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Old 21-09-2009, 07:06 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
DaveP DaveP is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Feb 2009
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Default Begonia luxurians

James spat:

Yes. But you can do your own leg work. Spammer.
A customer has asked ....

And? What do you want? A Blue Peter badge?


Yawn, morons out and about again I see.

Anyway Sacha, Begonia luxurians can be just about overwintered outside
in very mild areas provided there is some evergreen overhead cover to
lessen the risk of radiation damage on clear nights in winter. Even
then, weather like we had last year weakens it so much that it takes
most of the ensuing summer to resume poor growth. Luxurians can
certainly tolerate a *few* very short spells down to -2C without
damage to the foliage or canes, but it will not cope with night-long,
sub-zero temperatures well and one or two instances of -4C will see it
cut to the ground. Although there are plenty of subterranean buds
from which it can regenerate, they are reluctant to sprout after a lot
of cold damage.

Mine came through 3 winters extremely well, usually flowering around
Christmas/New Year and developing 40cms wide leaves each summer. This
last winter inflicted significant damage and it's barely worth
keeping. It is one of those tender perennials that probably needs
replacing every few years and if your customer wants to be certain of
keeping her plant, she should definitely overwinter it in a frost free
or slightly heated greenhouse.