Going by the flowers it appears to be some hybrid from boliviensis. There are many hybrids from that species and seems to be growing by leaps and bounds the last few years. More photos of the entire plant may help others ID it.

OK - thanks very much! Yesterday I was not in gardening clothes when I took the pic. Today I will be working out in the garden, and will be able to get rid of that ivy to show the "entire" plant, although it is pretty small!

Jackie

I agree, Butch. You can't misidentify a B. boliviensis leaf.

Thanks to both of you! I did some research, and it said these hybrids like VERY well draining soil, and partial shade. I decided to dig up my little plant, because the snails were eating it (it was growing in full shade, but the kind below high trees and bushes - some light). The main stem was eaten almost all the way through. However, it had leaves and flowers below the damaged place, so I cut it off there, and dug it up. Sure enough, there were two other stems just below the soil which had been eaten off just at the soil level. It did have a round tuber thingy. I potted it up in some african violet potting mix I had - it is full of peat moss and perlite, so that should satisfy the "well draining" part - where it sprouted the soil is clay based, and fairly sticky. I put the pot under an upside down small fish tank on a shelf next to the window in my glassed in back porch. It does not get any direct sun (you can fry eggs in direct sun in Calif right now), but gets plenty of light - that is where I root roses. So, hopefully it will recuperate and start to grow. My goal is to plant it outside (do you think that is OK? I am in a Mediterranean climate in Northern CA- cool wet winters and hot dry summers) eventually, but I will probably wait until it gets cooler in the Fall. If it survives and makes a large plant, I will definitely post some pictures of it on here.

Jackie

It should do fine - maybe a little stress but should recover nicely. Don't forget that tuberous begonias will go dormant in winter so don't water the pot. At least that is what I did this winter with a pot of tuberous begonias I bought at Sam's Club last year. I cannot get over the fact that it has come back strong this year after no water all winter long (chilling in our garage).

This is it yesterday (zoomed in to eliminate the lesser plants around it).

Wow! That is gorgeous!

Re going dormant in "winter". Our temps rarely get below the 50s in the day, and almost never get to freezing at night - is that enough for it to go dormant? Our roses never go dormant - they grow 12 months of the year, as does everything else. I know some plants can tell the hours of sunlight, and use that instead of temperature, but I don't know about begonias.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Jackie

Good questions. I don't know if dormancy is brought on by cooler temps or the length of the day for tuberous begonias. You will find out in a few months what yours does.

Ha! I found an article by the American Begonia Society that says that in warm climates, tuberous begonias go dormant according to the "day length". Good article - here is the link:

Jackie

http://www.begonias.org/Articles/StoringTuberou%20BegoniasWinter.htm

Good find!

Update - it is now mid Oct, and my mystery begonia has been on my front porch (has a ceiling, so it is in lots of light but no direct sun) in its one gallon pot since August. It has grown and bloomed a lot - see pic below which I took today. No sign yet of going dormant. I am trying to find a good place for it in the garden - in its pot or a larger pot which I could bring in to the basement when/if it ever does decide to go dormant. As you can see, it has decided to drape itself over its pot, and grow down. So, I am considering a larger pot which is sitting up on something, so the begonia can drape down.

My question is, for the time when it is NOT dormant, how much light should it have? I am guessing this is not a modern plant at all, but a very old one - any thoughts?

Jackie

Looking good! Are you using artificial light? I set my timers for 12 hours in winter although I cut those back to 8 hours if I go away for a week. Any light is better than NO light.

It will let you know when it is ready to go dormant. Nature has a way to ensure success despite our best efforts to thwart it.

I don't know if it is an old one, looks rather "modern" to me since the craze for boliviensis hybrids seem rather fashionable in recent years.

Here is what Home Depot had plenty of this spring: (I am not enamored with white blooms unless the plant only has white such as some hydrangeas)

hc mcdone - No artificial light. Just California indirect sunlight in zone 9/10. We still get a pretty strong sunlight, even in winter, when there are no clouds.

Interesting that these types of begonias are "in" again. I know for a fact that nothing has been planted (at least by humans) where I found this plant in my garden for at least 50 years, and probably longer. In real life, as opposed to a photo, the white blooms are very tinged with a light coral/pink.

I will look up boliviensis and try to learn more about it - thank you so much.

Jackie

Could be a seed dropped by a bird from a neighbor's begonia. I doubt it came to life from a bulb buried for 50 years? Or are you saying this begonia has been coming up for the last 50+ years and you dug it up this year?

Lots of blooms might open white and fade to a different shade and vice versa. One of my favorite flowering crab apples has pink on the outer petals and opens white so what you see is a haze of white and pink since some blooms are still buds while others are wide open.

I did buy this tuberous at Home Depot this spring because it wasn't pure white.

Hi Jackie,

I don’t have much advice, but I do have a boliviensis outdoors in a pot in a similar climate. I got it last year, and it’s been on my front porch ever since. It gets maybe an hour of very early morning sun, then bright shade the rest of the day. I left it in that spot all winter last year while it was dormant, never purposely watered it but it probably got a little sprinkling of rain that occasionally blew in under the eaves. It did fine and came back this year no problem. (As a note, some of these hybrids apparently come out of dormancy pretty late - mine didn’t show any signs of life until the middle of May).

Good luck! :)

Sara - thank you so much - that is what I was hoping for - LOCAL advice based on observation. I grow antique roses, and I have learned over time that the best advice is always from someone who gardens in the same area I do.

