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| About 19 years ago we had just a normal but keen interest in gardening, visiting garden centres and flower shows. Southport Flower Show changed all that - we saw a fantastic display of tuberous begonias. After a few enquires we were directed to the National Begonia Society's stand, and later were invited to visit a member's greenhouse. The biggest problem my husband, Terry, had was to convince me that we needed a greenhouse. | |
| He did, and we bought a greenhouse (1.8 x 2.4m) from a friend. It seemed big enough then, but tuberous begonias had become Terry's passion and he quickly realised that his greenhouse was not large enough. Another of the same size was bought to accommodate all the cuttings. In the first year the plants numbered 120. Terry had become so enthusiastic, reading and talking to top growers, and soon his stock had risen to 60 different varieties. His next ambition was to exhibit, so he was learning new skills, such as timing, judging quality and transporting the delicate flowers. | |
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Then he was given a little foliage begonia 'Cleopatra', and he was really taken with it. Two leaves of Begonia griffithi and B.masoniana joined the family as well as instructions on how to grow them, and five or six weeks later, little plants emerged. Terry was now on a mission - collecting plants, leaves and knowledge all along the way, and then he wanted to know more about his begonias, their history, country of origin and climate needs, how they lived in the wild. |
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Large Gold Holker Hall Flower Show |
More space was required, so we decided to move to a larger house, or should I say garden! We built a wooden greenhouse, 11.2 x 3m, with a solid fuel boiler. By this time, Terry was the North West Area representative for the National Begonia Society. His thirst for knowledge continued and he made contacts with Hong Kong and Sweden. It soon became apparent that the greenhouse was not big enough. Another greenhouse, 7.3 x 3.6m, was purchased and gas central heating was installed in both houses. |
| We are now in contact with another collection holder in Essex, exchanging plants so guarding against loss of rare and endangered species (mirror collections). | |
| Up to two years ago, Terry had only shown tuberous begonias at Southport Flower Show, but he decided to include some foliage begonias for greater variety. The second decision was to do the display naturalistically, incorporating driftwood and water, and to give public information within the display on the origins of the plants displayed, whether they are endangered and so on. We want to concentrate on the educational aspect. | |
| To date we have over 600 different named species and hybrids. But there are over 1,200 known species and world-wide 12,500 registered hybrids and cultivators. Do you think we will soon be needing another greenhouse? | |
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03/02/2008
Shirley's Plants
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