The first Cuphea that I remember seeing is C. ignea, commonly called the cigar plant. An unusual houseplant, it’s commonly displayed as a hanging plant, with small leaves and bright-red and yellow tubular flowers that resemble cigars. The small shiny leaves are produced in abundance, and this bushy, densely branched plant and its stems all produce the colourful blooms.

Hybridizers have developed outdoor varieties such as Proven Winners “Firecracker” in its “Vermillionaire” series. The plant has more vigour than the original species and its blooms are more prolific and larger in size.

Another is Cuphea hissopifolia, commonly called Mexican false heather. Although the plant might resemble heather, all Cuphea are members of the loosestrife family. The plant’s common name comes from its appearance; it is covered with innumerable small lavender-pink flowers, resembling large swaths of heather growing in warmer climes. This type of Cuphea is also a mounding, densely branched plant. The flowers are small and trumpet shaped and each blossom has six spreading petals. The most common colour is lavender pink, but there are also white and pink varieties. Proven Winners has a pink variety called “Lavender Lace” which is a hybrid whose blooms are larger than those of the species varieties.

Cupheas are actually woody sub-shrubs in their native habitats in southern North America and Central America. This is not unlike the loosestrife (lythrum) we grew before it was found to be an invasive plant and was put on the invasive noxious weed list. It had woody stems even though it died back to the ground each winter. Cuphea is not hardy in our region, but has two great characteristics that make it popular: it is heat tolerant and it blooms from the time it is put out into the garden until fall frost cuts it down. Although it prefers its planting medium to be kept moist, once it is established, it will tolerate some drought without any adverse effects.

Cuphea demands full sun, and even slightly reducing the direct sun it receives will affect how it performs; it will become leggy and the amount of bloom produced will be reduced. Cuphea likes a well-drained soil and responds well to being fertilized throughout the entire growing season. It will grow about 50 cm high and has a spread of at least 50 cm. Although it is sometimes sold as a “basket stuffer,” the plant is a bit too large to be used as a filler in a mixed container. It is better suited to being used as one of the feature plants instead. With its dense growth habit, it will not allow nearby plants to encroach upon its space and if planted too close to its neighbours, they will suffer. When used alone in a container — either a hanging basket or one sitting on the ground — although it has a slightly trailing habit, its branches will not cascade enough to reach the ground.

Mexican false heather is usually grown from seed. Because in its native habitat it is an evergreen plant, it can be overwintered indoors. It should be potted in the fall, cut back severely and located in front of a sunny window where it will receive maximum direct sun. It is generally not bothered by insect pests and experiences few disease problems, making it a relatively easy plant to grow.

Cuphea is not a common plant and you might have to look for it in several places, but it is well worth the search. Connie Langerquist, head horticulturalist at the International Peace Garden, gave a talk on new and exciting plants at a Brandon Garden Club meeting and she strongly recommended it. I do too. Look for one to add to your garden — it isn’t too late!

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The plants have sturdy stems and narrow lance-shaped, silvery-green leaves and appear rather nondescript, so it’s a good idea to put them near or behind clumps of more floriferous ones to ensure that the area is attractive during the day. The flowers are small and come in subdued hues of white, pink, rose, magenta and rose. Flowers on newer hybrids can be double; one such variety is called “Cinderella.” An early-blooming hybrid, aptly called “Early Bird,” is shorter and blooms earlier than other varieties. The most common type grown in our region has single lilac and cream flowers that are formed in small clusters on the stems. The plants are quite light and airy, commonly grown in clumps of a dozen plants or so.

Evening Scented Stocks can be started indoors to provide early-summer scent. The seeds should be planted about eight weeks before planting-out time (usually mid-May) as these plants are quite cold tolerant and in fact prefer cool temperatures. During the hottest part of the summer the plants will often cease blooming. The seeds are scattered on top of a moist soilless mix and not covered. The planting tray should be enclosed in plastic to keep the planting medium moist. The seeds will germinate in seven to 10 days. When the seedlings get their second set of true leaves they should be transplanted into packs and grown in a cool location that gets lots of direct sun — a cold frame would be ideal.

