There are 900 species of begonia can you believe it! (Or 1500 if you believe Wikipedia.) Found throughout the tropics and sub-tropics of the world they have been a conservatory favourite for hundreds of years. There are eight main groups of begonias according to “Flora” and they are cane-like, rex cultorum, rhizomatous, semperflorens, shrub-like, thick-stemmed, trailing or scandent and tuberous. Begonia is named after Michael Bégon (1638-1710) who was Governor of French Canada.

I think my first experience with begonias was as a first year horticultural student when we had to learn to take leaf cuttings from rex begonias. These are the big leaved indoor plants grown for their foliage rather than their flowers. I took a leaf from the plant, trimmed it on all sides with scissors to expose the ends of the veins and then I pinned it to the moist propagation mix in a punnet. Lo and behold after a few weeks tiny baby begonias began to grow at the end of each vein. Well they did on everyone else’s punnets; mine turned brown and shrivelled up!

 The next time I came across begonias was when I was working as a gardener at a school. In the lightwell of one of the buildings, there was a medley of plants that revelled in the bright diffuse light and high moisture conditions, including strange bamboo-looking things with spotty leaves and masses of pink flowers. It turned out these were Angel Wing begonias in the cane-like group. Most attractive they were and they needed little in the way of maintenance.

My next job working for a council meant I then became very familiar with bedding begonias which are in the semperflorens group (semper – ever, florens – flowering) and are widely grown in even the temperate regions of the world. These are small bushy perennials usually treated as an annual. Planted in spring they will make a great show until late autumn when in frosty areas they will turn to mush with the first frost. These hardy little beauties have either green or bronze leaves and flowers of red, white or pink. You often see them used in massed displays or along garden bed edges.

 In Ballarat, Victoria each year on the Labour Day Weekend in early March, they hold a festival in celebration of the tuberous begonia. These begonias grow from large flat tubers each year and are at their peak in late summer, early autumn. The leaves can be very large and are often hairy but it’s the showy flowers that the crowds come to ooh and aah over! Many cultivars produce flowers the size and shape of a rose and even bigger. They come in an endless array of colours both solid and bi-colour and in single and double forms with plain edges to the petals or exquisitely frilled edges. With names like ‘Sugar Candy’, ‘Mardi Gras’ and ‘Festiva’ you will understand that flamboyant is a good description for these amazing flowers.

As a rule of thumb, most begonias appreciate good indirect light so they will do well on the east side of a house, under a shady tree or in a well-lit fernery. Begonias like a moist but well-drained rich soil or potting mix. Frost is their enemy so if planted in pots make sure you put them somewhere sheltered in autumn. Bedding begonias will cope with full sun as long as they are well watered. All begonias can be a bit susceptible to fungal diseases so watch out for that. Propagation is by cuttings, division, leaf cuttings as I mentioned at the beginning (good luck!) and also by seed. Begonias are sometimes hard to come by in nurseries so ask around among your gardening friends – particularly the older generation! I have just been given some cuttings of a white flowering cane-like begonia and can’t wait to see it flowering in a pot on my veranda in amongst my bromeliads.


Late summer and early autumn is the best time to see begonias in Australia and there is no shortage of shows to attend. The following are some of them:

Ballarat Begonia Festival: 7th to 9th March  http://www.ballaratbegoniafestival.com

Gardening and Rare Plants Expo (Silvan, Victoria): 14th and 15th of March featuring Australian bred tuberous begonias grown by the Australian Begonia Company   http://www.gardeningandrareplants.com.au/begonia-display.shtml 

Melbourne Begonia Society’s Show: 28th of Feb and 1st of March
Begonia Society of Western Australia Show: 28th and 29th of March
Information for both shows at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~aabs/Coming_Events.html

Useful Links There is some interesting information and pictures at the American Begonia Society’s website at: http://www.begonias.org