Episode 281: My top ten Begonias

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During the next two weeks, I’ll be profiling my top ten Begonias that will thrive in regular room conditions. Listen to me talk about one Begonia every day from Monday November 27 to Friday December 1 and Monday December 4 to Friday December 8. Find out where they live in the wild and how they came into cultivation, and much more.

Everett has been in touch to say that there are three begonia species usually recommended only for terrariums they found will grow fine in an average room - B. amphioxus, B. cleopatrae, and B. vankerckhovenii. And I want to hear from you! Tell me about your favourite easygoing begonias in the comments below, or email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com.

Want to check out my other special weeks? There’s Trailing plant week and Diva week to enjoy too!

Know which begonia you want to check out? Jump straight there via these links…

Begonia 1 - the eyelash Begonia

Transcript

[0:00] Music. Introduction to Begonia Top 10

[0:15] Hello and welcome to my Begonia Top 10, part 1. It all starts here, with Begonia bowerae

[0:24] Music.

[0:29] Yes if you didn't listen to last week's episode, I'm doing a top 10 of my favourite Begonias for the average room and I'm parceling out the episodes one a day, Monday to Friday, over the next two weeks. Usually I put out a show every other Friday but I wanted to do something a little bit different. I've done this in the past where I've done a diva week and a trailing plants week but this time I am going to be profiling my top 10 begonias. Now let's just set the terms of reference before we really get going. What do I mean by begonias? There's obviously got to be some kind of narrowing down of the plants that I mentioned because begonia is a really large genus. I am talking here about begonia that can be successfully grown indoors in the average room. So I'm not talking about things in IKEA greenhouse cabinets or under glass cloches or in terrariums. I'm talking about plants that are in a room without any extra protection, that will still look great if you look after them right. So this is going to be a mix of cane, rex and rhizomatous begonias and I'll explain all of those different types of begonias as we go along. If you go to the show notes at janeperrone.com, I will at the end of the two weeks put up the whole thing as, a single episode if you prefer to listen to it that way or you can listen to the individual episodes there also and all the notes will be there collated as I go.

[2:16] So in today's episode I'm going to introduce my first begonia. I should say these are in no particular order. They're in no particular order because I love them all as much as each other. These are plants that I think I've grown all of these and I can safely say that if I can grow them then you can grow them because I tend to grow my plants fairly hard. So what's today's begonia? Well I think this one might be the toughest begonia of all time. I'm talking about the eyelash begonia aka Begonia bowerae that's b-o-w-e-r-a-e.

[3:01] Now, I think this one, interestingly, probably spurred some of the original interest in rhizomatous Begonias. So just to remind you, a rhizomatous Begonia is one that grows from a thickened underground stem. And this makes these Begonias particularly tolerant because if things go wrong with your care regime, these plants can rely on the water and nutrients in that rhizome to survive until you remember to water them again. So what does Begonia bowerae look like? Well that is in a way quite hard to say because it comes in so many different cultivars and forms. The one that's probably best known has these very dark green almost rusty red coloured leaves with an uneven and jagged outline to them and neon green spots and the eyelash-like hairs that come out of the leaf margins and that gives us the common name eyelash begonia. The undersides of the leaves are red, the stems are speckled red. This is usually described as either tiger or tiger paws cultivar of begonia boweri and it's such a popular plant. If you've got, you know, you go to your nana's house, she'll have one of these absolutely going gangbusters because it's a lovely, tough plant. You'll see many different variations on the theme of kind of dark rusty red and neon green with this particular species. Some have got a lot of domination of the green tones, others are much more rusty red. There's one called 'Green Fever', which weirdly enough is mostly rusty red rather than green, and one called 'Dancing Vera' that's very lime green.

[5:00] And there's a one with tiny leaves called 'Tiger Kitten'. So there's loads of cultivars of this plant to collect and why not because it's just so darn adorable. Even if you don't have that tiny cultivar, the great thing about Begonia bowerae is it's quite a compact plant. The leaves themselves are anything up to about five centimeters and the whole plant, it might get to be a massive mound, but that massive mound is still only going to be about 30 centimetres tall, absolute maximum, depending on how long the fleshy stem grows. The colour of the leaves will depend massively on the amount of light that you give this plant. So if you allow it to be in a very dark corner, you'll find that the leaves may themselves turn very dark. If it's in a lot of light, including some direct sunlight, the leaves might get rather washed out and just turn an olive colour. Hit the sweet spot though of a good amount of light, whatever that means. I should say that mine is in a south-facing room about a metre and a half away from the window and there you do get these nice vibrant colours of neon green and red, rusty red, really showing off. And flowers on this one? Yes it does have flowers, they are pale pink. I'm not massively mad on the flowers on this one, I just love the foliage, but you do get flowers too and that usually tends to happen springtime. How did Begonia bowerae first come to the attention of plant growers in the West?

[6:45] Well that was down to a chap called Thomas MacDougall who brought it into cultivation in 1948. He was an American botanist who visited Mexico a lot to collect plants and this was one of the plants that he collected there. He also collected several other begonias which he then described including Begonia cavum, Begonia kenworthii and Begonia maziei. Begonia boweri was first described in the American Begonia Society Journal, The Begonian, in 1950. And in that article, I discovered that the plant is named in honour of a Miss Constance Bower of San Diego, California who the piece says, has done so much to further the interest of begonia growing in the early 20s of this century. So she was a hybridizer of begonias and is honoured with this plant. It's also worth noting that back when it was first described it was spelt b-o-w-e-r-i, rather, than, a-e, and that is sometimes still the spelling that persists to this day. So, yeah, that was the first time this plant kind of made landfall in the begonia growing culture of the US and it really took off from there. I suspect it's never going to be one of those super trendy begonias because it's just so ubiquitous and, as we all know, familiarity sometimes breeds contempt when it comes to plants, but I think it's definitely worthy of a spot in your begonia collection just because if everything else dies, this will probably still make it through, which makes it a great plant in my eyes. And you can really mess around with the light levels to bring out different qualities in this plant too. So do you grow Begonia bowerae? Do you love it? What do you think of it? I want to know. Thank you for those of you who've already sent in comments about my Begonia top 10. Everett's been in touch to tell me about three begonias, usually classed as terrarium begonias, that they think are actually fine in the average room. One of these is Begonia amphioxus and this is an interesting one, not one I've grown but I do know my friend Sarah Gerrard-Jones, the plant rescuer, has this plant and grows it in a normal room with no problems. So Everett, yes I'm sure you're right. The other two are cleopatrae and vankerckhovenii , I can't even say that but I'll reference that in the show notes. So yeah, do get in touch, tell me about your begonias, and up tomorrow we will have number two of my top ten begonias. But for now, goodbye and happy begonia growing. The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by The Joydrops and Whistle by Benjamin Banger. All tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details.

