Irresistible

Couldn't help myself. Made a beeline for the begonia plants as soon as I got to the plant bazaar last Saturday. Fortunately there were only two stalls with them.  A positive about the plants is that they are locally grown species acclimated to local conditions. A negative is that they don't look as vibrant as they could.

But hey...I'm not complaining cuz coming away with 5 little pots was more than I planned. Still I hope I do better with them and maybe I might even put them back on sale and get some money back and bring delight to another fellow hobbyist. However as one stall holder Mr Tan Eng Ong pronounced, being a plant hobbyist is a loss making venture. His long suffering wife was there to make sure he cleared the stock and not bring more back.

The sight of B Gryphon sent a thrill through me. I had to have it. The red one (tbd) was to replace the one that I got from Chatuchak market (at a fraction of what I paid for yesterday), but hadn't survive the trip home. These two came from seller Abby Lim from whom I bought B Mazae at previous bazaar. 'Super-easy' she says it is for her. She just puts in the pot and 'my gardener' just waters it. For background, she farms her plants at her workplace; I gather it must be a big complex with grounds and regular gardener. 

Three species here, two more common than the third speckled one. But all growing from the stems. What do you call such begonias that are not rhizomatous? These came from the kindly Mr Tan. It looks as if he grows them in the ground and then breaks some up into pots come the bazaar. He was selling B Martin Mystery for $3 per small pot compared to Abby who wanted $12 (!!!) per slightly bigger pot. His pots ran quickly; hers would probably sell over the course of the day and I believe she brings her prices down as crowd thins. Anyway, I am happy to support all gardening enthusiasts who continue to inspire and who make new begonia species available to me. (Update: the light green peltate shaped leaf is B. photoensis. Apparently it is native to Vietnam)

By the way, there were several more species which I resisted. And I don't even think about what I missed out on now. Perhaps I'm on the way to overcoming my mini-obsession.

Some tips from Mr Tan:
- he used ordinary 'black soil' (I'm really not sure black soil drains well enough)
- they prefer to be growing in pots placed in soil surface of garden (as in not on paved surfaces) as the garden environment provides conducive humid conditions
- stay away from chicken manure as it isn't suitable for any garden/house plants; use goat manure only
- snails - he just uses pink pellets that are purchased