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BEGONIACHATTER
Astro Branch
American Begonia Society
4513 Randwick DriveHouston, Texas 77092-8343(713) 686-8539
Next Meeting:DATE: November 3, 2013TIME: 2:00 PMPLACE: W. Gray Multi-Purpose Cntr.PROGRAM: Wintering Our Begonias
NOVEMBER 2013 ISSUE www.begoniahouston.org
PROTECTING OUR BEGONIASOVER THE WINTER MONTHS
The November 3, 2013 meeting of the AstroBranch of the American Begonia Society will beheld at the West Gray Multi-Purpose Center, 1475West Gray Street. The doors will open a 1:00P.M. President Susan Daugherty will presideover this meeting. There will be a short businessmeeting to keep us all up to date on what is goingon with the Astros, Southwest Region andNational.
Our refreshment Host and Hostesses for thismeeting are Debra Norris, Fukumi Smith, TonyRobert and Donna Robert.
Our Program this month will be ProtectingOur Begonias over the Winter. When we speakof winter in Houston it is often argued that we haveno winter to speak of. In years past this is true anda light sheet will do well to protect them from anylight frost that may fall. Then on the other handwe have had winters where we have had freezingweather for days on end with little to no warning(Our famous Blue Northers). Since our Houstonweather is unpredictable any other time of the year
winter is no exception. We all make preparationsfor protecting our plants during December, Januaryand February. Everyone prepares differently.Everyone attending will have a chance to sharewith all our members what they do to protect theirbegonias and other tropical plants from ourHouston Winters. In a greenhouse (heated?),garage, sunroom, on the south side of your houseusing frost cloth or sheets or in yourbreakfast-room. What works best for you andyour plants? We are anxious to hear what you do.
Our Host and Hostesses will have lots of tastytreats to tempt our taste buds and above all yourbegonia friends will be there to talk begonias with.This should be a very interesting program and welook forward to seeing each of you there.
See You There!
PRUNING, PLANTINGAND TRANSPLANTING
November3rd & 4th Scorpio7th & 8th Capricorn12th & 13th Pisces16th, 17th & 18th Taurus21st & 22nd Cancer
December1st & 2nd Scorpio5th & 6th Capricorn9th & 10th Pisces13th, 14th & 15th Taurus18th, 19th & 20th Cancer28th & 29th Scorpio
· Planting and Transplanting are best done inCancer, Scorpio and Pisces
· Best Pruning for quick growth is firstTaurus and then Capricorn.
________________________________________
WEATHER FORECASTFOR NOVEMBER 2013
(Taken from the Harris Farmer’s Almanac2014)
According to the United States WeatherService, Houston and surrounding area fall inRegion 7 of the National Weather Map. Here iswhat they predict our weather will be like for themonth of November 2013.
Our temperatures will be slightly belownormal and our precipitation will be near normal.Our temperatures should average from 45 degreesin the north to 56 degrees in the south. Ourcoolest November temperatures will beNovember 4th thru 8th, 14th thru 16th, 21st thru 26th
and 29th & 30th . Our warmest Novembertemperatures will be November 1st thru 3rd, 11th
thru 13th and 19th & 20th. There will be showersand thunderstorms and periods of rain aboutNovember 3rd thru 6th, 13th thru 15th, 20th thru 24th
and 28th thru 30th. There is locally heavy rainfallpossible November 20th thru 22nd. There will bewindy conditions especially in the north.
HAPPYBIRTHDAYTO YOU !
Birthday wishes go out to all our memberswho were born in this month of November.
Fred Bones November 13th
Mike Bragg November 4th
Donna Williams November 30th
“Today is a day to enjoy being with friends.To look back on where you’ve been, and to lookforward to the special time the future holds foryour”.
Happy Birthday________________________________________
WELCOME NEWMEMBERS
Please welcome our new members to theAstro Branch. Please be sure to add them to yourmembership Roster.
Imelda Gott435 GlenchesterHouston, TX 77079Telephone: 713-647-0392E-mail: [email protected]
Noreen Tolman & Ken Gardner15915 PasaderoHouston, TX 77083Telephone: 281-568-1078E-mail: [email protected]
Imelda Gott was a guest of new memberCaroline Skelly. Imelda joined our group beforethe business meeting was over. Noreen Tolmanhas attended a couple of our functions as a guest ofMidge Gorman. Noreen and her husband Kencame to attend the meeting and to join our group.
Welcome Imelda, Noreen and Ken to theAstro Branch of the American Begonia Society.We are pleased to have you as members andfriends.
MINUTES OF THEOCTOBER 6, 2013
MEETING
The October 6, 2013 meeting of the AstroBranch of the American Begonia Society wascalled to order at 2:08 P.M. by President SusanDaugherty. Everyone was thanked for coming.Refreshment Chair Pat Hiscock thanked andannounced our Refreshment Hostesses for thismeeting. They were Ruby Lewellyn, SandraRigsby, Lee Boyer and Faye Stansberry. Sign-up sheets were passed around for members to signup to bring refreshments to meetings in 2014.There was also a sign-up sheet passed around tobring food for the Christmas Party. It wasannounced that Pat Hiscock has to step down andwe will need a volunteer to take the RefreshmentHostess position for 2014. The Annual ChristmasParty will be held at the West Gray Multi-PurposeCenter on December 8, 2013. The doors willopen at 12:00 P.M. Our feast will be built aroundpot luck dishes. We will be in the front half of thegymnasium. There are four electrical outlets sowe can plug in crock pots or warmers to keep ourmeals nice and warm. This is a city run facilityand open flames and alcohol are strictly prohibited.Tom Keepin explained about the table decorationcontest. There are 12 tables that can be decoratedand there will be prizes. The decoration shouldnot take up the entire table, but just take up thecenter of the table leaving room to eat on the table.There was a ‘Thinking of You’ card for Bill andMarion Claybaugh circulated to be signed by themembers. President Daugherty read a Thank-younote from Ann Salisbury for our condolences forthe loss of her husband Gene.