[10:00] Music.

The eyelash begonia is the species Begonia bowerae which is native to parts of Mexico.
It is a rhizomatous Begonia - so it grows from a thickened underground stem that serves as a storage organ for water and nutrients. This means it’s a very tough begonia that can stand a lot of neglect.
It is a compact, small-leaved Begonia that’s ideal for narrow spaces and will become a clump but never grow massive.
It was first collected by American botanist Thomas MacDougall in 1948. Read more about MacDougall here. He also collected begonias B. cavum, B. kenworthyae and B. mazae.
Begonia bowerae was first described in the American Begonia Society’s Begonian journal in 1950. It was named after Californian Begonia hybridiser Miss Constance Bower.
There are numerous cultivars of this plant, the most popular being ‘Tiger’ or ‘Tiger Paws’ with its neon green dots, ‘Green Envy’ and the tiny-leaved ‘Tiger Kitten’.

BEGONIA 2 - THE POLKA DOT BEGONIA

TRANSCRIPT

[0:00] Music.

[0:14] Jane Perrone

Hello and welcome to part two of my top 10 begonias. If you haven't listened to part one, stop, go back and listen because in that initial episode I explain the concept. I'm not going to go over it again here, other than to say that when I told my family I was doing a top 10, they could not believe that I wasn't giving them in a particular order. They insisted that there had to be a number one, a number two in terms of my absolute favorite. I'm denying that, but perhaps you agree with them. Let me know what you think. Today's begonia though is Begonia maculata 'Wightii', the polka dot begonia. Now this is for sure one of my favorite begonias and I love it so much that I dedicated a whole chapter of my book, Legends of the leaf to this plant. Begonia maculata - The Polka Dot Begonia

[1:07] So in part two, I'm going to bring you potted highlights, if you will, of that chapter of the book.

[1:15] If you haven't come across my house plant book, Legends of the Leaf, find out more information at legendsoftheleafbook.com and it's available in, print, ebook and audio book form. Cracking on! Begonia maculata 'Wightii'. Let's talk about it. Why do I love this plant? Well, I just think it's something about the combination of those beautiful svelte olive green leaves, the silvery dots that cover them and the tomato red undersides that is really rather beguiling. Where does this one come from? Well, it's native to southeastern Brazil. This is an understory plant growing in forests in southeastern Brazil.

[2:03] But it has become naturalized in some of the other South American countries, including Argentina.

[2:08] And interestingly, the type locality for this plant, type locality just means the place where botanists found it when they went to describe it and found the very first specimens, was actually a mountain called Corcovado in central Rio, central Rio de Janeiro. This may not be a name that's familiar to you, but actually you will know this mountain because it's home to the large statue of Christ the Redeemer that is one of the distinguishing features of this incredible Brazilian city. And it was first described by the Italian botanist Giuseppe Radi in 1820. He'd done a trip to Brazil in 1817 and brought back more than 4,000 specimens. It is presumed that this was one of them.

[2:58] I must put to rest a rumour, an internet legend that is, as far as I have managed to establish from my research, completely incorrect. It concerns the luxury shoe designer Christian Louboutin. You'll see all over the place, in fact I saw a piece reciting this rubbish today, that Christian Louboutin was inspired by seeing a Begonia maculata 'Wightii' to design his red-soled shoes. I went into great detail trying to find a source for this information and I have not found one. I do not think it's correct. If you can find source material that actually goes back to Labuta and himself, I would love to know.

[3:45] The explanation that I found was that he saw his assistant putting on a bright red nail polish, but obviously the idea that this plant is linked with a luxury designer has obviously given it a bit of an extra cachet. Now the other thing that you might want to know about this plant is that actually, the polka dot begonia is not a name that it had until fairly recently. It was mostly called the trout begonia or the clown begonia and you know in the past the polka dot plant, well that would of course refer to the plant Hypoestes phyllostachya, the Madagascan foliage plant with the dark green leaves with pale baby pink splashes on it. A totally different plant. Now this plant is part of the cane begonia group, so put simply this means that the stems look a bit like bamboo canes and Whitey Eye is one of the cultivars of this species which is highly variable. It's sometimes referred to as a species complex because there are just so many different looks that this plant can take on. 'Wightii' is a bit of a mystery though. Sometimes you'll see it 'Wrightii', with an R, but we don't know where it came from, who Wight or Wright was or what its origins were. There's a begonia expert called Claude Barrere and he, in his excellent website, says that 'Wightii' could even be a hybrid rather than a cultivar or a variety of begonia. We just don't really know. The distinguishing features of 'Wightii' are that its leaf is narrower than the species and the silver splashes don't tend to go right to the edge of the leaf. Have a look at that next time you look at a 'Wightii' and you will notice the difference. The other major difference is that 'Wightii's flowers are pure white whereas Begonia maculata the species has pink flowers and this is one of the great things about this plant you're getting a double whammy you're getting beautiful foliage and lovely flowers that unlike a lot of begonias that we grow as houseplants has really nice flowers too the variegation on Begonia maculata 'Wightii' is what we call blister variegation what does that mean those spots are not caused by splashes of pigment. They're actually caused by an absence of something. Blister variegation indicates that there are air spaces under the upper layer of the plant, the epidermis, and above the chloronchyma, which are the cells that do photosynthesis, they've got the chlorophyll. This airspace allows light to bounce back up and that's why you get that silvery reflected look. Also the same variegation type as the splash in Hoyas. Scientists don't really understand why blister variegation occurs. They think it's something to do with improving efficiency of photosynthesis, bouncing light around the leaf. But there's another theory too, which suggests that these silver splashes emulate pest damage. Why would a plant want to emulate pest damage? Well, quite simply, if the leaf looks like it's been damaged by a leaf miner, then another leaf miner, an actual leaf miner coming along to lay its eggs would look at that leaf and think, oh, it's already damaged. I'm going go somewhere else to lay my eggs. So that's the idea, but from our point of view as growers, we just love that silvery look. It's just very, very attractive to us. One other thing to say about this plant, when you see this plant on Instagram, quite often it looks like it has dark green leaves. And in the vast majority of cases, that's because this plant has been given a filter which has given it that effect. Generally, Begonia maculata 'Wightii' leaves are more of an olive color than a dark green, so don't feel discouraged if your plant isn't the same color as those ones you see on Instagram.

