Very creative planter combo - looks great! Hosta, begonia, potato vine and ?? tall thing 😊

is the canna in the same pot.. how big is that pot ...

inspired.. and unique ...

ken

what are you going to do with all the tender stuff for winter.... store the canna ??? ... the begonia.. etc ...

how and where do you store them in your zone .... ken

Nice combination! I always want to do something like that, but then I chicken out. (I'm not that creative.)

So if I purchase tuberous begonias which are already grown at the garden nursery, I can actually store their bulbs for next season?

newhostalady, if you find a tuber at the end of the season it’s worth trying to save them.

Ken, i store them in a cool room in the basement.

i used to store them under the basement steps on the very cold bare floor ...

we would let them get frosted ... and go dormant ... dig them up .... then let them dry for a few days.... just sitting on the soil.. and then cut off the foliage ... and let them dry again ... and then put them in a wooden apple basket or cardboard box... filled with dry potting media ... so no bugs in the house ... dad would put a little water in once a month ...

the drier they got.. the better odds of avoiding rot or molds or mildews ... and the acidic peat helped with that ... tried dry shredded leaves once.. yikes.. too many bugs ...

just dont lose track and let them freeze while drying out on the soil .... you could also put them in a wheelbarrow.. and move it in and out of the garage if you timed it too late... and the weather got too cold.. before you were done ...

there are fibrous begonia.. and bulbous begonia ... this is all about the bulb begonia ... in other words.. one had roots.. and one was a bulb ... and you can read that.. bulbs are more expensive in spring .. as compared to rooted plants ... so worth the effort to try to winter them over ...

this is how its done in ground freeze areas.. i have no clue how its done in warmer zones ... thats not what this story is about ...

ken

Now you've got me thinking Ken! So I can buy tuberous begonias in the garden nursery ready to plant outside, and then see if there is a tuber at the end of the season. If so, I can do what you describe above. OR I could buy bulbs in the early spring and plant them inside the house prior to the growing season. Then when temperatures are right, plant them outside.

newhostalady, buying begonia bulbs in the spring would be best for sure. But once i knew more about begonias I noticed others formed bulbs also and was successful saving them. i have quite a few now.

North53, do you start your begonia bulbs indoors?

Lovely combo pot! Thanks for sharing. It gives me some ideas for next year.

Yes, i start my begonias indoors. They need a head start.

if you buy a bulb in spring.. you can harvest the bulb in fall ...

if you buy a rooted begonia ... you may or may not end up with a bulb ...

there are.. after a little research actually 3 types ... and you can learn all you want from this link: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffsb&q=do+fibrous+begonia+grow+bulbs&ia=web

you can grow cuttings indoors over winter .... with a little effort ... the forced air furnace can be a problem with humidity ... and they will probably get a bit ugly .. but by late winter.. you could take some new cuttings and root them in time to go outside in late spring ... this is probably a better topic for the perennial forum .. as we would find more peeps who do it ... or better yet.. post both here and the perennial forum ...

ken

ps: apparently you can even cut up a bulb to make more ... go figure on that ... sounds like potato growing ...

i forgot about this post ... now thats an indoor hobby.. he makes i look pretty easy ....

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6088128/begonia-canes-in-the-basement#n=498

Ken, i’ve cut a bulb in half. Like you said, similar to a potato. One variety i grow gets so large I’ve cut it into quarters. i do this in the spring before potting them up.

Oddly enough, my foray into putting hosta in pots began with the car crashing into my house which resulted in having to relocate a bunch of hostas to the garden for the winter. The repairs weren’t done in the spring so the hosta had to move into pots. That’s when i discovered how much i like them in pots. I’m going to try leaving one in a pot for the winter this year. The others will go back into the garden. The destroyed bed is completely restored, but I’ve been introduced to another use for hosta. I like how I can move them around at will.

@north53 Z2b MB My goodness - what a great example of making lemonade from lemons!

north..what a pretty combination!..I like hosta in pots too..I store mine in my shed during the winter..

I save tropicals too..I leave them in pots and bring the pots in..

can't wait to make some combinations next season..

a suggestion..I think caladiums would look nice with hosta..

some of my hosta in pots..

Good information Ken. I forgot there were three kinds of begonias. I'd say I like the rex begonias best, but I don't try to keep them overwinter as they just miss their humidity too much. My favorite fibrous begonia is the angel wing begonia. But I will keep an eye out for the tuberous ones and give it a try.

Here's my angel wing begonia. I bought pink but forgot I prefer the red! Yesterday I just took out the colocassia elephant ears that was growing in the center. Taken in the rain.

newhostalady..pretty sure your begonia is a dragon wing..angel wings have variegated leaves..I still don't understand all of the types..

I've heard so many terms canes..superba..mallet..

rhizomatous..semperflorens..

tuberous..rex and more..

there's a lot to know about them..

You're right nicholsworth! I actually meant to type dragon wing. One of my favorite begonias. I was so glad I found them for a decent price this year. Most places were selling them for much more because they were in larger pots. I just wanted smaller ones to plant around the elephant ear pot in the center of the larger pot. I'm not keen on the pink color though. Red is much nicer!

As for the other terms, I haven't heard of most of them.

It seems every time you want to learn more about something, you find there is a LOT more to learn than you ever imagined!

newhostalady..I love dragon wing begonias too..I had one summer 2020 but didn't find a nice one this summer..

what you said is so true..the more you learn about plants you realize there's a LOT more to learn..

isn't it great that we're able to use technology to find the gardening information we need and share it..

Caladium look great with hosta. I plant them in pots and they thrive in the filtered shade in my yard. Recently, the price of caladium has risen quite a bit but you they come in such great colors, it's hard to resist.