Yes, you can overwinter wax begonias if you want to. Provide bright light and a semi-warm area and they should do just fine. A cooler, darker place may be okay too but they won't thrive.

Thank you - I will give it a try just for fun!

Carrie

More years ago than I care to admit, this was my first type of begonia. I don't know if it was the climate or just a different attitude back then in the dark ages, but they were considered houseplants, not bedding, and no one thought of them as annuals as so many do now. Just months after I was married--cliche alert, June bride--I had cut the leggy branches of the semp someone gave me and stuck the branches in a pot of soil, and they grew! Everyone who didn't run when they saw me coming got a pot of begonia for Christmas. And I was hooked on begonias for life!

Absolutely! My husband bought a wax begonia for me 36 years ago; it is still growing in my house, and I have given many "babies" away. In 1978, we had an ice storm (20 below zero, iced in because the roads were so bad), and we had just moved into an old farmhouse with no woodstove hooked up yet. When our electricity went out for a few days, every one of my houseplants (cactus and all) froze to death, except for this wax begonia. They are just incredibly easy to grow inside and out.

D.

My mom gave me a pot of wax begonias that had been hit by frost a couple of times. They looked horrible, just leafless stems. I stuck them in a corner of my greenhouse and watered them, and they came back nice and full! They are out there blooming right now! :-)

Indyrose

can you cut them back when bringing them into the house or greenhouse? how about taking cuttings?

Yes you can cut them back fairly hard. If you cut them to the ground then that may be too hard - I would leave a bit of stem and a few leaves. Cuttings are easy too - this is a good way to make a bunch of them. They are very susceptible to mildew in cool damp spots like my basement. I spray mine with Neem oil and cut any leggy tops back hard but only after they show signs of new growth from the roots.

Is there a way to get them to stop flowering and make all there energy into leaves also have u guys seen all the agonists this year in public

Absolutely! Just recently, I posted in the Florida Gardening Forum about how to fill a 10" pot for around $2 with inexpensive landscape/bedding begonias, which are just wax begonias (Begonia semperflorens). See link below.

Carol in Jacksonville

Here is a link that might be useful: Good Idea: Inexpensive Blooming Begonias

can i winter over my wax begonias in my basement?

Dibbers you can do it in a basement if you give them several hours of light and water as needed. Hope your basement stays fairly warm too