Begonias are the queens of the garden at my house.  I love the intensity of their rich viberent colors… pink, red, orange and yellow.  There are different varieties of begoinas.  Upright and Nonstop are the most commonly known.  There is a  little less known type called Illumniation.  The Illumniation begoinia seeds are imported from England.  It is a “hanging” variety and by that I mean… the flowers and foliage droop over the edges of the planter or hanging basket.

Every year, my favorite nursery has plenty Illumniation Begonias to choose from but because of a fertilization mishap, all of thier begonias died.  No problem… I’ll just get them from another nursery.   No way!   Every nursery I called did not have them.  In fact, most nurseries were not familiar with the variety.  I quickly printed off a few photos I had taken of my baskets last year and ran to to a new nursery… who promised to plant them next year.  (You see, I want to protect myself from disappointment.)

After many phone calls, I finally found a nursery  50 miles away that were having a few Illumniation begonias coming in on a truck.  Boy… was I on the road in a hurry.  Would you believe, only 15 Illumination plants were among 100 begonia plants.   Such luck!

So… when you’re begonia shopping, ask your nursery about Illumniation Begonias  If you’re fortunate enough to locate any… grab them up and give ’em a try.  I assure you… you’ll not be disappointed.

Off to plant my hanging baskets.

Till Later,

Kathy

Insightful Nana

P.S.  Remember, begonias don’t care for the sun… they are strictly a shade plant and they love rich soil.  They’re great for porches that face the north or the east.

P.P.S  Make sure and view the video on the home page of the blog for “must know” gardening tips.