[8:05] I will talk more about begonia care in the final episode, part 10 of this series, but for now it's just worth saying this is not the easiest of the cane begonias. Mostly cane begonias are very simple to grow. This one I think is a little bit more tricky. It's prone to leaf drop. The trouble is that often if you buy it as a small plug plant or a small size, that's when it's most vulnerable and when it's most likely to not last the course. If you can get it past that young juvenile stage and get it to a big size, it's way easier.

[8:42] I'll go into this in more detail but my major suggestion for this plant would be a really quite free draining substrate and watering often so keep the substrate ridiculously free draining and then you can add quite a lot of water without it troubling the plant. I'd also advise you to take cuttings regularly so if the parent plant does go plonk you've got some backups. So that's Begonia maculata 'Wightii'. I'd love to know what you think about this plant, whether it's one you love or hate. If you want to find out more about it, there's a whole chapter in Legends of the Leaf, as I've said, and do go and check out the show notes for more about this and yesterday's plant, Begonia boweri, and you can follow along with the series. Part three will be coming out tomorrow. Until then, grow some brilliant begonias. Bye!

[9:39] Music. The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by The Joydrops and Whistle by Benjamin Banger. All tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details.

[9:53] Music.

The polka dot begonia, Begonia maculata ‘Wightii’, is a gorgeous cane begonia whose origins are obscure. We are not even sure if it’s a cultviar, variety or even a hybrid of the species Begonia maculata.
Begonia maculata was first collected by Italian botanist Giuseppe Raddi in 1820 and its type locality (the place it was first found) is Mount Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Don’t believe the internet legends that this plant inspire the designer Christian Louboutin to give his shoes red soles - from all my research this does not appear to be true.
Want more Begonia maculata info? Check out chapter four of my book Legends of the Leaf for a whole load more information.
This begonia’s silvery spots are caused by blister variegation - the same kind of variegation that causes the so-called ‘splash’ on Hoyas. It’s caused by air spaces between the epidermis and the chlorenchyma (plant tissue).

BEGONIA 3 - the iron cross begonia

TRANSCRIPT

My Begonia masoniana. Photograph: Jane Perrone.

The iron cross Begonia aka Begonia masoniana is native to parts of China and Vietnam.
This Begonia was first brought into cultivation by Maurice Mason, a farmer from Norfolk in the UK who was a great collector of houseplants. He died in the early 1990s - you can see a picture of his foliage-decorated tombstone here.

You can see a picture of a Begonia masoniana in one of Mason’s glasshouses (he had 16 CHECK at the height of his collecting) here.
There’s more information about Begonia masoniana on the American Begonia Society website, including pictures of the masoniana cultivars ‘Rock’, ‘River’, ‘Jungle’ and ‘Mountain’. (Do consider joining the ABS if you are interested in Begonias - here’s how.)

Begonia 4 - ‘LUCERNA’

TRANSCRIPT

[0:00] Music.

[0:15] Hello and welcome to part four of my begonia top 10 and today's begonia - well i think this might be well it changes every day i can't i was about to say this might be my favourite begonia of all time but it does change every day but this is up there this is right up there definitely among the top three and it is the begonia known as Begonia 'Lucerna' and this is a dramatic, statement plant that can reach two meters or more when it is in a mature state and I just love this plant because you're getting beautiful flowers and stunning foliage too. This cultivar it's sometimes sold as 'Corallina de Lucerna' or just as Lucerna. It was created about 130 years ago in Switzerland and it's one of those angel wing begonias that are popular among the cane begonias.

[1:15] So just to remind you, a cane begonia does what it says on the tin. The stems look like bamboo canes. These tend to be, in my experience, the toughest of the begonias. They're not going to worry if they don't get a for a bit. They're toughies. That's why they're heirloom plants and you see them sitting in places just being completely ignored and still being fine.

[1:41] So the leaves of 'Lucerna' are particularly stunning. They're about 15 centimeters long, covered in little silver spots. If you've listened to the Maculata episode, the Polka Dot Begonia episode, you'll know that those silver splotches are caused by blister variegation. So air spaces underneath the epidermis of the plant rather than a colour pigment development issue. Red undersides of leaves and theories behind their purpose

[2:06] On the backs of the leaves we get red and that is caused by pigment, that's caused by the anthocyanins, those red and purple making pigments that we find in all kinds of plants and in foods like beetroot.And there are a few different theories about what the red backs on leaves mean. Generally speaking, you can say that if a plant has red undersides - the abaxial surface of the plant. Let's just break that down, what that actually means. So the underside of the leaf is known as abaxial because it's the opposite side from the stem of the plant. Axial being stem, the axis of the plant. So, if the abaxial surface is red, that's usually telling us that the plant grows in fairly low light conditions. There are a few different theories about what the red pigments do, how they're helping the plant in those low light conditions. One of the theories is that the anthocyanins help to bounce light back up through the leaf to maximise photosynthetic power by giving the light a chance to be used for a second time, because of course not all light gets used for photosynthesis as it passes through the leaf. The other theory is interesting too actually, the idea being that, and I guess these two theories are actually completely enmeshed in many ways, that the pigment stops light from going through the leaf and therefore stops light reaching the ground underneath the leaves and that means that, competitor seedlings of other plants are going to have problems growing there because light levels are just going to be so low. So the anthocyanins help to block out any light from reaching the floor.

[4:00] Plants growing in low light conditions already just don't need that kind of competition. So those are a couple of the theories about red backs to leaves, but if you do see a red back to a leaf, generally speaking, you're not going to be putting this in your sunniest windowsill. That tangent over, let's get back to 'Coralina de Lucerna' or just 'Lucerna'.

[4:20] If you have failed with Rex begonias and maybe Maculata 'Wightii' as well, give this one a try. And if you're looking for one, I would suggest, this is slightly unconventional plant buying advice, but I would go onto something like Craigslist or ideally Facebook marketplace and search there for the term 'begonia'. Why? Well, because this is a plant that, as I say, is often an heirloom plant. People keep this in their family for generations and often it gets too big and they have to chop some bits up and pot them up and they will sell those on Facebook Marketplace. Tends to be possibly the slightly older generation doing this, so it's a good way of getting a really nice plant that's well acclimatized to the conditions of a normal home that you won't have to hunt around for or spend a fortune on. I mean, I'm just scrolling through Facebook marketplace now and I can see, oh, so many desirable begonias here. Wow.

[5:27] Yeah, so I'm sorry, I'm getting distracted by looking at Facebook marketplace and wanting to buy all these big begonias. So that's my top tip for Begonia 'Lucerna'. Go on Facebook Marketplace or borrow your auntie's Facebook Marketplace account if you don't have one and get on there and look for plants that way. If you can't get one through the places you'd usually look or perhaps if they're out of your budget range. Care tips for Begonia 'Lucerna', including pruning and staking

[5:54] So this is a big plant, as I've said, two metres tall, doesn't usually need a stake provided that you've got it in a sturdy old pot with a nice heaviness to it. It should be fine without staking but you do need to trim this one back regularly to keep it bushy. You don't want it to look too tall and sort of spindly. I say about staking because I don't know about you but I really hate staked plants.