The seedlings can be transplanted into the garden in mid-May even if the temperatures are cool. Plant them about 12 cm apart in clumps of a dozen plants or more. Locate them in a spot that receives direct sun and where the soil can be kept moderately moist. Evening Scented Stock is not fussy about soil type and will perform equally well in sandy loam or heavy clay soil, or even in soil that lacks nutrients.

These old-fashioned plants grow about 45 cm tall and can be used in a mixed border or planted in a patch in a vegetable garden (where their mundane daytime appearance will not be a distraction) where the perfume of their evening bloom will be able to waft over the landscape. Sticking a few of these plants into a mixed container or a hanging basket may be a good choice if evening scent is desired in a certain area.

Evening Scented Stocks attract bees and butterflies to the garden. They also prefer cool temperatures, so the plants may cease to bloom in the heat of the summer. Therefore, it’s a good idea to start an indoor planting so they bloom in the early part of the growing season and then seed some outdoors in the late spring so they’ll come into their own in late summer as the temperatures begin to cool. The soil must be kept moist while germination occurs.

Evening Scented Stocks are easy to grow, and although not a particularly showy annual, they make up for this with their perfume. When you are sitting outside this summer during the evening and the spicy aroma drifts across the garden, you’ll be so glad you included this old-fashioned flower in your planting plans. Find a spot in your garden for some Evening Scented Stocks — you’ll be happy you did!

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Whether it is a small urban patch or a large farm garden, good planning and proper cultural practices are required. The first is to prepare the soil. I do this by adding a thick layer of compost to the garden each fall before I have it rototilled. If the compost is not completely composted, I sprinkle some high-nitrogen fertilizer on the garden before it is tilled to replace the nitrogen that the composting process will use. I have the garden tilled in the fall so it’s ready for early-spring planting and also so that volunteer plants will not be disturbed by spring tilling (self-seeded spinach and dill grow here and there in the garden).

Early planting results in early produce, so I use a cold frame made from old windows and erect it on the garden in early April, as soon as the snow is gone. I leave the cold frame closed for a few days to warm the soil and then plant lettuce, radish and multiplier onion sets in the frame. There is no heat in the cold frame except from the sun. I remove and replace the lid according to the weather and temperature but am always careful to have the lid open somewhat on sunny days so the plants will not be cooked.

Some vegetables can be planted in mid-May. Cold-tolerant peas, radish, lettuce, spinach and onions are planted early. Radish and lettuce seeds are sown thinly in a wide row, as is the spinach seed. Onions (I buy plants from the local greenhouse) are planted in rows only 15 cm apart to conserve space. By the third week of May the root vegetables can be seeded; the soil temperature will be high enough and the seedlings will not emerge before danger of frost is past. Carrots and beets are seeded thinly in wide rows so crowding does not become an issue. I use a piece of twine with a stake attached at both ends as a planting guide to ensure straight rows.

Garden rows are best oriented east-west so that taller plants do not shade shorter ones and all sides of the plants receive adequate sunshine. Because my garden is small I have to consider how to use the space efficiently. Leafy green vegetables can tolerate the most shade so they are planted in spots that receive the least sun, although all vegetables require lots of direct sun. Peas are planted near the carrots so that after they are finished producing and the plants cleared away the carrot tops will have sufficient space. Short-season crops like radish, lettuce and spinach are squeezed in here and there where they will have adequate space before the nearby plants get too large.

The last to be planted are the transplants — tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, peppers, celery and parsley. Most are cold sensitive so I don’t plant them until the temperatures are reliably warm (early June where I live). Cucumber vines can be allowed to ramble under tomato plants to save space. Staking and tying up tomato plants as they grow reduces the amount of space they will occupy.