President Daugherty called for a short breakfor members to buy raffle tickets and enjoy more ofthe tasty treats provided by our RefreshmentHostesses.
Our program this month was ‘Back to Basics’starting with Cane-like and Shrub-like begoniaspresented by Tom Keepin. Members were givenmaterial to take home and read at their leisure. Togo over the two handouts would have taken up theentire time allotted for the program. Tom wentover the basics of both cane-like and shrub-like
begonias including the physical make up of eachand how they are propagated. Tom had pots filledwith soil an assortment of pruners, pencils andlabels at the ready. There were also lots ofcuttings and large stock plants (donated by JJL).Tom demonstrated the proper way to makecuttings, and then invited all members to comemake cuttings for themselves. Many cuttingswere taken and put down then taken home by eachmember.
The drawings were held and here are theresults:
Raffle PlantsB. ‘Hot Tamale’ – won by Imelda GottB. ‘Tom Ment’ – won by Caroline Skelly
Name Tag PlantsB. ‘Alamo Snow’ – won by Jo DeLeonB. ‘Flamingo Queen’ – won by Jane Anderson
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,Debra Norris, Secretary
A WORD OF THANKS!
There are many jobs that need to be doneeach month to make our meetings run smoothlyand also contribute to producing our publicationThe Begonia Chatter. Since we have beenpublishing The Begonia Chatter on line there isone member I look forward to seeing each andevery month and handing him my camera. TomAnderson is that person. Tom loves takingpictures and he gives me so many to choose fromeach month. I really appreciate him doingsomething he loves doing; as I do not have the timeto do what I do and also take pictures. Tom I justwanted to take a moment to say Thank-you for allthe good work you do for me and the Astro’s.Your work has turned our Photo Gallery intosomething members look forward to seeing eachmonth in The Begonia Chatter. The work you dois very much appreciated. Thank-you Tom!
Tom Keepin, Editor__________________________________
Highlight on Begonia‘River Nile’By Iris Bird
Created in 1992 by Brad Thompson, B. ‘RiverNile’ is a rhizomatous begonia. The parents of thespectacular plant are B.’ Cleopatra’ x B. ‘Bokit’ xB. carrieae. B. ‘Cleopatra’ was created in 1960 by
Susie Zug, is rhizomatous and has medium leavesthat are 3” to 6” at maturity. B. ‘Bokit’ isrhizomatous with medium leaves 3” to 6” atmaturity. The leaves are spiraled. It was createdin 1975 by Leslie Woodriff. B. carrieae is arhizomatous species. It is large leaved with thelobed leaves 6” to 12” at maturity. From theselovely begonias B. “River Nile” was hybridized.This is amazing to me, as I have not, to this date,been able to get even one seed to grow out of themillions I must have planted. There is a deepsecret here that I have not been privy to. But, Ikeep trying.
The leaves of B. ‘River Nile’ are spiraled andare light to medium green with brown/blackedging. I purchased this plant in a little 2” pot inMay of ’95 from Mike Kartuz. It started to growlarger in the car on the way home and has neverstopped growing, to this date, not even when it hadthirty flower stems. I kept cutting them off, and itkept right on flowering for three months. Theleaves grow very compact and 7”-8” wide with thelovely edges. I repotted it into a 4” pot, then a 6”and that soon too small. It has been repotted fourtimes and is presently in a fourteen inch pot. I nolonger see the stems or the rhizomes; it is so fulland compact.
I fertilize my plant with 32-10-10 fertilizer.This is the best fertilizer I’ve found to feed mybegonias. A great tip from Maria Holmes: I sprayall of my plants with Superthrive weekly and itworks wonders. No fungicides are needed for B.‘River Nile’; it seems to be very healthy. I guessby now we can determine this is one of myfavorites and it’s no wonder. I guess our favoritesare not those we cannot keep alive, but those thatwe have the most success with. B. ‘River Nile’ isone of Brad’s best hybrids. I am still very muchthe novice but I’m very happy to have this plant inmy collection.
(This article was taken from theNovember/December 1996 Issue of
The Begonian. Volume 63 Page 233)
Pictures from the Astro Branch’s October 2013 Monthly Meeting
Taking cuttings to learn about shrub-like and cane-link begonias
Everybody enjoyed learning the proper way to take cuttings
from cane-like and shrub-like begonias
More pictures of members enjoyingthemselves at the October Meeting!
Lucky new members Imelda Gott (left) andCaroline Skelly with their raffle plant winnings!
Midge Gorman‘s clever design for herloose leaf binder to keep her monthlyhandouts.