[6:24] We've covered this before in the orchid episode. This is a trope that you may recognize. Yeah I just don't want to see a stake and this is one of the reasons why Begonia 'Lucerna' is great. If you're giving it enough light then you know what it will not, it should not need staking and I just think it totally ruins the look of the plant. So there you go. If you want to it, stake away, but it wouldn't be my choice.

[6:50] Do take some top cuttings just above a node, trim back to just below a node, take off the lower leaves, stick it in a glass of water or an old milk bottle and wait till it roots and then you can put that back into the pot or make a new plant and sell that on Facebook Marketplace.

[7:09] So yeah, it's a beautiful one. The pink flowers can come anytime. Mine are in flower right now and I think generally you might find that you get flowers over the sort of winter and spring time but I've seen them kind of coming in all times of year. And I will link in the show notes to a piece from the American Begonias Society. I just rejoined, I let my membership lapse but I've just rejoined recently, definitely worth joining if you are interested in begonias and there's a good piece about cane like begonias in there which I will link to. It gives some excellent advice about how and where to grow these plants. They need a lot of light. Mine's in my north-facing conservatory getting heck tons of light especially in summer.

[7:57] You can tell if it's getting too much light because the leaves will start to kind of bleach out but it probably needs more light if you're one of these is looking miserable.

[8:06] It's not worried about humidity in the same way as some of the other begonias that we've talked about like Maculata. It's not going to be as bothered by soil dryness related to humidity at all and unlike the advice I would give for the other begonias I've talked about so far, I would give this a heavier mix of compost. It doesn't need the really free-draining mix that things like the Missoniana need. We will go into more detail about that at the end of this two week series, but yeah, have regular houseplant compost with a handful or two of perlite will do absolutely fine for this one. So that's Begonia 'Lucerna'. I love this Begonia, as I say, it's very high up in my list and so worthy of growing.

[8:54] I would put this up there with, I think it might even be in my top five houseplants of all time, which I've never really actually fully thought about. But yeah, it's a good one. It's a great one. Tell me about your Begonia 'Lucerna' and join me tomorrow for part five. We'll be halfway through my begonia top 10. But for now, have a great day and enjoy your begonias. Bye!

[9:23] Music.

[9:37] The music you heard in this episode was Roll, Jordan Roll by The Joy Drops and Whistle by Benjamin Banger. All tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details.

[9:50] Music.

This cane begonia cultivar (sometimes sold as ‘Corallina de Lucerna’) was created 130 years ago in Switzerland, and is still one of the most popular of the angel wing Begonias - those with bamboo-like stems and leaves that are delightfully dotted with silvery marks.
‘Lucerna’ has 15cm long leaves and throws out pink flowers all summer. It has endured because it is tolerant of a wide range of conditions, so if you have failed with Rex begonias, give this a try.
The red undersides of the leaves indicate that begonia lucerna can tolerate low light conditions. Some theories suggest that the red pigments may serve to maximize photosynthetic power or block out light for competitor seedlings.
If you're interested in getting your hands on this begonia, I recommend checking platforms like Facebook Marketplace, where people often sell cuttings from their heirloom begonias.
Begonia ‘Lucerna’ can grow quite tall and may require regular trimming to maintain a bushy appearance, but should not need staking, especially if you put it in a heavy pot.
For those interested in growing cane-like begonias, the American Begonias Society offers helpful advice.
Unlike certain other begonias, Begonia ‘Lucerna’ is not as sensitive to humidity and can be grown in a heavier compost mix with perlite.

Begonia FIVE - the beefsteak begonia

TRANSCRIPT

[0:00] Music.

[0:14] Jane Perrone

Hello and welcome to part 5 of my top 10 begonias. I'm Jane Perrone, houseplant expert and, well, let's be honest, a bit of a begoniac, if there is such a thing, and I'm really enjoying bringing you these top 10 begonias. The trouble is, every day that I do a new one, as I talk about that plant and bring together all the facts that I want to tell you about it, I'm convinced that that is my absolute favourite begonia.

[0:45] I guess that's inevitable. It's happened again with today's begonia, which is Begonia 'Erythrophylla' aka the beefsteak begonia.

[0:56] It's another absolute classic of the indoor begonia world. Another rhizomatous begonia, so just to remind you, it's growing from a thickened underground stem. And it also has quite leathery and succulent leaves and all this is telling us that this is a nicely tolerant plant.

[1:16] Let's get some of the who, what, when, where and why out of the way first. This begonia is a hybrid from two begonias from Mexico, the first of which being Begonia hydrocotylifolia and the second being Begonia manicata. Now these were crossed in 1845 in Germany and created begonia erythrophylla, still one of the most popular begonias out there and one of the earliest hybrids that we're still growing. Obviously hybridization of begonias has been going on for a long time and a lot of those hybrids from the early days are not still around. This one is though.

[1:56] What did the parents look like? Well, the Hydrocotyllifolia, that kind to me looks like a sort of a smaller-leaved version, a generally smaller version of Erythrophylla.

[2:07] The manicata, on the other hand, has much larger and greener leaves. So the qualities of those two parent species came together to form the beefsteak Begonia, which has got these very dark red, dark green red leaves with bright red undersides. It grows outwards rather than up. It can be grown as a trailing plant if you let the fleshy stem grow and grow, you'll end up with a big ball of a begonia if I can put it that way. Now I'm not entirely sure what 'erythrophylla' means but there are some other plants that have, the term in their scientific names and it seems to be red stuff basically so I think it's referring to the red pigment in the leaves. Now in my lifetime I've only ever known this plant as erythrophylla or the beefsteak begonia to give it its common name but apparently when I've dug back in the books, it seems historically, this has also been known as Begonia festii, F-E-A-S-T-I-I, or the pond, lily, begonia.

[3:15] Which is also a name that the parent plant, I'm gonna have to say it again now - Hydrocotylifolia - had because of the leaves looking a bit like those of a pond lily, which makes sense. Stunning Begonia with Large, Glossy Leaves

[3:30] So why is this begonia in my top 10? I think it's a really stunning plant. The leaves get large and glossy. I'm just looking in a book called Conservatory and Undoor Plants, which is by the legendary plants people, Roger Phillips and Martin Rix, and they say the leaves of this one can get up to 14 centimetres across, so quite a decent size. They are very glossy. Depending on how much light they get, you're going to get a beautiful, dark green, rich, rich, dark red coloration. The veins are standing out in a much lighter green on the top and then flip a leaf over to a light source like the window and you'll get this incredible color. This is a begonia you can grow quite nicely hanging because for one thing, you won't need to take it down that often to water because those fleshy stems and that rhizome hold on to a heck of a lot water as do the fleshy leaves. Secondly, if you hang it up you can enjoy the backs of the leaves as well and over time it will trail and hang and you'll get a beautiful kind of ball effect.

