DECEMBER
The year is nearly over, the tubers are knocked out of there
pots and I start to carefully remove the compost. If white roots are
seen I cease removing the compost and leave for another week in the pot,
to dry out completely (A). 1st week
of December and frost are forecast, panic stations need to cram
everything into the greenhouse (B).
With now also being back in the real world and having to work again, time
has become sparse for the begonias. This is just as an important time as
any other time through the season. Sometimes the last piece of stem will
soon start to rot and affect the tuber if not caught early enough
(C). This
needs to be removed and left to dry (D), I personally prefer to let this
dry for a few days before I dust the wound with sulphur. The rest of the
compost is later removed, its then ready for storage and another year
comes to an end.
On reflection of my year its been good to be able to look back through
the Diary. First and most important has been my compost, John Innes No. 2
made with Kettering loam from Boughtons. Have been impressed and am nearly
100% happy, will only be looking at being able to get more air into the
mix. This I will be experimenting with adding course orcihid bark and a bit
of tweaking here & there. On looking back I have been more than happy with
the end results, some of my blooms have been quite outstanding in the
shade house Blooms have reached 10 inches and the only thing that caused a
problem was timing, but lots of notes have been taken, and things will get
better over time. Here are a few pictures of a few blooms Falstaff
(E)
Sylvia Johnson (F) Lancelot
(G) Golden Hind
(H) sorry about the bloke
holding the plant. Anniversary (I) Snowbird
(J) Isabell Keenan
(K). I
now have a list of varieties that will now form the basis of stock that
I will use for showing.
ANNIVERSARY. AVALANCHE.
GOLDEN HIND. POWDER PUFF. LANCELOT. SWEET DREAMS. TOM BROWNLEE. FALSTAFF.
SYLVIA JOHNSON. ISABEL KEENAN. CITY OF BALLAARAT. ELSIE CATTERALL. FALSTAFF. MONICA BRYCE. NICHOLA COATES.
.LINDSAY SMITH.
TEQUILA
SUNRISE. JOYCE MIHULKA. JENNIFER WILSON .
A few others that will
join this list once I have enough stock are Colin Hamilton, Lottie and
Fantasia so with nearly 60 varieties at present, quite a few will be
seeing the door. Looking at the list if I only grow 5 of each that's over
100 plants.
So now with Christmas looming, not long before the seed and basket
varieties are started and the new season starts all over again, (can't
wait.)
As my year draws to an end, must admit its been quite enjoyable I found
the hardest part was trying to keep it fairly condensed as I can get a bit
carried away. It was nice to be able to visit so many shows & places, a
pleasure to meet old and new friends on my travels around the country.
Hopefully I have helped a few people on the way but most of all maybe 1
or 2 will take the plunge into showing, its great fun just to be part of
a show. It's not about winning, for the first time ever and I have entered
more classes this year than ever before, not one prize card came my way,
but I have had some great fun and I would like to thank everyone who read my
Diary. Hopefully there was a few smiles on the way, last words go to
Brian Simmons, there was no thanks from me at the start of the year when
he twisted my arm to do the Diary and do I thank him now at the end of the
year? you bet, glad I took part it made me concentrate more on my
growing.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, Happy New Year
Phil
Champion.
