Can begonias ever be rescued from the pit of uncool, my editor asks. The bedding sort with flowers that look like ra-ra skirts from the 80s? I doubt it. Anything bred with that sort of flounce is going to be hard to elevate.
And why bother, when you can grow the species types? These wild begonias from Brazil, Bolivia, India, Japan and China (begonias get everywhere) are effortlessly cool, with striking architectural forms and elegant foliage perfect for shady corners where other plants struggle. They make wonderful container plants for patios, courtyards, basement gardens and shady balconies. Some of these begonias are truly hardy, surviving well below freezing, as long as their soil requirements are met; others are more borderline and will need to be treated as houseplants over winter.
Begonias are fragile things that are hard to transport, so any mail-order plants will be large plugs at best. It is up to you to get them to a good stature. Large, luxurious begonias like to be moist, but not soggy. Mix two parts compost with one part perlite or grit to create free-draining but rich conditions, and feed regularly through the summer with liquid feed or use slow-release pellets. Outside, they do best in humus-rich woodland conditions in part or full shade – if too dry, they will look weedy and often get mildew issues. Leaf mould, well-rotted homemade compost and fine bark mulch will improve thin soil under trees. Or grow them in pots under the canopy so they don’t have to compete with thirsty tree roots.
Crûg Farm Plants offers the best choice for hardy types. Dibleys Nurseries’ tender begonias are equally wonderful. Suttons also offers well-grown plugs, if you can wade through the flouncy stuff to find the elegant.
Begonia luxurians has to be one of my favourites, because it is rather unexpected. It’s a cane-type begonia with tall stems that can reach up to 2m, with tiny, white, highly scented flowers and palmate leaves like long, elegant fingers. They need to be warm to grow tall, and prefer high humidity, so nestle them among other plant pots. Feed regularly and keep out of direct sunlight. B. boliviensis is a corm-type, which means it dies back over winter. It has long, arching stems and brilliant orange flowers and looks best grown in a container on a plant stand so the flowers drop elegantly. Put it somewhere frost-free over winter.
B. grandis subsp evansiana is by far the hardiest, and can be successfully used under trees and in woodland conditions. It will die back in winter – but, before that, it drops lots of bulbils that will spring forth the following year, so it will spread. It grows to 90cm tall, and has large palmate leaves with striking red undersides, prominent red nodes on the stem and sprays of tiny pink flowers. A smaller choice would be B. sinensis at a more modest 30cm.