[4:47] Late winter, early spring the flowers come. They can be quite abundant on this plant. They're shell pink and they look like the classic begonia flower but there can be a lot of them if your plant is really happy.

[5:01] Now also in that book by Rix and Phillips it stated this plant was hardly down to five degrees centigrade that's 41 Fahrenheit. I have never allowed my plant to get that cold. It has been down to about at least 12 I would say with absolutely no problems. So this is one you could have in an unheated room or in a sheltered area depending on what your climate is like. It's a toughie. Interestingly, there doesn't seem to have been an awful lot of further cultivars of this plant developed. There is one called 'Helix'. I've not seen this for sale for quite some time, but it's kind of got a mutation where you see this sometimes in begonias. I think the famous one is 'Escargot', where you've got a kind of a swirl effect in the actual structure of the leaf. I'd love to see a Erythrophylla Helix, it's certainly something that has been out there, not sure if it's still available now. What is available now though is 'Black Jungle', which is a very dark-leaved version, which has, I think, more crinkle to the leaves as well. They're kind of wavy rather than the flat leaves you'd expect of the regular 'Erythrophylla'. I have to admit, I'm not as keen on it as I am on plain old 'Erythrophylla', but there you go, it's a matter of personal choice. I'll put links in the show notes to link you to places where you can see pictures of both those plants. Just talking about the show notes for a moment, I had a lovely comment from a listener called Leslie who said that they've listened to every single episode of the podcast, but it was this top 10 that brought them to janeperrone.com.

[6:47] So there you go. It's always It's worth checking out the show notes. It really is. Leslie's in upstate New York and has loads of begonias, a 40 foot tall bougainvillea vine, orchids and more. Very impressive, Leslie. And she also offers some kind words. So thank you very much for your comment. And if you're not Leslie, be more like Leslie and go and visit janeperrone.com.

[7:12] So anyway, 'Erythrophylla'. It's been around. It's been popular for a long time. I was looking back at some plant catalogs from the 50s and it pops up in the Logee's catalog. We spoke to Byron Martin of Logee's in the last episode. So it's been a begonia that's just been consistently there. So people have been growing this plant for well over a century. It's easy to reproduce. You can just snip off a piece of that chunky stem and I find it works well in some perlite rather than water and water it tends to rot. But in some damp perlite, you will find that it roots and you get a new plant. In terms of light, you do get really, really good color on this one if it gets a decent amount of light. It's not gonna wanna be in a sunny windowsill, but it can cope with morning sun and just don't fry it is what I would say. Now some of you I'm sure will consider yourself to be variegation nuts, and you will be wanting to know if there is a variegated form of this plant. Well, hmm, interesting. I have seen a picture on Instagram of a variegated Begonia 'Erythrophylla'.

[8:31] I'm gonna mangle the name now, but I would pronounce it Hofstede hoveria. Again, I'll put a link in the show notes to this picture. And if you are a begonia fan or a variegation fan, you're going to find this an interesting one. The caption says "Begonia 'Erythrophylla' pink princess and then sort of a monkey emoji.No, no, just kidding. It's not an official cultivar. We only have one plant, wonder of nature propagating will be nearly impossible. No filter."

[9:10] Uh, I mean this was posted 216 weeks ago. I don't know whether there's any more news on this, not that I can see. People are wondering if this mutation could be stabilized through seed. It does look stunning because it really does look like Begonia 'Erythrophylla', given the pink princess treatment. I don't know what's going on with that, but it's, it's an interesting one. Maybe one day we'll see that being popularised, but it may just be something to goggle at on Instagram.

[9:47] In terms of the rhizomatous types, this and bowerae are the ones I would recommend if you are not that great with begonias. Those are the two rhizomatous ones that I think are bomb-proof.

[9:59] Tough, tough, tough creatures. And while it will go okay with very little care, if you do really look after this plant, it will look amazing. So definitely one to grow if you want a real showstopper of a begonia. That is all for this week's top 10 begonias. I'll be back next week with more. So stay tuned and keep your suggestions coming in. I love to hear what begonias you love and find, easy to grow, or maybe the ones that you've killed. Let's hear about those too. In the meantime, have a brilliant weekend and a wonderful week, and I'll see you on Sunday. Bye!

[10:47] Music. The music you heard in this episode was Roll, Jordan Roll by The Joy Drops and Whistle by Benjamin Banger. All tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details. [11:03] Music.

Introducing number five in my top ten: the beefsteak begonia, Begonia 'Erythrophylla'.

This Begonia is a hybrid created in 1845 in Germany. Its parents are Begonia hydrocotylifolia and Begonia manicata both from Mexico. More on Begonia hydrocotylifolia from the American Begonia Society.
It has been a popular begonia to grow ever since. I found this begonia featured in plant catalogues dating back to various decades of the last century, including the Logee’s Nursery cataolgue from the 1950s.
In the past it was sometimes sold as Begonia feastii or the pond lily begonia (also the name given to its parent Begonia hydrocotylifolia).
It’s a Begonia that’s rhizamatous and grows out rather than up - you can put it in a hanging basket so you can appreciate the red undersides to the fleshy leaves.
There are a few cultivars out there: the main one you can find today is ‘Black Jungle’ but ‘Helix’ used to be popular although I haven’t found it for sale anywhere recently (let me know if you have!)
The book I mention is Conservatory and Indoor Plants: Plants for Warm Gardens by Roger Phillips, Martyn Rix, published 1998. There are two volumes: you’ll probably have to buy these secondhand but they are a worthwhile edition to your houseplant book collection.

BEGONIA 6: Begonia sizemoreae syn ciliata - the super hairy begonia

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Transcript

[0:00] Music.

[0:13] Another week, another set of begonias to discuss. Hello, my name is Jane Perrone and we are at the halfway point in my begonia top 10. So if you've rocked up here for the first time, it might be wise to go back to episode 281 part one to get the gist of what this is all about.

[0:36] But in essence, I'm just listing my top 10 begonias suitable for average room conditions, no terrarium or IKEA greenhouse cabinet required.

[0:47] And in today's show, we have a begonia that is hairy and large and that's all good as far as I am concerned.