Any members of the brassica (cabbage) family — cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and kohlrabi — must be protected from flea beetles. I have given up growing all these as a result, except kohlrabi, which I start indoors in early May and do not transplant into the garden until after the canola in farmers’ fields has emerged and enticed the beetles out of my garden and into their fields. Even then, I apply a coating of vegetable dust on the transplants to keep them safe until they get established.

As I plant, I mark each row with a stake and label it. I also use vertical gardening to conserve space — peas on fences and cucumbers on bamboo towers. I also keep non-compatible plants separated — beets away from onions, kohlrabi and celery away from carrots, and peppers away from kohlrabi and tomatoes. Onions are best separated from beans and peas. Scattering plants throughout the garden rather than planting all the vegetables in blocks assists in warding off pests, such as planting a few marigolds and growing some dill plants here and there. Surrounding susceptible plants with Cuban oregano plants also helps.

The only chemical I use is vegetable dust to protect the kohlrabi from cabbage butterflies, so I locate them where they can be easily dusted without getting the dust on nearby plants. They are in a separate spot away from the other plants, (especially those that produce fruit above ground), beside the root vegetables. When the flea beetles invade the garden in the fall (after farmers’ canola is swathed), I harvest the kohlrabi and store it (I grow the storage variety “Kossack”). I make successive plantings of lettuce and radish all summer so I leave a patch for this purpose; the radish season comes to a halt when the flea beetles arrive.

Good luck with your vegetable garden this year.

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When my wife and I had our spacious garden on my brother-in-law’s farm we always had “patches” of annuals here and there. They were mostly self-seeded and they served several purposes such as: providing colour in an otherwise very green vegetable garden; contributing cut flowers to summer bouquets; and, attracting pollinators which no doubt improved the productivity of the vegetable garden. I also saved mature pods of poppies for drying to use in floral designs.

When using such a technique to fill in spots at minimal cost, it is helpful if the plants are either self-sown annuals or can be grown from seed saved from annuals grown in last year’s garden. Two of the best annual flowers to grow in patches — and both self-seed prolifically — are Shirley poppies and bachelor buttons. Both will bloom all summer and both grow about 40 cm tall and are self-supporting.

Another good variety that also self-seeds abundantly is California poppies with their bright-golden flowers. Not quite as tall as their Shirley cousins they tend to bloom in early summer and may need to be sheared in midsummer to rejuvenate the patch.

Calendula (pot marigolds) can also be used to create a patch garden. These colourful annuals self-seed and seed is easily saved from the plants. They bloom all summer, grow about 30 cm tall and will produce a gold/yellow blaze of colour. There are newer varieties of calendula that are hybrids so it might be best to use the older species if seed is to be saved. Seed from hybrids is unpredictable and does not often come true from seed, and sometimes newer varieties are sterile.

Cosmos will also self-seed and seed can be saved from the older non-hybrid varieties. The plants will create a nice patch garden providing innumerable flowers in shades of pink and white. Nicotiana will do the same and produce a similar patch of pink/white blooms. The seedlings from self-seeding from these annuals is a bit later to emerge in the spring so they will not get off to as early a start as bachelor buttons and poppies, but they will not be too far behind.

Although it is not commonly thought of as a flowering plant, dill can be used in patch gardens to create a lovely display of ferny foliage and yellow bloom. The bloom is fleeting but the seed heads have an interesting form and seed saving is simple as the amount produced is phenomenal.

Some other annuals self-seed quite readily but not as prolifically. Flowers such as mignonette, phacelia, and nigella will appear in the places they were grown the previous year. None of them are big plants and they work best in a mixed patch, which some refer to as wildflower gardens even though they are not wild but domestic. To establish a mixed flower patch, simply put in a variety of flowers, including the ones mentioned above and let them grow. Some thinning might be required to allow the less aggressive plants to thrive.

Annual flower patches and “wild” flower patches are not for everyone. They tend to be very informal, can look a bit messy, and lose their appeal as the end of the growing season nears. But to fill in out-of-the-way spots, or to add inexpensive colour in a large rural landscape, they do have their uses.

