Hi McDole, thanks for the confirmation. That's what Greg Sytch said above, too, and now, knowing his experience with begonias, I'm sure he is correct about the name (as are you). Before I contact Steve's Leaves, do they have some sort of relationship with Fort Worth Botanic Garden (FWBG)? Would this be a normal/usual thing to ask Steve's Leaves to first, contact FWBG and inquire about the plant availability and second, get a cutting and root it on my behalf? I see from their website that Steve's Leaves is wholesaler and asking them to do all of that seems a bit out of the norm. But I'm willing to pursue if you know the folks at SL or know from experience that this would be an ok request. Thanks! Carol

Susan, Lauray's is slow and has very tiny plants but at least the plants are as ordered. This was the first year I ordered from them and thought they had closed down because I never got a confirmation. Finally 2 months or better went by before the package arrived (all the other places I had ordered from at the same time had been delivered anywhere from a week after the order was placed to 4 weeks, but not 2 months). I was disappointed that 2 out of 10 plants were not shipped. Not even an explantation as to why. Maybe I will find those 2 somewhere else later on. I don't know Mr. Kartuz but they do take their time filling an order. They have some begonias that no one else offers. I just placed an order with them a week or two ago so hopefully I will get a delivery by the end of July. I'll keep my fingers crossed. GHW is very questionable but their mistakes or substitutions (I think it is more mistakes) usually turn out to be nice additions (just wish I knew what they are but then they probably would like to know as well). One day I would like to visit their greenhouses. They seem to have a lot to offer but their mail order and web site needs a lot of work. I ordered about 10 begonias from them and 3 ('Cleopatra', 'Tamo', and 'Earl-ee-bee') look like mistakes but 2 of those ('Cleopatra' and 'Earl-ee-bee') look like nice plants. I also got two freebies and one substitution. Logees is one of the more expensive places to order from but usually they are quick to deliver and the plants usually grow fast (usually). Palm Hammock is usually slow and they make mistakes as well when doing mail order. I'd like to order from them now, but am very reluctant to. I have had to call them back after several weeks went by to see if they lost my order (a few years ago). Of course I got an excuse that they were just filling the order and lost my address or something like that. I just visited them the end of April. There is nothing like visiting in person. Bigger plants for the same money. More selections than the web site and you pick them out. Very nice place to vist. I have not bought any begonias off eBay but continue to look. I hate bidding because I refuse to pay more than what you can buy at one of the stores above. The shipping costs on one begonia is not a bargain either. I usually look at the "Buy Now" ones but haven't bought any yet. I did buy an agave that was a "Buy Now" though. There are lots of places in Florida if you only knew where they are. I stopped at a small nursery on one of the Keys a few years ago. Beautiful begonias at a good price but you need a truck! I also picked up 2 different begonias in a 3 gallon pot on the same trip at the Key West nursery for $4. Of course that is a long way to go to pick up begonias. I don't know what is in your area, but there are several nurseries in my area (suburbs of Atlanta) that have sporadic shipments of begonias. I have had luck at several small nurseries and even the big building supplies including of all places - Ace Hardware (at least one with an attached greenhouse and this has been one of the best sources locally). It is hit or miss so I try to stop by at least every two weeks. I have a feeling a truck out of Florida swings by some of these stores every 4 to 6 weeks. Now if I only knew when they deliver I would try and be there on that date. First come - first serve. Butch

Looks like at least two plants there. The one is not a begonia and is showing bloom buds (reminds me of some kind of Solanum - nightshade) The begonia has leaves like scharfii / scharfiana species or Pastel Princess hybrid. Clearer pictures of the leaves might help some expert ID it.

Rosie, You and I don't have to worry about that since we do have each other's email and can go private when we want to. I guess when GW came under the Houzz umbrella, some things changed. It didn't used to be difficult in the good old days. HAHA! At least we can post up to 10 photos on each post which is a good thing. In the past only one photo and that was from the thread starter. The only other way was to put in a link using HTML to where you stored any pictures on another web site which was okay until the pictures were scrubbed from the other web site(s). We may see our first frost Monday so I may have to cover some of my plants until I can get them in. We will probably experience our "Indian Summer" after Monday though which will give me an extra two weeks to bring everything indoors.