I planted a begonia a few years ago which was tagged as "hardy begonia". It is all green, including stems. It is planted inground, year-round, and while it gets pretty ratty in the winter (if we can call it winter), it comes back bigger ea year.
Does anybody have names of hardy begonias in their gardens. I would love to add some more of these toughies. I will try to post a pic of something that looks like mine.
Hardy begonias
this could very well be what I have. I has bloomed for me, but I can't remember if it is a pink or a white flower. great plant!
oops I forgot the pic
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/81437/
LOL Voss, I just knew you were talking about Begonia grandis! Here is dies in winter and then comes back. I will say it reseeds all over. I get baby ones all around.
I will ask Lali to come share her expertise. She will steer you correctly.
hiya kell, long time no talk. Haven't seen ya much in the rose forum.
I have Begonia grandis too and I love it. They do best for me in constantly moist rich soil and not too much strong direct sun: they will burn especially if they run dry.
It will seed itself all over, but the seed is very fine and needs good constant moisture to sprout, so in a dry site, it probably won't spread so much that way. The seedlings can have green-backed or red-backed foliage (maybe the var. evansiana refers to the red-backed form?)
But it does produce tiny tubers in the leaf axils and these will be copies of the parent, whichever form it is.
Plant Delights has a couple other hardy begonias for sale:
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/06139.html
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/05636.html
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/06092.html
And a B grandis selection that is supposed to be more floriferous:
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/04820.html
Robert.
This message was edited Nov 5, 2006 12:03 AM
Hi gang! Some of the hardy begonias include B. 'Torsa' (HUGE leaves!) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/142903/index.html , B. grandis (including it's subsp. evansiana) and B. taliensis (VERY hard to find!) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/143809/index.html
There was an article in the Begonian earlier this year or maybe it was late last year on cold hardy begonias (not B. grandis or it's subsp, but just begonias that can take a bit more cold than others)
Of B. grandis, there is a pink one, a white one, and one called 'Heron's Pirouette' (which is also pink but a deep pink). Another hardy begonia worth mentioning is B. sutherlandii (trailing habit with single orange flowers about 1/2 inch-3/4 inch in size). Also hardy and will 'self-seed' (sending 'bulbils' the same way B. grandis does) but not invasive.
This message was edited Nov 4, 2006 9:12 PM
begoniacrazii~
Do you know if the green-backed form is properly B. grandis and the red-backed form B. grandis var. evansiana? I can't seem to track this down.
Love that B. taliensis!
Here in zone 7b Wax Begonias return if they are protected or in a protected site. They're not known as perennial to most folks here it's always a surprise for people to find a straggler in spring when they don't expect it.
Robert.
Oh I am sick. We were cleaning up the backyard to put up our hoophouse today and I came upon an dead pot with a B. 'Torsa' tag in it. Not hardy enough.
Or worse, it had just died down and I tossed it out. Shoot. Do you think it was just dormant and will wake up in a garbage site come spring?? Should I go dumpster diving for it??
Kell, dont toss that Torsa - It's a tuber!!! remove the soil and see if the tuber is firm. YES go dumpster diving!!! and hurry before your trash collector comes!! It's rare and very hard to find!
Robert, that's a great question that I dont know the answer to. I didn't find any info regarding this in my books.
i
B. taliensis is a species collected by Eric Hammond in the Sichuan Province, China for the now defunct Heronswood Nursery (the nursery is still 'there' but owned by Burpee I believe and no longer the incredible source for rare and exotic plants that it once was! And no longer for this incredible begonia, I was just lucky enough to get two tubers about 3 weeks ago. I feel like I won the lottery!!)
According to Mark Tebbitt's book http://davesgarden.com/gbw/c/2025/ two other cold-hardy begonias are B. formosana and B. veitchii. (I dont have experience in either of these)
Wax begonias are great! I had them seed all over in my greenhouse this last winter (they bloomed all winter in there).