[1:00] It's the begonia, often known as Begonia sizemoreae. If you like your leaves to look textured In the extreme, this is the begonia to go for. But don't worry if you're thinking, gosh, that looks like it's only gonna survive in a terrarium. I thought the same and didn't buy it for a long time. But then I spoke to Dibley's, the North Wales nursery that specializes in begonias and streptocarpus, and they assured me, yes, it'll grow in normal room conditions. And indeed, mine has.

[1:33] I'll stick a picture of my plant in the show notes. Just to get over the name issue to start with, it is usually sold as Begonia seismoriae, not because of seismor indicating the size of the leaves or the size of the hairs. No, this refers to the person who collected this plant in North Vietnam in 1996. Her name was Mary Seismor and it was originally called BU388. And according to this piece from the American Begonia Society.

[2:07] As I always say, I'll link to it in the show notes, this was found on the bank of a river near Hanoi. Reclassification as Begonia longis ciliata - hairy leaves

[2:13] But in the last few years, the paper came out in 2020, I think, Begonia sizemoreae has been reclassified as Begonia longiciliata. Now, that's a good name because ciliata just means the hairs on the leaves, and indeed, the hairs on the leaves are long.

[2:46] But the main feature is those long hairs. They are a good centimetre, centimetre and a half long, I would say. Pink flowers, not much to write home about. I tend to remove them. The leaves on this one can get quite large. The ABS report says that the leaves are up to eight inches by six and a half inches. That's about 20 centimetres by 16 and a half centimetres, so a decent sized leaf, not the largest, but add on those long hairs and I think you've got a bit of a stunning plant. The hairs also extend to the stems and the backs of the leaves are really interesting as well as is often the case with begonias. Interestingly enough, if you look at that paper from 2020, which I'll link to, it does explain that.

[3:35] In the wild in Vietnam, only certain populations of this plant have those long hairs, which may explain the naming confusion.

[3:44] So it's the form with these long hairs that has become the ones that we grow as houseplants. But if you look at that paper from the journal Phyto Keys, you can actually see a picture or pictures which show the variation in the leaf and demonstrate how differently this can look. So that's obviously worth remembering when you're thinking about diversity of plants. Leaves can be different, they're all part of the same species, but they can look different. I mean, I'm thinking of something like Philodendron hederaceum, which is just the ultimate kind of chameleon of species that we grow as houseplants. So yeah, that's really worth a look. There's some beautiful pictures in that paper, even if you don't want to read the scientific text. And if you're wondering who Mary Sizemore is. Mary, according to the ABS website, she has recorded over 55 begonias, which may be new species, and traveled through Indonesia, Borneo, the Philippines, Vietnam, Ecuador, Peru, China and Thailand. Mary Sizemore: A Botanical Explorer

[4:50] She's also responsible for Aspidistra 'Mary Sizemore', Amorphophallus sizemoreae and Xanthosoma sizemoreae. Oh and I should say this plant is not just growing in Vietnam, it also grows in South Central and Southeast China and also Laos, so it's quite a widespread population. I'll also link to a paper by the very well-known begonia expert Ruth Kiew, who has written about Begonia sizemoreae as it was then known in the Gardens Bulletin Singapore No. 56 from 2004. And in this scientific description you get a full list of all its botanical features, some lovely pictures, and Ruth writes, its charm lies in the deep crimson tracery of the fine network of veins, feature not seen in Begonia rex. She says also no doubt it will prove easy to hybridise. I'm not sure I've seen any hybrids of Longiciliata slash sizemoreae, but correct me if you have. I've chosen this Begonia because I think it's unusual, dramatic, relatively easy to grow.

[6:07] As I've said before, if I can grow it, you can grow it. And also, as far as I can see, widely available. So it's not something that's been around since the year dot, like erythrophylla, but it is something that you can get your hands on pretty much wherever you are in the world.

[6:24] Speaking of erythrophylla, thank you to Mitchell who got in touch about the bee stake begonia part of this top 10 and thank you because i've rushed over a little bit the meaning of erythrophylla but Mitchell is there to fill in the gaps writing erythro means blushing or ruddy and is often used in medical terms for a deep red rash and then phyll is just leaf as in chlorophyll so it's a good name for a red leafed begonia that makes perfect sense Mitchell thank you for filling that in. And if you've got any comments about this top 10, you love it, you hate it, you want me to include something, drop me a line ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com or you can leave a comment on the post. If anyone's got any more information about Mary Sizemore, I'd love to read a full biography. Maybe that's out there somewhere and I haven't found it, but I did find out that much. Well that's all for part 6 of my begonia top 10.

[7:24] Begonia sizemoreae slash longiciliata doesn't really have a common name, I'm just going to call it the super hairy begonia because I think that sounds great. I mean I know begonia experts are going to come back to me and say Jane there's loads of super hairy begonias but this is the one that I like best so that's my common name anyway and as you know if you listen to the show frequently common names are about as accurate as me choosing to give something a name. So there we go. I will be back tomorrow with part seven of my begonia top 10. I hope you'll join me then. And in the meantime, go and look at your begonias. They are amazing. If you don't have any, get yourself some. Trust me. Bye!

[8:08] Music.

[8:14] The music you heard in this episode was Roll, Draw and Roll by The Joy Drops and Whistle by Benjamin Banger. Both tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details.

[8:28] Music.

This begonia has star quality. Photograph: Jane Perrone.

Begonia sizemoreae (correct name Begonia longicilata) doesn’t seem to have a common name but I am calling it the super hairy begonia.

This begonia was first collected by Mary Sizemore in 1996 in North Vietnam. It was initially known as Begonia U388 then named Begonia sizemoreae after its collector. More information about this plant on the American Begonia Society website.
Its native range is Vietnam, Laos, and south central and southeast China.
This Begonia can grow quite large leaves but does well in average room conditions, and is best known for its hairy, puckered leaves. It is a rhizomatous begonia.
An academic paper in PhytoKeys published in 2020 confirmed that this species is actually Begonia longiciliata. Interestingly, not all specimens of this species have hairy leaves - the leaves are rather variable in appearance and you can see a pic of the differences in the PhytoKeys paper.
This 2004 paper by renowned begonia researcher Ruth Kiew talks about this plant in fond terms as well as describing it botanically.
Mary Sizemore is a widely travelled plant collector who has also had these plants named after her: Aspidistra ‘Mary Sizemore’, Amorphophallus sizemoreae, Xanthosoma sizemoreae and Arisaema sizemoeae. More on the ABS site (you’ll need to scroll down).
This begonia is quite widely available in most markets. In the UK, this plant is available from the North Wales nursery Dibleys.

Begonia sizemoreae on the Dibleys stand at a flower show. Photograph: Jane Perrone.

