New begonias this year

9 years ago

I realized sometime last year that I really like begonias, and wanted
to get (A LOT) more, but I really, truly, have limited space inside
with good light, so I have restrained myself and tried to avoid the begonia section of the nursery.

My acquisitions this year started out slowly.First
there was this one, just this one, at the orchid society's annual sale
and show this spring. Small pot, easy to find space for it, very small amount of $.
Easy decision to make.

Then I decided I would indulge my desire to get one of the "outdoor" varieties, because their flowers are so gorgeous. And it's tuberous, so I can overwinter it without needing good indoor conditions, right? It's one the "nonstop" begonias.

Then a couple weeks ago, I won this one through the raffle at the orchid society meeting. I passed up orchids for this, ok?? (I have a lot of orchids, they outnumber any other family of plants in my home.) It's just so cute! My first wax begonia. At least I think that's what it is.

Its leaves may not be as fancy as a rex's, but the texture/sheen on them is something lovely:

A week or two before I got that one, I realized that I want to move to another part of the state, as soon as I can find work out there. This should have meant I stop buying more plants; that would be the reasonable thing to do, right? But no. I brought these next few home from the nursery earlier this week, along with several other plants. I had to. They had some really, really gorgeous large rexes I agonized over but passed up, so I feel like I managed some self-restraint. (And I really do not have the space for a plant with a 10-inch leaf span!)

Unnamed begonia in 2-inch pot. This poor thing was wilted when I found it, but it has recovered quite nicely and I'm looking forward to seeing it all grown up. I think it may actually be two plants in that little pot.

Very small "outdoor" begonia, labeled "Dragon Wing 'Red'."

And a rex, labeled "Festive Mint," from a nursery in Oregon ("PlantSmith;" they have a Facebook with some good photos). It's very hard to capture the color of its leaves in photos; they are a really lovely silvered green, or green silver, or something.

I have managed to find well-lit spaces for all of the indoor plants, despite my previous concerns. And I'm sorely tempted to go back to the nursery for one of the big rexes I left behind, because who knows how often I'll be back here to visit after I move. I'm hoping I will have a lot more space in the future so that I can bring a lot more plants home.

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Comments (3)

hc mcdole
9 years ago
Sounds like you have the begonia bug now! You will find varieties that work well for you and some that won't. Wax type begonias do best with LOTS of bright light. They don't do all that well indoors unless a light is directly on top of it (almost). Treat these types as annuals unless it is more rare than the bedding wax begonias such as the double blooming ones and the variegated ones. Dragon Wings is a wonderful summer grower in full sun (keep watered). I usually buy a new one or six every spring since they are a hassle to keep over winter.

The first begonia looks like 'Chantilly Lace' or 'Persian Brocade' and is a rhizomatous type begonia. Should do well for you indoors.

Your first rex looks similar to Persian Swirl but there are so many that look alike. The last rex is quite nice. I don't remember ever seeing it before.

I love tuberous too but they don't do that well in the Atlanta area.

Enjoy your new found begonias and I'm sure you will find more in your new location and you always have mail order for those hard to find ones when you go looking. Check out the ABS web site to start with (begonias.org) where you should be able to get to more resources.
hibiscus909
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Pretty.

I'm a big fan of rexes, so I say have fun :) I have found that some experimentation is needed with each one to find the right indoor location (light and humidity).

They have done well for me under lights, from a desk lamp with a cfl, to a shop light with fluorescent tubes.

I think wax begonias are kind of overlooked - you are right, the leaves and the flowers have that nice shimmer. I went ahead and overwintered mine, just because I wanted to know if I could.
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J Feathersmith
Original Author
9 years ago
I was trying to deny I'd caught the begonia bug, since I already have the orchid bug . . . oh well!

The wax begonia was being raised in a greenhouse and right now I have it - and the Festive Mint rex - on my enclosed back porch. It's two stories with windows going up the whole way (I'm on the first floor of a two-story apartment building). So there's full east light, and lots of bright indirect light the rest of the day, but it sounds like the wax begonia going outside for the summer would be best. The nursery was selling the rex as both a houseplant AND an outdoor bedding plant though it was in the shade/part-shade outdoor area.

It certainly did take a lot of trial and error to work out where my older rexes wanted to be! The two I've had for a while (not pictured) have both seemed happiest with a LOT more light than I thought they'd want. Like, in a south-facing window amounts of light. Which is why I put Festive Mint in the really bright porch; if that seems like too much, I have plenty of dimmer space inside.

The tiny rex (Chantilly Lace/Persian Brocade) is in one of my south windows, though it's one of the partly shaded south windows because I worry about how fast those tiny pots dry out. My big oldest rex was super happy in that window, but it's too big to fit there now :< .