A century or so ago, in my misspent youth, there was a gardener in my hometown in Alaska, Mrs. Bierly, who loved delphiniums and tuberous begonias. On one visit to her garden, she showed me the largest, most beautiful tuberous begonia I'd ever seen. She'd gotten the tuber from White Flower Farm and it had been produced by the famous English begonia growers Blackmore and Langdon's. I also love tuberous begonias and dreamed of someday ordering from Blackmore and Langdon's. (I'm fond of delphiniums as well and they grew beautifully for me in Alaska; here I've had mixed results.)
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Blackmore and Langdon's has quite a reputation in the world of tuberous begonias and the price of their tubers reflects that.
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Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced bouquet!) from the BBC series "Keeping Up Appearances" would be delighted by the royal insignia on the invoice!
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There are several grades of begonias, named varieties, exhibition quality, greenhouse quality, and bedding quality are a few of them. I got one named variety, a "super selected" variety and a collection of greenhouse quality tubers.
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I decided to see the difference in performance between the Blackmore and Langdon tubers and some bought at a local grocery store. I also ordered a few from Breck's Bulbs in Indiana at the same time as I ordered from B&L but they haven't yet arrived.
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Size isn't necessarily an indication of performance (I know what you're thinking and you should be ashamed.) but here are a couple of side by side comparisons. Fred Meyer on the left, B&L on the right.
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Tom is now calling the greenhouse the laboratory (with 5 syllables in a horror movie accent.) So here they are all potted up and labeled. Let's see if Blackmore and Langdon tubers are worth the price! Do you have experience in growing B&L begonias and if so, what is your opinion?
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After forgetting to order year after year, I finally did it this winter. Look what arrived in the mail last week!
Oh the suspense and the excellent packing!
Blackmore and Langdon's has quite a reputation in the world of tuberous begonias and the price of their tubers reflects that.
Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced bouquet!) from the BBC series "Keeping Up Appearances" would be delighted by the royal insignia on the invoice!
There are several grades of begonias, named varieties, exhibition quality, greenhouse quality, and bedding quality are a few of them. I got one named variety, a "super selected" variety and a collection of greenhouse quality tubers.
So, what's the experiment already, you may be asking.
I decided to see the difference in performance between the Blackmore and Langdon tubers and some bought at a local grocery store. I also ordered a few from Breck's Bulbs in Indiana at the same time as I ordered from B&L but they haven't yet arrived.
Size isn't necessarily an indication of performance (I know what you're thinking and you should be ashamed.) but here are a couple of side by side comparisons. Fred Meyer on the left, B&L on the right.
Again F.M. on the left, B&L on the right.
Tom is now calling the greenhouse the laboratory (with 5 syllables in a horror movie accent.) So here they are all potted up and labeled. Let's see if Blackmore and Langdon tubers are worth the price! Do you have experience in growing B&L begonias and if so, what is your opinion?
I must say how nice it is to have a greenhouse to start plants in. In previous years, the large pots of begonias brought up from the basement would be taking up every square inch of counter space in the kitchen.