Mine is on my deep front porch (think Queen Anne Victorian house with a large front porch) right now, and seems to like it. It gets exactly the amount of sun you mentioned. I could certainly leave it there. My one concern is that it is still in a one gallon pot - how big a pot is yours in? These plants seem to get very large. Maybe I could lift the tuber when it is dormant and put it in a larger pot?

hc mcdole - Yes, I did think of a bird planting it, which is of course possible. However, I have been astonished in my garden to see that, if the soil is disturbed, old old dormant seeds or whatever have started growing. There is one bed which I dug and replanted about 25 years ago. Suddenly up popped a HUGE amount of climbing petunias (I did not know there was such a thing). They climbed up the house, and got 7 ft tall!. My SIL told me that when she had lived in our house 20 years before (it has been in my husband's family since 1905), that also happened in that bed, and she recognized the ones which came up as the same ones. We even managed to find old pictures of them. My FIL was still alive at that time, and he told us that his mother had planted them there in his childhood (he was born in 1913), and he also recognized them as the same plant. My FIL and my SIL were/are both serious gardeners, so I think they were correct. The place where this begonia appeared suddenly had not been touched for the Lord knows how long, but the ancient rose which had been growing there (which luckily I had been able to root cuttings of) died, so the soil did get dug up when we removed the corpse. It was an area which had been part of a formal garden when my DH's grandmother was gardening, and is sort of wild now. Other plants of hers have re-appeared in other places, so I am guessing this might be one of them.

Jackie

Jackie,

Mine’s in a pretty big pot - too big for it really, I’m planning to drop it down. I calculated it to be about 8 gallons, though I’m sure I put some type of ballast like an overturned pot in the bottom of this one so there’s not actually that much soil in it. I think when I bought it it was in one of those hanging baskets that is probably a couple of gallons. I would guess that 3-4 gallons would be plenty.

Your house sounds beautiful, I love those classic Victorians! What a perfect plant for the front porch. :)

Thanks, Sara - I am going to leave mine in its current pot until it goes dormant, and then re-pot it. Also thanks to your data, I will just leave it on the front porch over the winter - local info is so very valuable! I will take pictures of it next Spring to post on here.

Jackie

hc mcdole..I tried to overwinter a boliviensis last winter..it didn't make it..it was in a clay pot sitting in a dark cool entryway..

I put these pots in the garage a few days ago..might be hard to see but there's several dark leaved varieties similar to your Sam's Club begonia..some were in combination pots and I've removed the annuals..one is in it's original plastic hanging pot with the hanger removed..when you saved yours did you cut it or just let it die back?..last year from what I remember the boliviense died back and eventually I cut off the dead..so on yours no water and stayed in your garage..my garage could be too cold..I was considering using an empty closet in a seldom used bathroom..it's on a corner of the house with 2 outside walls so I bet it's cooler than most of the house..it takes almost no effort so I thought I'd try again..any advice?..the one in the hanging basket..the squirrels knocked if over..broke some leaves off..was very pretty at one time..

I would just quit watering it and let it go dormant. As for temps, I really don't know if warm or cold temps is the best way to go. I was just surprised the one I got last year did so well this year after leaving it in the garage all winter with no water at all.

we park in the garage..opening the door lets in really cold air..seems too cold for a begonia..I'll try the bathroom closet..from what you recall - when was yours gone and when did it come back?

nicholsworth,

How long do you open the garage doors for? A few minutes or even an hour doesn't seem like it would freeze the soil. If you experience freezes in your garage overnight then I might be concerned but even then, dry cold soil may not hurt the tubers. As some gardeners say about zones that experience some freezes and some sensitive perennials - it isn't the cold nor the wet that kills the plant but it is the wet AND cold that kills them. Best bet is to move them to an area that will not freeze.

Mine are still outdoors and a lot of the stems have already fallen off. It is very close to moving them indoors for winter where I will not water until early spring.

The Sam's begonia popped up this bigger shoot probably in mid to late April. The other two smaller ones are probably fairly recent when this photo was taken on May 5, 2018. I sprinkled slow release on the surface when the new shoots appeared and started a watering regimen (only when it looked like it needed water).

I hope this helps.

This is the last photo I took of it this year - August 14. It started dropping stems in September and still has a few hanging on but its season is about over.

our furnace and hot water heater are in a closet in the garage..they keep the garage warmer..in the winter we open the door just long enough to drive in but Indiana can be brutal in the winter..the soil might not freeze but could be chilly..I think some plants would be fine overwintering in the garage..the forecast says the low tonight will be 30 (first freeze)..I'm AFRAID of begonias so I'm bringing the boxes in today!!.. I pulled the begonias out of the combination pots..there's 5 smaller ones in a box..I took these pics just now..they haven't dropped stems yet but the blooms are almost gone..so the approximate timetable is down in November? then back up in April?..good to know..thanks..I'm hopeful..yours did really well..

I brought this rex in when we first had temps in the 30's over a week ago..is this discoloration from too much sun at one point?..it has some imperfect leaves which I might cut off someday..this was a $1 Walmart bargain..I'll keep this one going in the kitchen..

and finally a rieger (bought it for the orange blooms)..didn't have a nice pic but see it in this one?..I cut it back not planning on saving it but should I stick it in the closet with the tuberous?..or in a spot with some light and water?

ash seeds were EVERYWHERE this summer..what a mess..I've picked up a million of them and more to go..