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Terrific Trailing Begonias, Indoors or Outdoors

Terrific Trailing Begonias Featured Image
Shrimp begonia hybrids have lovely leaves and blooms.

If the dark days of December have you pining for flowers, foliage, and fragrance, might we suggest some trailing begonias? These fibrous-rooted members of the Begonia tribe include dozens of evergreen species and varieties that burst into aromatic bloom during midwinter. Bless their hearts.

Brazilian Heart Begonia

Begonia solananthera (Image thanks to Logee's)
Begonia solananthera looks spectacular when in full bloom. (Image thanks to Logee’s)

Blessed indeed are the apple-green, heart-shaped leaves and aromatic white flowers of Brazilian heart begonia (Begonia solananthera), one of the best of the group. As with all trailing begonias, the fleshy foliage and butterflied blooms are borne on lax stems that will cascade picturesquely from a hanging basket or scramble up a mini-trellis or other support. Give Begonia solananthera a warm, bright, partly shaded nook, and it will put on a floral show from December into spring, perfuming the surroundings with its spicy fragrance. An easy keeper, it thrives in porous potting mixes rich in composted bark such as Fafard Ultra Container Mix with Extended Feed. Trailing begonias sulk when over-watered, so hold off until the soil surface is dry.

'Tiny Gem' (Image thanks to Logee's)
‘Tiny Gem’ is a small solananthera hybrid with lots of bright pink flowers. (Image thanks to Logee’s)

Begonia solananthera has also parented some wonderful hybrids. For example, it teamed with an unknown companion at the venerable Logee’s Greenhouses in Danielson, Connecticut, to produce the outstanding cultivar ‘Potpourri’. This 1984 introduction incorporates all the trademark solananthera features with one notable exception: luscious rose-pink flowers. It blooms a bit later than the species, typically from January into April. Also well worth seeking out is the solananthera hybrid ‘Tiny Gem’.  Although its bright pink flowers lack spiciness, they amply compensate by reblooming year-round, in masses. The relatively short stems cascade to a foot or so rather than the 2 to 3 feet typical of Begonia solananthera.

Shrimp Begonia

Solananthera-radicans hybrid 'Potpourri' (Image thanks to the American Begonia Society)
The solananthera-radicans hybrid ‘Potpourri’ is trailing and has lush clusters of salmon-pink flowers. (Image thanks to the American Begonia Society)

Many trailing hybrids with Begonia solananthera in their lineage also carry the genes of shrimp begonia (Begonia radicans), commonly named due to the curiously-shaped buds of its salmon-pink flowers. The cultivar ‘Fragrant Beauty‘ wafts a solanatheran perfume from its pale-pink flowers but resembles its radicans parent in its lance-shaped leaves. Another excellent solananthera/radicans hybrid is ‘Splotches’, named for the silvery mottling on its tapered foliage. It covers itself with pink and white flowers in late winter and early spring, at about the same time as ‘Potpourri’ and ‘Fragrant Beauty’.

Other Trailing Begonias

Begonia 'Withlacoochee' (Image by Jessie Keith)
Begonia ‘Withlacoochee‘ is a spectacular trailer that requires a large pot or large hanging basket. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Several additional trailing begonia species and cultivars make rewarding winter-blooming houseplants. Begonia convolvulacea is among the biggest and boldest of them, developing long 3-foot-plus stems set with broad glossy prominently lobed leaves that earn it the nickname “grape begonia”. White flowers appear in large branching clusters in late winter. The similar but smaller Begonia glabra climbs readily via clinging hairs, although it can also be grown as a trailer. It’s one of the parents of ‘Orococo’, another clinger noted for its copper-tinged, ivy-like leaves and white winter flowers. More diminutive is Begonia fagifolia, whose botanical name references the supposed beech-like appearance of its small fleshy oval leaves. This dainty evergreen is adorned in late winter with sprays of white flowers.

Pink trailing begonias
There are many other trailing begonias. Most garden centers with quality house plants carry them.

Other random cultivars of note include ‘Panasoffkee’, a bodacious thing with bold angel-wing-like leaves on stems that trail to 7 or 8 feet. The white midwinter flowers contrast beautifully with the glossy dark green, burgundy-backed foliage.  The similarly angel-wing-shaped leaves of the cultivar ‘Withlacoochee’ are smaller and felted with gray fuzz. An excellent subject for a large terrarium, it creeps or trails into a 2- to 3-foot-wide clump, covered in winter with white flowers that often repeat at other seasons.

Like most plants, trailing begonias aren’t perfect. Almost all of them benefit from an occasional pinching to encourage denser, branching growth. Additionally, their profuse bloom eventually results in a flurry of fallen petals, so you’ll want to site them accordingly. Give them what they need, and these cascading beauties will give your spirits a bright boost this winter. 

Ten Tips for Beautiful Container Gardens

Ten Tips for Beautiful Container Gardens Featured Image
Good care will keep your potted plants looking pretty.

