Begonias and Beyond
Irene Nuss recalls running across the wet lawn of her Los Angeles house in the dark, flashlight in hand, to see if her begonia plant had female flowers. If it did, a world of possibilities loomed. She was not disappointed.
It was the moment--the year was 1959--that her passion for begonias took off. By 1969, her own begonia creation, ‘Kentwood,’ had swept trophies at a national begonia show. Over the years, she has earned more acclaim with more prize-winning varieties, including the renowned plant bearing her name, ‘Irene Nuss.’
She is an amateur gardener whose contributions have rivaled those made by professional horticulturists. To honor contributions by Nuss and others like her who have so freely shared what they have achieved, the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino has instituted a special recognition award. Last week, she and two other growers who have taken begonias to new heights, colors and textures were the first to be honored.
“We’re celebrating people whose passion for plants has led them into something that benefits other gardeners,” explained Shirley Kerins, manager of the Huntington’s monthly gardening programs known as Second Thursday. She and Dick Mallott, a volunteer at the Huntington, originated the award to recognize contributions of hands-in-the-dirt gardeners.
Among those who took inspiration from Nuss, 83, is fellow honoree Brad Thompson, 45, of Lomita. He has been collecting and creating new begonia varieties since 1988, with many of his hybrids earning top honors from the American Begonia Society. The third honoree, Rudolph Ziesenhenne, 90, of Santa Barbara, was recognized for his writings about begonias.
Begonias are tropical, growing abundantly in rain forests. There are hundreds of species and cultivars, but the most commonly known to home gardeners are popularly called “wax begonias.” They are very different from exotic-looking rex begonias, prized for bold, multicolored leaves, or rhizomatous begonias, also grown for their multicolored leaves. It was the rhizomatous begonia that captured the attention of Ziesenhenne, who has 80 varieties to his name.
Cane begonias, also known as “angel wing,” are the type to which Nuss and Thompson have devoted so much time. The plants have stems that grow tall and upright with bamboo-like joints and that sport showy clusters of flowers.
Nuss remembers clearly the day--rather, night--more than 40 years ago when the begonia bug bit her. She had just attended a meeting of the newly founded Westchester Begonia Society. The evening’s speaker explained how to create new versions of these plants by gathering pollen from male flowers to fertilize female flowers. Before the lecture, she hadn’t even realized that plants had two sexes of flowers. The best time to fertilize a flower, she was told, was at night, so she followed the advice and pollinated one flower. For her trouble, she ended up with hundreds of seeds, each no bigger than a grain of salt.
“I began hybridizing just for the fun of it,” she recalled. “I was fascinated that from a tiny seed you could grow such big plants.” She has since created more than 50 named varieties of cane begonias.
Nuss is known for transforming plants that had been difficult to grow outdoors. Her plants are as at home in a landscape as they are in a greenhouse. She’s also concentrated on creating plants with larger flowers, extending the bloom season, and in general making cane begonias easier to grow.
“Irene’s contributions have been remarkable,” Mallott said. “As a backyard breeder, with no scientific training, she’s been able to take exotic and somewhat fragile cane begonias, propagate them, and make them adapt to growing outside in a warm climate.”
Nuss has nurtured not just plants but other gardeners.
Thompson, who counts Nuss among his friends and mentors, began his hybridizing work using her hybrids. He has created 350 new varieties, including acclaimed series such as Egyptian, Indian and King Arthur. In 2000, the American Begonia Society bestowed the prestigious Alfred D. Robinson Award to his ‘Mary Sakamoto’; last year, the same medal went to his ‘Little Miss Mummey’, named for Elda Mummey Reginbal.
Thompson, too, has spent time creating varieties that don’t need as much care. If left to themselves, cane begonias can grow tall--up to 10 feet--and spindly. Begonia fanciers pinch and prune to keep their plants shapely and encourage lots of flowers.
Thompson’s plants are valued because of their compact shapes and quantities of flowers. Thompson is also trying to create cane begonias with different colors and is facing the challenge of creating yellow-flowered begonias.
Both Nuss and Thompson freely share their plants and what they have learned with other gardeners and nurseries. And, without regret, they have seen commercial growers enjoy the benefit of selling plants they developed.
“Breeding begonias is a full-time hobby for me,” Thompson says. “I have the fame but not the fortune,” he adds with a laugh, then explains that money isn’t his motivation. “Once money is involved, it takes the pleasure out of it.”
Nuss has a similar philosophy. “I just want people to grow my plants and enjoy begonias,” she says. “My royalties are the letters I receive from people telling me how much they enjoy the plants.”
One of her early creations, the cane begonia named for her, is one of the American Begonia Society’s most highly honored and is grown extensively--including several in the Huntington’s collection.
