Howdy, A sw exposure is really strong..do you have a sheltered area you can place plants before setting them out in full sun? Ex, a tree, building, etc? You planted begonias directly in yard? Wow, you have courage..LOL..how are they doing? What type of begonias are they? Also, when you say, keep outside from summer through winter, you do mean keeping them outside till fall and not into winter, right? Since you're in NY, you'd have to tote plants back indoors around Sept/Oct, depending on weather..When temps drop below 40-45, it's time to bring indoors.. Plants you mention that will adapt to a sw exposure are: Hatiora, Oxalis, geraniums and ficus..What other plants do you have? D. marginata might do okay, but it's risky..you'd have to keep an out out so it doesn't burn. But again, it'd be best starting out plants in sheltered spot until they acclimate to direct sun. Plants growing in the garden, mint, etc, will do fine in this light since all but ferns love bright light..BTW, are you talking direct or bright sun? Will light aim at your plants? Toni

When I took my banana out all the leaves browned and got tattered from the wind so I just cut them off. I fertilized it and gave it full sun. A month later and many warm days later and its finally pushing new leaves. It has 1 new leaf (the cut ones now opened) and another comming up. That was a dwarf cavendish and non dwarf varieties will re grow quicker. Mine also was slowed down by the last frost in my area which occured in late march. It will be much happier outside but will need to adjust first. Good luck!!

that's some collection! I brought mine out last weekend and they were hit with the very hot and intense sun. I shuffled them in and out of the shade but still a few got a little scorching of the leaves. They should be fine but it really doesn't take very long before damage occurs. Hardening off slowly is an absolute must.

I'm not talking about how they look under a spectrograph. I'm basing my earlier comments on how film photos shot with garden-variety Kodacolor Gold print film illumnated solely by TL950 lamps looked in the pictures - and the colors all looked as they would under daylight. (with typical "cool white" fluorescent bulbs, those photos would have had an overriding green tinge). If you need a specific bulb recommendation, ask in a photo store or online thread about photoflood bulbs (which are expensive and short-lasting), or cheaper substitutes (dark blue colored floodlights). Again, I've had good results with the GE Reveal halogen 100w bulbs (or the 72w or 76w replacements they now sell) or similar - these are about 3500K and full spectrum - cooler than regular incandescent light but still warmer than daylight. In mixed-lighting indoor shots (electric lights on plus daylight filtering through windows), this works well. You could also try the Solux incandescent bulbs available in 4700K near-daylight high color temperatures. For best photographic lighting, it's often good to have two lamps - one to your left, and one to your right, and have one of them set to be twice as bright as the other. This gives the resulting photo 3 dimensionality without having overly dark shadows. Having the main source of light on the camera leads to a flattening effect with no shadows. Good photo lighting often takes extra work and isn't always convenient, but if you want the best possible shot it's worth the extra effort.