You have purchased your pot, invested in potting soil, planted up your plants, and your container garden is well underway. In the cool of late spring, as container plants are rooting in, there are few stresses to disrupt your plantings. But, as plants grow and the summer heat ramps up, lots can go wrong. Here are tips for getting it all right.

The first half of successful container planting starts in the planning stages, by choosing the right pots, plants, soil, and fertilizer. The second half is knowing what to do to keep your container gardens looking great. Here are our top ten tips for container care from start to finish.

Pre-Planting Container Garden Tips

Colourful high-fired quality ceramic pots
High-fired, quality ceramic pots hold water well and overwinter better. Lighter-colored pots stay cooler in hot weather.
  1. Choose the right pot – Large containers made of the right materials helps plants grow more happily through summer. Big pots hold more water, provide more root space, and remain cooler to encourage good growth through the hottest summer days. Pots made of water-impermeable materials, such as stone, glazed ceramic, plastic, or resin, hold water better. TerraCotta and porous cement pots wick water away from roots because they are porous, so they are better suited to drought-tolerant plants or succulents. Containers that are light in color are better for sunny plantings because they reflect the heat of the sun. Pots must drain well and have a saucer, internal reservoir, or basin to capture excess water. Those with a self-watering base must have an overflow hole to protect against the possibility of overwatering.
Fafard Ultra Outdoor Planting Mix pack
Metal bowl planter with Calibrachoa, sweet potato vine, Bacon, and geraniums
Overstuffed containers, like this metal bowl planter with Calibrachoa, sweet potato vine, Bacopa, and geraniums, look good in early summer but are often overcrowded by midsummer.
  • 3. Choose the right plants and numbers. Will you place your containers on a sunny patio or window box, shaded porch, or bright, windy veranda? Is your summer climate hot and dry or mild and cool? The plants you choose must grow well in their destined location and in your local climate. Gardeners planting for sun must choose heat and drought-tolerant plants (click here for a list of Waterwise container plants), while shade-loving plants such as Begonia, Browallia, Impatiens, Torenia, and ferns are good choices for pots in partial to full shade (click here to learn more about growing Torenia). Consider the final size of each plant when designing containers, and do not overstuff the pots. Crowded plants compete for space, light, water, and nutrients, which causes them stress. Before planting, read about your plant’s needs and space them properly to ensure their best performance.
  • 4. Choose the right fertilizer. Gardeners with little time should choose an all-purpose slow- or continuous-release fertilizer to apply at planting time. Vegetable and fruit containers should be fed with plant food specially formulated for edibles. Water-soluble plant food can give plants an extra boost to encourage renewed growth and flowering midseason–particularly after plants have been trimmed and deadheaded.
Hanging summer annuals
Most summer annuals cannot be planted outdoors until the threat of frost has passed.

Post-Planting Container Garden Tips

Watering plants
Good watering technique is essential to successful container gardening.
  • 6. Know when and how to water. Good watering technique is all about common sense. Most garden flowers like lightly moist soil. If the soil is too wet for too long root rot will occur. If it’s too dry for too long plants will begin to wilt and die. When conditions are sunny, dry, hot, and breezy, plants use and lose more water (drawn up through their roots and lost through their leaves) and need more water. Likewise, when it has been rainy, cool, and still the need for water is reduced. Feel the soil before you water to determine if more is needed. If it is needed, irrigate until it flows from the bottom of the pot to ensure all the roots get moist.
Outdoor plants
Well watered and fertilized plants will look lush and flower and fruit well.
  • 7. Know when to fertilize. Slow- or continuous-release fertilizer formulated for flowers makes feeding easy because applications are needed every few months, depending on the product. Apply at planting time and then as directed. Water-soluble fertilizer will encourage further flowering and growth during the height of summer. Containers also need a boost of water-soluble food after they have been trimmed back in mid- to late-summer. Proven Winners offers both a premium continuous-release and water-soluble fertilizer that we recommend for flower-filled containers.
Trimmed petunias
Many petunias continue looking good and blooming for longer if they are trimmed back later in summer.
  • 8. Know if and when to prune and deadhead plants. To maintain any plant properly, read about its care. Some flowering plants are self-cleaning, such as sweet alyssum, Supertunia petunias, and Profusion Zinnias, while others, such as old-fashioned petunias and dahlias, need to have their old blooms removed to make way for new. Old-fashioned petunias, calibrachoa, and verbenas can become leggy, less productive, or overtake the pot as the summer wanes. Cutting the old stems back can rejuvenate growth and flowering for fall.
Old summer containers with fall elements and flowers
Reviving old summer containers with fall elements will give them a needed seasonal boost.
  • 9. Know if and when to replace seasonal flowers. The pansies and stocks of spring often die back in the heat of summer and need replacement with warm-season summer flowers. Summer annuals that begin to look tired by early fall, like marigolds or traditional petunias, should also be replaced with seasonal pansies, peppers, or ornamental kale to keep containers looking great. (Click here to learn more about container gardening with ornamental peppers.) Don’t be afraid to replace struggling annuals when they start to visually bring a container down.
Winter pot in snow
Be sure that winter pots are crack-resistant.
  • 10. Know how to overwinter pots. Be sure you choose the right pots if you want to overwinter containers outdoors (click here to read about overwintering containers). If your pots contain small shrubs or perennials, place them in a protected spot. Seasonal containers can be placed in a garage, basement, or under a dry porch where they will not become damaged by the freezing and thawing of winter.

