An opportunity for one of our breeders to give some background to their subject!

It's Begonia time so that means its Dennis time!

Dennis is our main Begonia breeder, lookout for his varieties Peardrop and Flutterbye Salmon this year and there are lots more to come, below Dennis gives a little lesson in Begonia history

Part 2 of 3

"Being passionate about the colourful display that can be achieved with multiflora begonias is something that continues to give me so much joy in the summer months as they can be in bloom from planting right upto the first frosts"

Last time we gave you some of the historical background to the development of multiflora type Begonias, thankfully a number of these older varieties are being trialled by BrilliantGardens.com, a number of things need checking before we can offer them commercially, the first of these are 'Ami Jean Bard' bred by French breeder Arthur Billard in 1909, this is a nice shade of Orange and was produced in large volumes in years gone by, we are hoping to have this variety available again in 2009, 100 years after its first introduction.

The variety 'Madame Richard Galle' was a sport from 'Ami Jean Bard' in about 1932, as was 'Gents Jewel' they all have the same growth habit and make wonderful plants for bedding and containers.

Another old variety we trialling is 'Salmon Queen' a free blooming plant which arrived on the scene in the mid 1890s, and being slightly taller than 'Le Flamboyant' and 'Madame Richard Galle' will help to create even more interesting garden displays.

Check back for part 3

Ask Dennis!

Dennis really knows his Begonias, if you have  any questions related to Begonias ask Dennis here