I have found it can really vary from year to year and location to location. Maybe someone that gardens in your area can be better informed. April and May are good times for buying annuals in my area. Too early and a late frost can kill them, too late and only the dregs are left.
Yep, wax begonias (or aka fiberous begonias). They are the ones you buy in 3, 4 or 6 cell packs in the spring at wherever you buy bedding plants. They may not have any specific variety on the tag, just "begonia". I grow "bada bing" begonias, there are many varieties available so look closely at the tag, it should say the mature size to which the plant will grow (HxW) and spacing. You may want to crowd them just a little so they don't have any gap between the plants as they mature. Do not buy the begonias in the 4" pots for this project (if you can even find them) that are called "Dragon Wing", tuberous begonias, or any kind of hanging basket type begonia. good luck, I really am rooting for you on this project!
Here you can buy bedding plants in many varieties by the flat. Just pick one suited to your area. They will be in six pack containers so that's quite a few plants. To make it stand out and be readable, once you get the words planted, buy a contrasting mulch to cover the remaining soil in the bed. The mulch will preserve moisture and warm the soil a bit. Don`t pick a hard to find plant or one that the supply is small. In case some don`t make it after planting the words, you may need to find some to replace them.
Alright, built boxes over the weekend, will prep the soil this week and then it should be about time to go a nursery to look for some wax begonias (will plant it indoors to allow them to get stronger by the time I take them outside, I hope a few daylight lamps will provide enough light). Also, it's still 40 degrees outside, will this winter ever end??? What's a general price range for a 6-pack of starters? I calculated that will need about 80-100 plants. Also, I read online that wax begonias like to grow in multipurpose compost with some peat moss? Is that what you'd recommend as well? Should I line the box with plastic (obvi cut some paths for drainage) or that's a bad idea? As always, your help is much appreciated 8)
Poteddy, Yes, line the boxes and poke some drainage holes. They won't want to have saturated roots. Fill the boxes wet them down and cover them with plastic for now. Go look or call around to see if they have their annual bedding plants in yet. If not check at greenhouses if there are any retail ones near you, or order them and have them hold them for you until the weather gets better (as in no frost in the forecast).
Carolyn is right. You need to find them now and order them for pickup when weather is permitting. It will be hard to find 100 plants all the same if you wait. Also when buying in cell packs all the plants should be the same size if grown by same grower. Which will make it easier for you. Hope we get to see the end results and the proposal.
Is'nt there a language of flowers? Be careful what you say! Maybe buy one potted or a cut bunch and send a note with 'em or greet 'er with 'em??----------Weedy
Don't expect to just head to a local shop and pick up 100 wax begonias, most likely they will not have enough, or they wont all be the same. Order them as carolyn said
Actually 100 isn't so many. If you can find them by the flat a flat will be configured to hold 12 cell packs of 3,4 or 6 plants in each cell pack. So, a 3 pack would be 36 plants, a 4 pack would be 48 plants and a 6 pack would be a total of 72 plants in each flat. The challenge is getting there when they just get them so you get the first pick and all the same variety. Around here we won't be seeing bedding plants for another 2 months.
I guess it is kind of early, they sell begonias online in 105 plugs container in NC, starting mid April, will contact local nurseries for pre-order though. Saw some photos of them having 2-3 tiny flowers on a grown plant while others form a dome full of flowers about a foot in diameter. How do I make sure I get lots of blooms? Enough sun? Fertilizer? Do I need to snip them? I bought Miracle Gro soil yesterday, for containers, having Moisture-Control and supposedly food for 6 months. Does it have everything I need or...? If I plant them 6" apart, is that enough space? I'm sorry if you are developing a headache from my questions but I promise to show the results if I succeed, if that makes it better
First off, You ask as many questions as you need to. We want you to be successful. When you call to order the plants tell them what you want...all the same color (red will be the most noticeable) and if you know what specific variety you want (you can research this a little) and not spreading ones. You will have to work too hard to keep them under control. and 6-8" is probably fine. All the ones I have grown haven't spread a lot. Bada bing/ bada boom series grows in green foliage or bronze foliage. 6-8"x 10-12" is the size they generally grow, but you want to keep them closer than the mature size indicated....so, 8" is probably good. here is a good page that gives you an overview of several available series. Which ones to lean toward and which ones to stay away from for this project. http://www.stokeseeds.com/category.aspx ... ia-Fibrous I hope this helps a little.
She said YES! Thank you everyone who helped me with this, and especially those suggesting begonia. My girlfriend (and now fiancée) loved the idea and the result. Starter plants were purchased in early May and planted in wooden boxes (different soil though, I don't know why I did that, results are kind of different, not sure if it's due to soil), they were growing in almost full shade under a big tree, getting glimpses of light here and there. I planted starters to form letters, but eventually begonias grew bushy, obviously had to trim them once I had plenty flowers to make it legible. As you can see the box on the right has much better foliage, but the one on the left has denser flowers...I decided not to trim the foliage away so I don't kill the plants. Is it perfect? Of course not, but I, as a rookie, am very happy and engaged. Thanks again everyone, I would probably fail if it wasn't for you. I hope you feel good about yourself and proud of helping me, as you should. Photo is attached. ( photo / image / picture from poteddy's Garden )
