when to plant begonia tubers? (at the coast)

hello - when do i plant begonia tubers in Greater Vancouver - near the beach (ocean)

i plan to use them in planters / hanging baskets

they are the pendula type

i have never done this before - am i too late?

i was really hankering after the very pretty Angelique (I know it's a tulip - also a begonia) from Botanus (the mail order nursery out in Fraser Valley) - but alas - did not plan ahead and now sold out. http://www.botanus.com/products/Angelique-Novelty-Begonia.html

I am going to plant the tubers regardless - as I have bought them and they are sitting there waiting for me - however, do I need to keep them inside for a while - then put outside?

or can i put them in the pots outdoors now?

thank you

 

I would plant them now and keep them indoors until the weather warms and nights stay above 10 degrees. I have overwintered a couple of pots of begonias for several years. Each year they are more impressive.

 

how do you over-winter your begonias?

do you remove them and store them bare and dry in a cool dark location?

 

In this case I have left them in large pots for, I think 5 years now. I do not dig them out, I store the whole pot. I had to lift them a bit and add soil one year. I bring them indoors in the fall and let them dry out. I keep them in a cool (10 degrees C) sunny spot. They sometimes emerge on their own in spring or they emerge after I give them a bit of water.

These two pots are placed at the entrance to the house and they have provided a great show of flowers each summer. They had not emerged yet the last time I checked, two weeks ago. I may find leaves emerging when I visit this weekend. I will put them outside after night temps are consistently above 10 degrees.

 

thank you for the info -

you are in coastal VAncouver BC?
ie near the botanical garden side of Vanc (as opposed to the outflow cold climate that surrey and eastward can be)

what do you feed?

and how often?

we moved to a new house and - sadly - I did not insist on a cold - greenhouse type of amenity (I forgot the mud room too - darn~!

I read somewhere the other day that before planting the dry tubers (as they come from the plant nursery at this time of year) - that one should wait til there is a hint of a shoot emerging - and also bury completely as the roots come from all over the tuber.

thank you - i hope you take some pictures of your begonias one day and post their progress.

 

Ah, these are in Sechelt, high-bank right at the coast. It's mild there. I only visit there a couple times a month, so they do not get a lot of care. I don't fertilize anything much, but I give these some MiracleGro, like I do for house plants.

 

i get it - thank you.

re: sechelt - they must welcome you with open arms at the fledgling botanical garden up there ; )

nice spot - I haven't been there in a while - shall try going maybe this summer.

i see they just hauled in all the donated rhodos from the famous collection in North Van (well known collection) - I think the gentleman was a long-time Parks Board gardener. For some reason, Stanley Park (near the stables) comes to mind.

 

That was from Alleyne and Barbara Cook. Here is a Vancouver Sun article, for as long as it's around.

 

Hello again - I planted the tubers in proper potting soil a couple of weeks ago - how long does it normally take for any sign of life to emerge from the soil?

the tubers had tiny pink "nubs" on the top - so I made sure I put the tuber that way up - obviously - and the pink nubs are still really small.

any advice? thank you.