Once you have the basics down, monitor your containers, protect them from pests and diseases, give them good care, and they will reward you with season-long beauty.

Creative Upcycled Planting Containers

Old boots as strawberry planters
A pair of old boots make campy and unusual strawberry planters.

If gardening is the great equalizer, enabling people of all ages and conditions to grow food, flowers, herbs and other plants; then container gardening is a super equalizer.  Making a “portable garden” means that you don’t need to own land, large tools or even significant space.  And, you don’t have to buy fancy containers to make your plants happy; just “upcycle” something you already have.  The only limits are your imagination and foraging abilities.

Old shoe with New Guinea Impatiens
An old shoe makes a fun, unexpected container for New Guinea Impatiens.

Upcycled planting containers make gardening more fun, and they cost nothing. All you need, in fact, is something that holds soil, good potting mix, seeds or plants, sunshine, water, and you have an instant container.  Plant some zinnias in an old dishpan or grow a mess of tomatoes in a repurposed bathtub.  One restaurant reuses commercial-size olive oil cans to house billowing basil plants whose leaves are ultimately harvested and used in various dishes.  Irish gardener/garden writer Helen Dillon uses dustbins—trash cans—to hold plants in her Dublin garden.  Spackle buckets work well, and more than one gardener has pressed an old pair of boots into service as a sturdy container.  The list of recycling opportunities is endless.  In fact, almost anything that will hold soil can be converted to a planter.  People have been recycling old tires and wine barrels to make planters/raised beds for decades.

Upcycled Container Rules

Blue old sink container garden
An old sink gets painted and planted into a fun container garden.

There are only a few rules when it comes to recycled containers.  The first is fitting the container to the plant.  A large hibiscus might need the ample space provided by an old wicker laundry basket, while a small herb plant or a succulent can grow well in a cut-off plastic detergent bottle.  When choosing a container to recycle, think about the amount of space the chosen plant might take up if it were in a garden bed.  Make sure the container is deep enough to accommodate the plant’s root system and as wide as the plant’s mature diameter.  Plant tags should provide you with this information.

The recycled container should be clean, since residue from its original contents might be harmful to plants.  A thorough cleaning with a 10% (1:10) solution of household bleach and water, plus a good rinse should be fine for most would-be planters.

Container Care

Weathered trough with bedding plants
A weathered trough gets a facelift when filled with beautiful mixed bedding plants.

Container-grown plants also have some specialized nutritional, water, and drainage needs.  Make sure your repurposed containers have drainage holes at the bottom.  If making holes is impossible, fill the bottom quarter of the container with coarse pebbles topped by a layer of charcoal (available in garden centers).  Provide good nutrition from the beginning by investing in high-quality potting media, like Fafard® Ultra Potting Mix with Extended Feed or Fafard® Ultra Container Mix with Extended Feed.
Pay attention to your chosen plants’ light requirements and position the containers accordingly.  Remember that “full sun” means six or more hours per day of direct sunlight, and even plants labeled as “good for shade” need a continuous supply of indirect or filtered light.

Purple claw foot tub with petunias
Mixed petunias and bright lavender paint add charm to an old claw foot tub. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Overwatering is the number one cause of container-grown plant death.  Check plant tags or internet resources for water requirements.  Many plants only need water when the soil is dry an inch or two below the surface, but some, like primroses or hydrangeas, prefer evenly moist soil at all times, especially when weather is hot and dry.  Plants that are outdoors during drought periods may need water every day and should be checked frequently.

Check Recycling Day

Rusted cans with plantsClever gardener/recyclers are always on the lookout for potential planters.  If your town has a “bulk pick-up day”, when larger discarded items are picked up for disposal, the perfect plant container may be waiting on a curb in your neighborhood.  Check your garage and attic.  A forgotten corner may harbor a perfect plant container.  The supermarket is also full of future plant pots, especially if you buy items like oil, condiments or canned goods in large sizes.  Look for promising shapes and sizes first, as many recyclable containers can be painted or embellished to suit your indoor or outdoor décor.
Most of all, have fun.  The perfect recycled planter is probably closer than you think!

Toilet with plants
An out-of-service toilet can make a humorous but effective planting “pot”. (image by Jessie Keith)