wax begonia

order: cucurbitales
family: begoniaceae
genus: begonia
species: semperflorens
variety: ?

After not being able to write a post for a long time due to the overload of activities in the university, today I want to resume with two unknown wax begonia varieties that I acquired last year in spring from a city-owned garden. I think these varieties are very common, I'm just not sure if they have a name. I often find them as bedding plants. One has dark bronze leaves and bear pink flowers. The other has green foliage and flowers red. These plants have both male and female flowers on them. The male flowers wither away after some time, while the female counterparts will continue on to live a while longer and develop into seed pods if they are conceived. Interestingly, they are related to pumpkins.

I collected many seeds last year at the end of the season and kept them in my seed storage. They became sterile as I sowed them in the garden this spring. Not a single seed dust out of the hundreds turned into a little new life. The plants themselves overwintered in the basement next to a window. It wasn't very bright, but seemingly sufficient to keep the plants alive. I only had to remember to go down there in the winter from time to time to give them a little bit of water, so they wouldn't dry out completely. The temperature was for most of the time between 10 and 15 °C. This year, I transplanted them together into an oval terra cotta pot I bought from impruneta in italy, and I'm terribly satisfied with the result. I don't know how old these plants can get but I know instinctively that they will not do for long.  So I'll just enjoy the flower and the handsome foliage as long as I can and replace them when they are done with. They are really wonderful plants for your patio. They don't complain much if you are a bit late with watering. They are also fine with both light and shade.

hokkaido squash or pumpkin

order: cucurbitales
family: cucurbitaceae
genus: cucurbita
species: maxima

A squash or a pumpkin is very easy to grow. Save some of the seeds from the pumpkin you get from the supermarket and just sow them where you want. You should start them in Spring indoor or in a cold frame. Move them out when the temperature is constantly above 10°C during the day and after the danger of late frost is over. Transplant them into bigger pots with organic potting soil, if you want to have an organic fruit at the end of the season. Otherwise just plant it into the ground in the garden.

I have a Hokkaido squash here that I started in April. The seeds germinated within the first week itself. Although, only three out of seven seeds did germinate. You want to keep more than just one plant because, in order for an individual plant to bear fruits and keep them till ripe, it needs a partner plant. In order to avoid self-pollination, the plant produces male flowers and female flowers alternately, and not at the same time. To coincide the flower of a gender on a plant with the flower of the other gender on another plant, I kept all of the three plants that germinated.

The first pair of leaves are the cotyledons. Afterwards, huge rounded true leaves emerge. Only after a week, the plants have become too big for me to keep in my studies. So they had to move out earlier than planned.

Yesterday we finally harvested a first pumpkin. Each of the three plants has managed to keep one pumpkin. The rest were dropped. So there was delicious pumpkin curry for dinner yesterday and for lunch today. The pumpkin was more delicious than ever!

For this year, there are two more pumpkins. So we'll need to learn more recipes. This whole thing is so fun I think I'll do it again next year.