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It is common to see no short plants in a border at all; all will be of medium height or taller, even those right at the front. Different plants are mixed together in groupings and there are no distinct rows and certainly no one plant is used for the entire length of the border. Instead, a certain plant may be repeated three or four times along the length to establish some unity.

Plants are also not in rows but in drifts, and there might be three or four drifts of the same plant used in a long border. Often borders are created against a fence, wall or row of shrubbery and are quite deep, allowing for the use of tall plants without making them appear out of scale. Using a lot of tall plants in a narrow island bed would not appear in scale with the size of the border, but island beds are not commonly used in modern landscapes.

Using tall annuals in some of the drifts in a mixed border has several advantages. First, many annuals bloom until freeze-up while many perennials flag long before late fall. Therefore, including some annuals in a mixed border will ensure a continuity of bloom during the whole growing season. Clumps of annuals can provide vibrant colour among the often more subdued hues of perennials. Because tall annuals are quite large few plants are required, and if started from seed (many annuals are easy to grow from seed), the cost is minimal. Finally, some interesting combinations of plants can be achieved when using some tall annuals in a mixed border.

Here’s some examples:

Cosmos

Cosmos, particularly the tall variety “Sensation,” provide sturdy plants that produce white, pink and dark-maroon flowers that will bloom all summer. Deadheading will ensure that they keep on blooming. Cosmos like moist soil and full sun. They will not object to standing shoulder to shoulder with clumps of perennials. Their ferny foliage is an added benefit.

Amaranthus

There are many varieties and they produce heavy plumes of bloom held above sturdy plants. Some varieties produce deep-wine plumes and others golden-orange plumes; both will look great in a mixed border where they will create interesting focal points. They like full sun. The variety “Love-Lies-Bleeding” has long ropes of bloom that cascade rather that standing erect like other varieties, which creates an interesting effect.

Lavatera

Both the white and the pink varieties produce blooms that have the sheen of satin. They are big plants and just a few will create a fair-size grouping in a mixed border. Deadheading will encourage new bloom. Lavatera likes a sunny exposure and moist, rich soil.

Cleome

Commonly called spider flower because its blooms resemble huge spiders, cleome can provide clumps of pink and white colour in a mixed border. The plants bloom all summer and are over a metre tall. Cleome likes sun and heat but requires consistent moisture.

Larkspur

The attractive spikes of bloom can reach a height of 50 cm and come in a range of colours from white through pink and red to dark purple. Larkspur likes sun but will tolerate some shade and the lovely double flowers on the spikes resemble delphinium.

Nicotiana

The highly scented nicotiana sylvestris produces pendant clusters of white blooms. This variety is grown for its perfume and for its pure-white blooms. It is taller than other nicotiana varieties, reaching a height of over a metre and a half.

There are several other annuals well suited to use in mixed borders, and using tall ones provides a whole new dimension. Give this technique a try.

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Clubmoss likes warm temperatures, doesn’t like cold drafts, and likes high humidity. The proximity of the large foliage plant will help to increase the humidity, but misting will also be beneficial.

Clubmoss also makes a great terrarium plant, since these are enclosed in glass and have lots of other plants right beside them, creating a high-humidity environment. Because it is an enclosed ecosystem, the frequency of watering is greatly reduced, making these plant display units quite low maintenance.

Another use for this attractive plant is an addition to a fairy garden or a dish garden. Again, its purpose is to fill in empty spaces and cover bare soil. When used in such arrangements it can easily be misted to prevent it from browning. Small decorative objects commonly used in such arrangements can be set on top of the moss without causing harm.

The soil in which clubmoss is planted should be kept lightly moist. It will deteriorate if the soil is kept sodden and will turn brown if too dry. It can be used alone in a container. A six-inch pot will soon become a mound of bright-green foliage, making a perfect addition to a plant grouping. A larger container of clubmoss can be used as a tabletop specimen. The foliage will become thick and grow over the edges of the container, creating an attractive display of ferny greenery. Setting the display on a pebble tray will increase the humidity around the plant.

