Hope it is helpful. You may wish to delete your post above containing your email address.

Carol

Russ,

I did order from Taylor's Greenhouse in 2013. Here's a photo of the plants taken when I received them:

Carol

How fun to see what this thread blossomed into while I was away! Lots of cool info as always, thanks everyone.