As the name suggests, these new begonias are simply majestic. The flower heads can reach anywhere between 4 and 9 inches in diameter, and are made up of 10 rows of petals. Some of the more showy, big-flowered begonias can be known for creating quite top-heavy plants, but this isn’t the case with the Majestic series. Each stem can support the over-sized blooms all by itself, and the plants are multi-branching and of a quality that wouldn’t look out of place on the show bench.
Top tips for growing begonias
There are two ways to start off your tubers; you can either plant them into pots or trays of compost (with the hollow side up), or pack them into bags of moist sand. Place these bags into a warm place and then pot up once the tubers start to shoot.
As your plants grow on, ensure the air circulates as freely as possible around the plants, this will avoid problems with mildew. Also take care not to overwater; as a general rule always wait until the surface of the compost dries out before you water again.
As the plants grow, regular feeding with Flower Power will give them a real boost. You might also want to nip out the first few flowers as well, it will allow the plants to branch out more before they bloom, meaning bigger plants for more flowers.
The Majestic Begonia collection from QVC
The colours of each flower are naturally bright, and plants are remarkably weather-proof and untroubled by pests and disease. You might also think begonias sometimes have those less attractive single flowers, not Majestic though –Â 99% of the flowers are double, and you can count 10 rows of petals.
You will receive six amazing colours in the QVC collection. The Majestic Begonia collection launches on Saturday 2 January at 9am and 10am on Richard’s QVC gardening show.