head once or twice a day. When in full growth water freely, avoiding excess, and once or twice a week, after they become pot-bound, give them weak liquid manure. During the winter water cautiously. The tuberous-rooted species must be dried off, and the pots turned on their sides to prevent the soil getting wet.
It is of great importance to pot them in light rich soil, through which the roots can travel freely. A very suitable compost may, however, be formed with good turfy loam and leaf mould, mixed in the proportion of two parts of the former to one of the latter. The loam must be broken up roughly, and, after adding the leaf mould, a good sprinkling of small crocks and a liberal proportion of silver sand should be mixed with it, to keep the mass open and porous, this condition being of the utmost importance.
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BEGONIA VEITCHI. |
BEGONIA ROSÆFLORA. |
The most hardy kinds are B. rosæflora, a stemless species, which flowers well in a cool greenhouse; B. Weltoniensis (also known as B. Clarkei), which is one of the best window plants: and B. Veitchi, which is hardy enough to plant in the open garden in a sheltered spot. For winter flowers the best are B.
