Randi, Rexes can be fussy but also are quite showy so you aren't crazy and you haven't spent a lot of money (you got a very good price). You are right on the Iron Cross - it is fussy. I've lost several but I think I have stumbled upon the secret for these. Not that I have any right now but I do have masoniana maculata and thought it was a goner as well. I finally put a clear plastic cup over it and it is now putting out new leaves (albeit they are quite small right now). The worst season to get through is winter. Most rexes defoliate during this time of year and can get mildew. If they get serious mildew - cut the leaf off and discard (or try propagating it). If the leaves defoliate and look healthy you might try propagating them but they may be too old. If you plan on having them as a permanent houseplant, then give bright light, water as needed (light fertilizer applications when actively growing), and some humidity. The ones I have upstairs in the house have kept most of their leaves with a saucer for humidity and bottom watering; while the ones under lights in the basement have for the most part dropped all or most of their leaves. I am now putting plastic clear cups over most of mine in the basement. A plastic baggie will work as well. The best thing would be an aquarium to keep humidity as high as possible without over watering them. I move mine outdoors for summer under high limbed trees and water 3 times a week with a sprinkler system. By September and October, they are the highlight of all the begonias.

Mark, Put in in the sunniest, warmest spot in your yard, with good drainage, and let 'er rip. Of course, you can keep it in a pot there and put it somewhere warmer in the winter until it reaches a largish size, as more mature plants are hardier than young ones. This is a great plant (heck, all of the genus is, along with the related and more tender Didieria) and towers of it are a striking sight to behold, as turtle shows. Thanks for showing that plant, btw - I've enjoyed many times in person. This post was edited by cactusmcharris on Tue, Jul 1, 14 at 11:20

Bob, "I'll be putting them on a 6 ft high wire shelf system that has 4ft long and 18 inch deep shelves, with 3 fixtures (6 tubes) per shelf." Thanks for the "heads up" about the shop light sale. I will check our local Home Depot. I had a similar, perhaps identical, set of wire shelves I got from Sam's club last year. They were made by Seville. I think you will find that you have to cut a notch out of the reflectors where they meet the upright posts of the shelves in order to make them fit properly. I used a pair of tin snips and cut out about a 1½" square piece from the reflector, which brought it back to near flush with the body of the fixture. You won't have to trim the middle fixtures, but the ones on the outside will come in contact with the upright posts. Are you overdriving your HD fixtures? If not, you might want to consider doing that. In which case, you might want to go back and get some more of those bargain fixtures, because it takes two fixtures to make one overdriven fixture. Overdriving will make your lights 50% brighter, which your plants will really respond to. This year my wife appropriated the Sam's Club chrome wire shelves for use in the kitchen and I am now using a set of 4' x 24" deep chrome wire shelves, that actually work much better for me. The shelves themselves are 69" high, but with the large heavy duty casters, they stand 74" high (an inch or two shorter than my Sam's Club shelves.) The 5-inch casters make them very easy to move around and give some clearance under the shelves even though I have the bottom shelf in its lowest position to get maximum working space. I am still using my Home Depot fixtures with the notched reflectors in contact with the upright posts, but now I get 4 fixtures per shelf and by overdriving them that is equivalent to 6 fixtures (12 bulbs) per shelf. My 22" x 11" plant trays fit much better on the 24-inch deep shelves and I get four trays per shelf with a little "wiggle room". I now have two of those Northern Tool shelf units, with one still in the garage and one inside with the top shelf populated with two-week old onion seedlings. I plan to fully populate both shelf units with HD lights and seedlings of various sorts, and I am glad to let my wife keep the 18-inch shelves. Incidentally, last year I had removed two of the shelves from the 18-inch unit because my plants were growing large. I realized that with two "extra" shelves per unit, I could buy a second unit and use the two extra shelves from it along with the two extra shelves I already had to connect the two units with a 4-shelf "bridge". That would make a single long unit 12 feet long, in effect getting a "free" shelf unit. But I couldn't find a handy place for the 12-foot unit so I scrapped that idea and went with the 24-inch deep 4-foot shelves, which I like better anyway. MM

Ornamental kale and cabbages are edible as well as pretty, so you could grow some of those. I don't know of any of my local greenhouses that sell other fall veggie plants, so I would be surprised if you found them locally, but I tried a web search and found that at least one company sells them if you want to pay their prices. (I don't know anything about this company, just wanted to offer a suggestion if you are desperate.) You could look them up on Garden Watchdog if you decide to go this route. For this fall it might just be cheaper to visit a local farm stand . . . Here is a link that might be useful: fall veggie seedlings