Begonia 7: Begonia solimutata

TRANSCRIPT

[0:00] Music.

[0:14] Hello and welcome to part six of my, no it's not part six, it's part seven, time's moving fast, it's part seven of my top 10 begonias and today I'm going to be talking about the sun-changing begonia aka Begonia solimutata.

[0:35] A begonia with a special skill and suggested by name. We'll get into that. But first, thank you to somebody on Amazon who remains anonymous for leaving a lovely review of the podcast saying that the show is entertaining and informative, kind and interesting. Best combination you could ask for. Whoever you are out there, thank you very much. That's really kind. And that is the combo I aim to achieve. Thank you for that. I love reading reviews. It gives me that little boost to get me through the day, which I kind of need today because I am what we call in my family a snot monster. Yes, I've contracted a cold, perfect timing for a podcaster, but I guess it's just that time of year. Also a shout out to Andrew and Nina who have become legends and save some cash by paying annually. If you are an existing subscriber, but you pay every month, you can log onto your subscription and switch to annually and I think you save it's something like 16% I want to say, so it's a decent chunk if you know you're committed to the show, do go and check that out and if you want to sign up and pay annually, fantastic, might be a nice Christmas present for somebody too.

[1:51] On with our solimutata chat, what to say about this rhizomatous begonia? Yes, it's another one of those rhizomatous types. So if you're coming to this totally fresh and you haven't heard the first six of the top 10, you might not know that a rhizomatous begonia is just one that has a little secret storage device below ground in the form of a rhizome, a swollen stem that holds onto water and nutrients. And lots of the begonias that are in this top 10 are rhizomatous because it means they have the ability to cope with a little bit of neglect because they can draw on the resources in that rhizome. And this particular begonia species comes from northern Brazil. Now, I don't know if you've been noting the different locations of these begonias.

[2:42] But if you have, you might be thinking to yourself, aha, this is interesting because you will realize what a geographically diverse genus the begonias are. I'll post a link to the Plants of the World online genus page for begonia and they are native to... Everywhere from the Andaman Islands to Zimbabwe, so covering North and South America, parts thereof, parts of Africa and parts of Southeast Asia as well. But this one, as I say, is from Northern Brazil and it's not one of these heirloom types that's been around for absolutely decades. It's been known about by begonia collectors for about 40 years. You might sometimes see this plant sold as Begonia 'Burle Marx' and that's because, again it's quite hard to untangle this story, but there are some accounts of the collection of this plant that state that Solimutata was discovered, in the garden of the legendary landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx in Rio de Janeiro and given to Begonia Botanis from that garden. I haven't been able to confirm if that's correct but But he did have a lot of plants named after him, so it's entirely possible.

[4:03] I have been planning to do an episode on Roberto Burl Marx for a long time, at least two years. It's incredibly difficult to pin down the people I need to speak to though. I will keep trying because he was a fascinating chap and had a big influence on the house plants we grow from South America, so I'll keep trying on that front.

[4:23] The leaves are a dark green, obviously depending on the light levels, and then you get this neon green markings that lay out the system of veins. You also get that classic redness that you get in begonias and red backs to the leaves. They're beautifully textured, lovely to touch and really rather gorgeous. Size wise, well the RHS website claims this gets to 75cm tall. I'm not so sure about that. Maybe in the wild in amazing conditions, but most of the time this plant's really only going to get to about 30cm tall in the average pot.

[5:03] So what is it about this begonia that has given it that name, the sun changing begonia or Begonia soli utata? Well, it's to do with the way the leaves change colour and this change happens in as little as 10 minutes. So you may be used to certain plants which if you put them in more light or less light over time, by which I'm talking about a series of days, weeks or months, the leaves might change color a little, but in this species, the leaves can change in just a few minutes. And you can check this out. Just put a piece of card over a portion of a leaf and leave it in a stronger light than it's used to. And you'll find that the bit under the card will stay the same and the bit in the greater light will have changed.

[5:53] So when exposed to really good light, you'll find that the leaves go a brownish colour. If they are in shade, they will kind of be dark green. How do the leaves actually make this change that happens so dramatically? Well, it's the chloroplasts in the leaves that change their alignment. If you need a quick botany lesson, chloroplasts are within plant cells, and they are where photosynthesis occurs, and they are disc-shaped and full of the green pigment chlorophyll and that's what makes plants leaves green. And when extra light comes along the chloroplasts change their alignment, they move themselves so the thin edge is facing outwards to the sunlight when light is strong and then they go horizontal when it is shady to affect the amount of surface area that's available for gathering light for photosynthesis. Clever, eh? Aren't plants amazing?

[6:58] This species was starting to get the attention of begonia collectors, I think it was in the late 70s, early 80s. It was originally given the name Begonia U003 by the American Begonia Society, they give a number to unidentified begonia species.

[7:15] It was first published and described in the Begonian, the American Begonia Society journal in 1990. This one grows on the forest floor in wet tropical areas, which is basically what northern Brazil's like. And in that begonian article headlined "instant suntan begonia", we find out that a Mr. Jacques Jangou, fantastic name, came to the AEBS with a dried specimen of this begonia, which he had been finding for sale in ornamental plant markets in Brazil. And then the society did their work and realized that this was same as Begonia U003 that was on this unidentified species list and subsequently the species was described in the Begonian in a piece by Lyman B. Smith and Dieter C. Wasshausen. And this piece is followed up by a text by Jacques himself who goes into more detail about the colour changing and and says, its striking leaves have a pustular surface, dark brownish-green, lighter along the veins on the upper side. Underneath, they are reddish in the space between the veins and pale green along the veins. I can't give you a link to that begonian piece because you can only access the begonian archive if you are a member of the American Begonia Society, but that's a good reason to join in my opinion. So this is one fascinating begonia.

[8:45] It's often described as something that needs high humidity.

[8:50] I have not found it that to be the case. Mine sits with my other begonias. To be honest, it is looking a bit miserable right now, but that's because I basically forgot to water it. It's more of a creeping begonia, so there were other begonias kind of shading it out and it got a bit neglected, but I find it's fine in normal room conditions. Works very well in a terrarium though as well and will probably get a little bit larger and more lush in a terrarium setting. It's got an award of garden merit from the Royal Horticultural Society and if you don't know anything about those awards do check out On The Ledge episode 272 where I explain what they're all about but basically it just means it's a good begonia. Cultivar and Hybrid wise, I did find a couple of hybrids listed. 'Midnight Sun' which has got very pinkish leaves with green veins and 'Boomer' - these are both hybrids by the way which have got sort of paler green and larger leaves but these don't as far as I know seem to be widely available.