Whether it is used as a ground cover beneath large indoor plants, in a terrarium or dish, as a stand-alone plant, or in combination with other plants in a grouping, clubmoss will add a unique feature to the interior landscape.

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If you are looking to purchase a potted cyclamen, find one that looks fresh with lots of buds visible in the crown of the plant and few mature or spent blooms (or signs that a lot of blooms have been removed). Because April is nearing the end of the natural flowering period, you still want to get six weeks or so of bloom out of the plant.

Cyclamens are grown from tubers and the top of the tuber will likely be visible above the soil in the pot. It is from this tuber that the foliage and flower stems emerge. The leaves are large and heart shaped and have silver designs on them, making the foliage almost as attractive as the flowers. The flower stalks grow above the foliage and the stems should be sturdy and stand straight; they should not be weak and bent over. The flowers — in shades of pink and red (as well as white) — are composed of large petals that surround a dark-coloured centre. Each flower’s petals stand erect so that the centre of the bloom is barely visible.

In its natural tropical habitat, the cyclamen grows in cool, high-humidity locations and these are the conditions favoured by the plants offered for sale in our area. If the humidity is too low or the temperature is too high the plant will go into a gradual decline; its leaves will begin to yellow and die and blooming will cease. Daytime temperatures should not exceed 20 C and if possible, nighttime temperatures should be somewhat cooler than that. Humidity around the plant can be increased by sitting the pot on a pebble tray and by having other plants nearby. Keeping the plant away from heat sources will also assist in keeping temperatures cool and humidity high.

Cyclamens are very sensitive to both over- and under-watering, therefore must be in a planting medium that retains moisture but at the same time allows excess water to drain away from the tuber. The container must have excellent drainage so excess water can drain away and not linger in it. Care must be taken to water below the leaves and stems and to not allow water to get on the foliage and stems or rot is likely to occur. Water — particularly if it contains a soluble fertilizer — will also mark the leaves and make them less attractive. A soluble fertilizer high in phosphorus, used at half-strength, should be used every month while the plant is in bloom. If too much fertilizer is used, more foliage and less flowers will be produced.

As with many florist plants, be on the lookout for insect pests. Mites are the most common problem on cyclamens and they are hard to combat once they get a foothold. Vigilance and keeping the plant healthy by providing it with cool, humid surroundings will help to avoid any problems. Misting and carefully showering the foliage without damaging the flowers is also helpful.

Deadheading will prolong the bloom period but eventually the plant will stop flowering and will begin to go into a dormant state, indicated by a yellowing of the leaves. When this natural process begins to occur, watering should stop. The leaves will continue to yellow and die. When the top growth has died down it should be removed and the pot placed in a cool, dark place for about three months where the tuber will remain in a dormant state.

Check periodically to see that new growth is not beginning to occur and if it does, bring the pot out of storage. Generally though, the pot should be stored for about three months, and then brought out into the light. If the tuber is too crowded, transfer it to a pot that is a size larger than the one it is in. Use a peat-based soilless mix. Some potting soil or leaf mould could be added to increase the organic matter and nutrient level.

A north-facing window is perfect for a cyclamen — bright, indirect light but no direct sun. Soak the pot by sitting it in a tub of water for a few hours, let it thoroughly drain, then don’t water again until new growth appears. When this happens, begin to water and fertilize as you did when the plant was in bloom and look forward to the plant producing a new crop of buds by late fall. With any luck, your cyclamen will give you a second round of beautiful blooms and it should flower for most of the winter.

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As I held the seed packet, deliberating whether to buy it, I tried to figure out where I could put it in my relatively crowded, small, town garden. Tithonia is a large plant, growing from one to almost two metres in height. Where could I put it? Then I thought of the perfect place — if I bought the seed — which I did!

