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Florida Gardening

cardinal breaking my begonia flowers!

12 years ago

I've often posted pics of my large cane angel wing begonias with it's lovely hanging pink blooms.

Well, earlier today, I saw something I haven't seen before. My resident male cardinal (or maybe it's his baby) was standing on one of the canes, calmly breaking off the stem of the blooms. He wasn't eating anything, just breaking the flower off with his beak. I got the camera, but wasn't quick enough - he broke off three pieces. I'm posting the pic of the damage.

Now, I love my birds, but this is rediculous!

Anyone ever seen this? It was almost like he was playing a game...as he bit off a stem, he watched it drop to the deck and then moved on to another.

Begonias drop enough flowers on their own, but not whole bunches!!.

Anyhow, that is my contribution to GW today as I sit here patiently waiting for the 40% chance of rain

Hester

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Comments (8)

imagardener2
12 years ago
hester

haha we just watched our 40% chance of rain head away from us. hope it finds you.

Denise
south of Sarasota in sunny dry Englewood
hester_2009
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Denise, but I think I'm out of luck today also.
Hey, there is a 50% chance tomorrow - always hopeful -
Does it help if you check all the weather websites a million times a day and pick the one with the highest % chance? lol
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starryrider
12 years ago
You know you must wash your car and hang laundry out to dry to get rain.
User
12 years ago
i've watched all my cuttings, new growth on begonias's, gingers, ect being totally destroyed this year...have eight bird baths here, always full. know this drought is pushing the birds and critters, but they are out of control! winged elm....five years old and growing.....not a leaf on the top third......squirrel's......it takes all the patience i have to out live this one!
Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
12 years ago
Hester,

The cane begonias you sent are doing great and starting to bloom! I sure do love them. I hope you can help me with a couple of questions.

Do you stake up your canes to keep them straight and tall? What do you use - bamboo stakes and green gardener's tape?

Also, what is your fertilizing routine for these? What do you use and how often?

Thanks so much,
Carol in Jax
hester_2009
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi Carol,
I'm glad your begonias are doing well - now you will be able to take cuttings and have a good supply.
I only stake when the cane starts to really bend over - most of them stay pretty straight on their own. I use whatever is handy - bamboo stakes and tape or rapia or string! When they get too tall for the pots, I cut the cane down to the dirt and make cuttings with it. I've seen pics in Pamela Crawfords books of how they look in the ground with very tall canes that don't appear to be staked- I haven't taken them out of pots yet but that's a summer plan.
With regard to fertilizer...I am a very lazy feeder! When I think of it, I water with Bloom Booster maybe every other month or so. I would probably get more blooms if I was more disciplined but I'm happy with the way they look.
and with regards to this thread, so far the birds have laid off!
I hope this helps,
Hester
Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
12 years ago
Hi Hester,

Thanks! I staked a few of them up last evening. They look better. :)

Carol
annafl
12 years ago
Hi Hester,

Glad the cardinals are laying off. In my yard the squirrels are driving me 'nuts' with burying their acorns where seedlings can be ruined, or eating all the new ginger growths before they can bring up new stalks. Grrrrrrrrr......

Anna

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