Few plants have a greater claim on the American plant grower than the
_Begonia_. It has been too much the habit to sigh after, and bewail the
want of “Chiswick Heaths,” and other things which _do not_ do well in
America, to the manifest neglect of many beautiful things which _do_. It
is time we had ceased to be the mere copyists of English horticulture.
We have so rapidly advanced, that we should aim at an independence that
can be achieved; and, as in government so in gardening, take our place
as one of the horticultural “nations of the earth.” We have been a
“colony of Chiswick and Edinboro,” “Paris and Ghent” hitherto; we have
experienced on every occasion slights and neglects; whatever we do is
passed over in silence, and whatever we discover remains unnoticed or is
scorned. These are some of our grievances. All our horticultural papers
have taken up the subject in turn, and pressed our claims on English
journalists; but how have they been met? A private letter on the success
of one individual plant has been published in one magazine; and two
hybrid Peonys have been named in Belgium in honor of Americans. Perhaps
once a year a short extract in the _Revue horticole_ on _Forsythia
viridissima_ from the _Horticulturist_; or, a notice in the _Gardener’s
Chronicle_ of how to preserve Tomatoes from _Hovey’s Magazine_. We must
have done with whining and complaining about these things. Let us strike
out new courses for ourselves. We may never hope to excel them in Heaths,
Pansies, Calceolarias, or many other things, as a general rule, nor is it
desirable we should. Let them boast of their excellence; we will raise
another standard.
The BEGONIA is peculiarly adapted to become such a plant as I have
described. Requiring in England a moist and very artificial atmosphere,
it does not make any very great progress in popular estimation. Here it
thrives with very common care; all doing in a greenhouse 9 months in
the year; and many doing well in the open air, if in a somewhat shaded
situation. They are for the most part natives of Brazil or Mexico.
To cultivate them successfully we must divide them into two classes:—the
_tuberous_ rooted, and the _shrubby_. Each of these will require separate
treatment. The following kinds are amongst the best in cultivation,
either here, or in English gardens, from whence they can be easily
procured.