Delaware Valley Branch-American Begonia Society

This Saturday’s meeting will be a Zoom presentation by Johanna Zinn, who will discuss the Begonias of Africa. Johanna is a long-time member of the National ABS and is currently Acting President of the Potomac Branch. She also Co-Chair of both the Conservation and Judging Commitees, is the Save Our Species Coordinator and a member of the Virtual Education and Seeds for Conservation Committees. Check your emails for the Zoom link. The presentation starts at 10am.

Did you want some incredible begonias and plants? The Botanicaz shop from Tacoma, Washington is having its first ever Pop Up Shop in Philly. Joining the event is Into The Wild from NJ. DVB members will be there to DVB representatives will be there to chat begonias. Come out and join us. Browse plants and chat begonias with us. https://facebook.com/events/s/plant-pop-up-ft-botanicaz-out-/984514922492603/

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This Saturday! Cuttings and plant raffle. Non-members welcome. Our first in-person event since lockdown, and we are excited to share and get new plant material. **MASKS REQUIRED** this event will be held in an open air pavillion. If you plan to buy raffle tickets with money rather than plants/cuttings, please bring cash (small bills preferred).

Want the secret sneaky tips for prepping plants for the Philadelphia Flower Show? Feb 13 at 10am, our very own successful and experienced shower, Debby Evans, will be sharing how she prepares and grooms her plants to get ready -- skills she has been honing since her first entries in the 1980s. Debby has guided other first time showers to success, so don't miss out on her gold mine of valuable info! Meeting will be hosted on Zoom. Non-members are welcome to join as a visitor f...or up to three meetings. Let us know if you want to join in. Photo credit for photo 1, Rob Cardillo.

Jurassic Begonias, fabulous.

Have you ever shipped a plant in the mail? Have you ever wanted to? Saturday 1/16 at 10am Vicki from PA Orchid Exchange will be giving us the tips and tricks for packaging plants so they can arrive safe and sound! Virtual presentation via Zoom. If you are not a DVB member, you are welcome to attend up to three DVB meetings as a guest. Message us for more info!

Wishing all a Happy and Healthy New Year, from the American Begonia Society. At this wintery time of year, we leave you with a photo of Begonia ‘White Ice,' a c...ane-like cultivar known for being a vigorous begonia. Its leaves are deep green in color and covered with white spots that resemble drops of white ice. Its leaves are edged beautifully with the same silvery spots. This cane-like cultivar was created in 1998 by Charles McGough, an ABS member in Texas who is an artist and known for putting those talents to work in his hybridizing. In the July/August 2000 issue of the Begonian he said, "I wish I could give some profound reason on just how you should go about choosing candidates for hybridizing begonias, but I can't. In general, I work toward what you might call "most" goals, such as: the tallest, the smallest, the darkest, the lightest, most flowers, the largest flowers, the most intense flowers, the most spots, the most sun tolerant, and so on. Every artist has certain areas in design which are more exciting to him or her than others...for me these areas are contrast (or opposites) and linear qualities. Unconsciously and/or sometimes very deliberately I cross plants with this in mind. An example of a recent cross is B. 'White Ice' where I took B. 'Flamingo Queen' (lots of spots, a large, elongated leaf with a point) and crossed it with B. 'Whiskey' (very much the opposite: small leaf, no spots, tight, short, and very vigorous grower). I just sat back after planting the seeds to see what would happen. These photos were taken at the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden Begonia Collection, Texas, home to hundreds of begonia cultivars and species and generously tended to by ABS volunteers who live in the area. #begoniac #begoniaceae #begoniasofinstagram #begoniabrigade #begoniaexplorers #abs #americanbegoniasociety #begoniatalk #begoniaeducation #begoniauniversity #absvirtualeducation #begoniasinthewild #begoniawhiteice #begoniahybrid #begoniaconservation #conservation #biodiversity #begoniaspecies #begoniapreservation #FWBG #FWBGbegoniacollection #fortworthbotanicgarden