Dawn's Begonias.

Dawn Wilson (no relation of mine) invited me to call around to photograph some of her Tuberous Begonias. Naturally I was happy to do that, and to post them here for you to enjoy, too,

I shall not bore anyone with the names of any of these plants.

In truth, many are probably hybrids
(seedlings from flowers which Dawn has cross-pollinated herself).
She was doing it today, whenever she found a flower with good pollen.
So these plants are unlikely to be named varieties.

Just enjoy them for the beauty they reveal.

Lovely plants, and relatively easy to grow in Robertson.
 

In Goulburn and more famously in Ballarat, they are grown
in public (Council owned) glasshouses in public parks.

This took my fancy.
A simple flower growing on a tall-growing "cane" Begonia.

a tall-growing "cane" Begonia.

This flower is on a seedling.
As the plant matures, it will probably throw
fully double flowers (like most of these others)

"Begonias are an obvious choice to grow in a semi shaded or shaded area. They are well suited to a wide variety of climates, though excessive cold (eg. frost), direct sunlight or excessive dryness can kill or severely damage most types of begonias. Many will grow well as indoor plants; some are more commonly grown in a shade house or fernery; and others are grown as bedding plants."
Text from "How to grow Begonias" (an Australian website).

I am pleased to see that an old Peony-growing colleague of mine, Martin Farrugia, is still going in the Nursery Industry in Erica, Victoria. These days he is specialising in Begonias and his favourite plant, the Candy Bell (Lapageria). He has good, simple, cultural instructions for tuberous Begonias on his web page.
He starts out saying: "Tuberous Begonias are a cool climate plant, not sub-tropical.
People grow them well in Sydney, Perth and south of these."
"Choose a place where plants like ferns, fuchsias, hostas or cymbidiums grow.
Give them good light, not direct sun (shade cloth ideal). Not too much wind.
Not indoors – Tuberous Begonias need cool nights."
For more information, visit his website:  http://www.candybell.com.au/begonia_culture.htm

Japanese Tree Peonies

A couple of very different Japanese Tree Peonies (different from eachother, I mean).

One is a fully double pink Tree Peony. Unlike my previous posting on a Japanese Tree Peony which I now realise was wrongly named, this one ought to be the true "Echigo-jishi"

The second one has not flowered for me in several years, so I really welcome this flower. I believe it is Kinkaden a stunning dark red flower - which is a very unusual colour in pure Japanese Tree Peonies. Some of the later Hybrid Tree Peonies (which brought in dark colours from a small species Tree Peony now known as Paeonia delavayi) have achieved similar dark colours. But those plants have very different leaves and tend to flower as much as a month later than this plant.

Do I have to say anything more?

Here are the flowers:

Echigo-jishi (in situ)

I like to cut these flowers once they open properly,
to enjoy the flowers, and to protect them from strong wind.
Here is is on a kitchen window-sill.
This shot was taken with a flash, in the late afternoon.
The flower is so large (23 cm across)
I had to put it on the floor to photograph it with my favourite Micro Lens
And here is Tree Peony "Kinkaden"
A stunning dark red flower.
This flower has a mass of ripe pollen.
Late in the afternoon, I took these two Peony flowers to my friend George
who has a love of all things Oriental, including Tree Peonies.
He has used the flowers to decorate his house,
carefully placed beside a Japanese figurine,
and an ornamental vase with Tree Peony flowers on it.
He published this image on Facebook.
Very tasteful, George.
Glad you liked my flowers.