Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Thailand begonias?, 0 by hcmcdole

hcmcdole wrote:
If you love tropicals and ever get a chance to visit Thailand, then you will be in for a treat. Begonias aren't prevalent from my few treks while vactioning here, but the weather is very conducive for them - a lot like steamy Southern Florida but hot year round from what I hear. Orchids and plumerias are commonplace here as well as lotus fields and rice paddies. The list goes on.

Anyway I did see a couple of canes growing in the mountains (species maybe?) and finally stumbled into a couple of greenhouses with loads of them at the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden in Chiang Mai. They also had a couple of begonias at the Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Pattaya. Orchids and bromeliads took center stage though wherever you went.

Here is a representative picture of some begonias at the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden. I didn't have much time to compose pictures or worry about exposure since 8 people plus the van driver were waiting on me (none of them are plant nuts). I just went through greenhouse after greenhouse walking as quickly as possible and shooting on the run. The cactus house at QSBG and at NNTG were both stunning but that is another subject.