In my garden I have a hot, dry bed on the south side of mature spruce trees. It has some heliopsis, lilies, solidago and yellow verbascum in it but I always like to add a few tall annuals for some late-summer colour. The last few years I have grown tall red salvia, but although they looked good and were the right size, they suffered from the dry conditions of the bed. I was constantly watering them as they were not nearly as drought-proof as their companions. Tithonia might solve this problem.

Tithonia is a member of the sunflower family and is often referred to as Mexican sunflower. The large daisy-like blooms can be orange, yellow or red. I prefer the red variety — “Torch” — and luckily that was the variety offered in the seed display. I have grown the yellow one — “Goldfinger” — but wanted splashes of red in an otherwise yellow/gold border.

The flowers of tithonia are not as large as sunflowers, only getting about six to eight centimetres across. They will provide good colour in my border and be just the right size to use as cut flowers in arrangements for the local autumn horticultural show.

I will only need to sow a few seeds as these are large plants — from one to almost two metres tall and over a metre wide. Only needing a half-dozen plants, I’ll donate any extras to the Horticultural Society plant sale in May. In a large rural garden a bank of tithonia could be planted, as they look great at the back of a perennial bed or mixed border, planted along a fence or shed, or mass planted in a large island bed.

The growth habit of tithonia is similar to other sunflower plants. The stems and branches are sturdy and the foliage is hairy like the leaves of sunflowers, making the plants unattractive to deer. The flowers are produced on long stems and deadheading of spent blooms will keep the plants flowering right up until frost. Tithonia is not particularly frost tolerant and doesn’t like cool weather, performing best when the temperatures are hot. For this reason, tithonia should not be planted outdoors until temperatures are consistently above 10 C.

Tithonia is easy to grow from seed which can simply be scattered on top of some sterile soilless mix. Enclose the container in a plastic bag to keep the planting medium moist. The seeds need light to germinate so I’ll place the container under the lights of the light garden, which will also provide enough warmth to encourage germination. The seeds should germinate within about a week, so should be started about six to eight weeks before the transplants will be planted outdoors.

When the seedlings get their first true leaves they can be transplanted into individual pots. I try to give them as much light as possible so they don’t get leggy — first in the light garden and later in my cold frame on the back patio. Potting them individually will enable them to be transplanted into the garden with minimum root disturbance. My plants will be in the cold frame for a couple of weeks in early May before they go into the flower border.

The plants like full sun and well-drained soil. Space them about 50 cm apart and water the newly transplanted seedlings regularly until they get established, and then only during really dry weather, as they are very drought tolerant. I’m also going to try one in a mixed container just to see how it performs and how it combines with other plants.

I’m happy to have an opportunity to try out tithonia in my present garden and eager to see how the plants turn out.

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Primulas are members of the primrose family, a large and varied plant family originating in Europe and Asia. For the most part they are spring-blooming perennials and in milder climates are used extensively in rock gardens or combined with other spring-flowering plants in borders. They are also often planted under deciduous trees where they bloom before the trees leaf out. The word primula means first and these plants are among the first to bloom in the spring, making them prized in outdoor gardens in warmer locations.

The primulas that I came across and that are commonly offered for sale at this time of year are hybrids that are not hardy in our area and so only suited for growing indoors. They are commonly referred to as English primroses or polyanthus primroses, and produce vibrantly coloured blooms — either single ones or there are also double cultivars. The single-bloom types have flowers that measure about three cm across and most have a vivid yellow eye. The yellow ones either lack an eye or sometimes have a reddish colouration resembling veining in the centre of each bloom.

English primulas are not easy-care plants. They tend to be rather temperamental when kept as houseplants, but if given the correct growing conditions, they can be successfully grown indoors, and can be kept after they finish blooming and grown on to produce flowers again. This project will take considerable effort and the results may be disappointing so many gardeners treat these plants as “disposable” and just compost them.

Primulas need rich, well-drained soil which contains lots of organic matter. Commercial growers use a soilless mix that is peat based but home gardeners can improve the composition of the planting medium by adding compost or leaf mould to the mix. Primulas like a nutrient-rich planting medium so if a soilless mix is used a regular fertilizing program will be necessary with a soluble balanced plant food.

These plants also demand good air circulation. If they are kept overly wet and there is not much air movement around them, they can develop rot and both the roots and the leaves can succumb to this. Primroses also prefer cool temperatures. If you purchase a primula, its blooms will last a lot longer if it is located in a cool environment, and it should be placed in a brightly lit location but not in direct sunlight. They like their soil to be kept consistently moist. If some leaves start to yellow then you know that the soil is too wet; if the foliage goes limp then the soil is too dry.

A primula purchased now should bloom until well into April. Removing spent blooms will encourage it to keep producing flowers but eventually the plant will stop blooming. The colour of the blooms darken with age so you will know which blooms are reaching the end of their life by noting their colour. If you want to try keeping the plant alive and getting it to rebloom, after flowering has ceased, keep the plant watered and fed. Remove dead leaves and spent blooms and keep the pot in a well-lit spot. It will keep producing green foliage. During the growing season it could be planted in the ground outside in a shaded location or the pot might simply be placed outside in a sheltered spot. Primulas, however, use lots of water so there is a danger that the soil will dry out if the plant in a pot isn’t watered regularly. The leaves will wilt if the planting medium is too dry. If the plant stays healthy during the summer you might see the development of buds in the fall. At this time the plant can be brought in and treated as you treated it when you first bought it.

Polyanthus primroses are lovely plants and these spring bloomers can brighten our spirits after a long winter. If you simply enjoy the plant while it is in bloom and then discard it, by that time the outdoor garden should be beginning to come alive and our attention will shift in that direction.

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Among the plants that I bring indoors in the fall are dragon wing begonias, which I grow in pots outdoors during the summer, displayed on plant stands in a xeriscape area south of some mature spruce that is shaded by a large basswood tree. The cascading branches hanging down and covered with dark-red-pink bloom create a focal point in that area of the garden and by fall the branches are quite long but still covered with bloom. Before frost has a chance to damage the tender plants, I bring several pots inside for the winter.

After cutting the branches back to 10 cm high (unfortunately all the bloom is cut off and composted), the pots are put in front of a west-facing window. A few slips are started from the cuttings. The cuttings (I use 20- or 30-cm-long terminal ones) are created by cutting the stems off just below a leaf axil so that new growth will sprout close to the cut-off point on the parent plants.

The ends of these are dipped into a rooting hormone and then planted in pots — usually a dozen or more in a large container. A soilless mix is used, the pot has good drainage and the planting medium is damp before the cuttings are planted. The longest, most pendulous cuttings are put around the perimeter of the pot and a few shorter, more upright ones are placed in the centre. The cuttings are put quite close together and any leaves that will touch the soil surface are removed.

In the fall when the plants are brought indoors, if any are several years old and appear to be root-bound and not particularly vigorous, they are consigned to the compost bin. Before that happens though, parent plants can be cut back for many years and will get thicker and bushier and more attractive with each pruning. The pots of new cuttings will replace any that have gone to the compost bin, and by spring both the parent plants and the new pots will be in full bloom and ready to move outdoors.

Indoors, by mid-December, the plants have put forth enough new growth to develop some buds and soon flowers appear on the ends of the stems. The branches keep getting longer and develop more and more bloom. By late March the plants are quite large (I grow them in 14-inch hanging baskets) and they are covered in bloom, putting on a glorious show.

Dragon wing begonias are rather messy plants — the flowers are similar to those of the fibrous begonias used as bedding plants — so they will drop dead blossoms, but cleaning up a bit of a mess is worth it as the plants will bloom all winter.

My dragon wing begonia blooms are dark pinkish red, but they become a softer shade of pink when grown indoors in reduced light. There is also a pink-rose variety with green foliage and a variety with red bloom and bronze foliage.

It is wonderful when a plant from the outdoors can be brought inside to continue to be enjoyed during the winter. The dragon wing begonia is one of those plants!

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