[9:56] I have seen a picture of a weirdly variegated solimutata with pink splotches. Oh, here we go again. I'll link to that. It's on Instagram from the Rare Plant Fairy. I will link to that in the show notes if that's your thing.

[10:12] But otherwise, I think you can just enjoy the beautiful foliage of this plant. And it's got white flowers. If you had a really big specimen or a specimen that was creeping across the ground of a large greenhouse, or in the wild, the flowers could look quite nice. Again, I tend to take them off because I want all the energy to go into the foliage. So that's today's begonia. I hope you've enjoyed that. I'll be back tomorrow with yet another of my top 10 begonias. Keep telling me about your favorite begonias. Megan, who's a patron, was asking me about the Begonia 'Escargot', for instance. Now this is not in my top 10 begonias but it is a very well known and appealing begonia because it has this leaf feature. The structure of the leaf looks like a snail. I would guess this is some kind of mutation that does come through in certain begonias because if you've listened to the episode on the beefsteak begonia you'll know there's a cultivar of that called 'Helix' which has the same feature so this is obviously something that comes up in begonias sometimes. 'Escargot', French for snail if you didn't know, is a beautiful begonia. I haven't put it on my top 10 because I'm not entirely convinced that I like that particular mutation enough to keep it in that very select group of the top 10. It is kind of fascinating, it's got a dark green swirl and a silvery green swirl going into this central spiral. It's a Rex type, the leaves do get quite big and if you follow the tips that I'm going to give on Friday, hopefully you can keep this one alive in the average room too.

[11:56] So definitely one to look at, but not personally in my top 10 I'm afraid Megan. That's all for this episode, but fear not, you don't have to wait long, I'll be back tomorrow with part 8. Can we be at part 8 already? Time is flying! Enjoy your begonias and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!

[12:16] Music.

[12:28] The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by The Joy Drops and Whistle by Benjamin Banger. Both tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details.

[12:40] Music.

Young specimen of Begonia soli-mutata — *Begonia soli-mutata*. Photograph: Jane Perrone.

Today’s begonia has a special skill: rapidly changing colour when exposed to extra light. Find out why Begonia solimutata deserves a place in my begonia top ten.

Begonia solimutata is native to Northern Brazil. As a genus the Begonias are geographically diverse, as this top ten has shown. You can see the Begonia native range here.
This rhizomatous begonia is also sometimes sold as Begonia ‘Burle Marx’ because there is a story that this begonia came to the houseplant trade via the garden of Roberto Burle Marx, the legendary landscape designer.
This is not an heirloom begonia - it was first brought to the American Begonia Society in the early 1980s and was originally called Begonia U003 - basically a name given to an as yet unidentified Begonia species.
The scientific name solimutata simply means sun-changing: and the change can happen in as little as ten minutes. How does the colour change work? The Begonian journal from the ABS reported that “The leaves will change from a dark green colour in the shade to a brownish colour in full sunlight. This same change will occur if the light conditions are reversed; the leaf color will change from brownish to dark green if the intensity of the light source is reduced.”
If you shade half a leaf with a piece of card you can see how this works - it’s the disc shaped chloroplasts inside the plant cells changing alignment - vertical when it’s bright, so less surface area available for photosynthesis and horizontal in shade.
Want to read the article from the Begonian (journal of the American Begonia Society) that I refer to? You need to become a member (which I recommend!)
I didn’t find many hybrids or cultivars but I did locate hybrids ‘Boomer’ and ‘Midnight Sun’. I also came across this variegated solimutata on the Rare Plant Fairy Insta.
This plant has an Royal Horticultural Society award of garden merit (find out more about these awards in On The Ledge episode 272).

Begonia 8: the fierce begonia

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[0:14] Hello! Apologies for the break in service but I'm back with part eight of my Begonia Top Ten. Yes, in part seven I told you that I was getting a cold. Well, it turned into something a little bit nastier and took me down for a couple of days. I've been in bed mostly sniffling and sleeping and watching the occasional episode of BBC show Ghosts, not the American version, we don't swear around here.

[0:47] But fortunately, I'm well enough to get back into the top 10 today. So I'm going to give you part eight today, number eight in my top 10, and then next week will come the two final parts, nine and 10. Because of my commitments next week, I'm not sure if that's gonna be Monday or Tuesday, day, but it will be sometime next week, so get subscribed if you're not already, and you won't miss an episode.

[1:13] So what's today's begonia? Just to clarify, if you're new around here, I'm talking about 10 begonias that will grow in normal room conditions, no terrarium required. These are my choices, so you may not agree. I'd love to hear from you if you have your own choices, but these are the ones that I would recommend. And coming in at number eight is Begonia ferox, with a name that literally means 'fierce'. Who couldn't love this begonia? It comes from the Guangxi region of China, which is in Southern China. And what I love about this plant is its dramatic leaves.

[1:54] The technical term for it is bullae, and that just means it looks like something that any punk would be proud of. A leaf studded with dark red, almost black little mini mountains each tipped with a little hair, giving this plant a rather vicious appearance.

[2:14] Don't worry, the spikes are not actually sharp, they will not injure you, they just look pretty scary. You just can't resist running your hand across these leaves because they are rather cool. The underside of the leaves though, I have to say, as somebody who suffers somewhat with trypophobia, the fear of holes, I find the underside of the leaves quite troubling and difficult to look at, so I tend to prefer just to look at the tops. What do we know about this one other than it comes from southern China? Well it's a species that grows naturally as a lithophyte, that means a plant that grows on rocks and is often recommended for terrariums but I can tell you I've grown this with my other begonias in my standard room conditions and it's absolutely fine. It probably does sit slightly on the more difficult scale of the top 10 that I am currently engaged in but it's really not that hard. It's worth bearing in mind that when the leaves are immature.

[3:15] So for example, if you've got a cutting of a leaf and the cutting is putting out new leaves, those new leaves will not be covered in these bullae. They gradually develop in leaves as the plant matures.

[3:29] These cones come along and start to show up on leaves as successive leaves get more mature. So these begonias in the wild in China grow on rocks as I've already said, but they grow on a specific type of rock. So the landscape in Guangxi that they grow in is a limestone cast landscape, so big old limestone rocks. And I'll post a picture in the show notes of the botanist who collected this plant in 2011 and then went on with some colleagues to describe it for botany in 2013 in a paper, which I'll also link to, of this plant growing on a rock and you can see how it really grows in the wild. That man is Cheng-I Peng. Unfortunately, this Taiwanese botanist and great begonia researcher has passed away, but we can thank him and his colleagues for bringing this to our attention. And now, gosh, what is it? Just over... 10 years later, this plant is widely available in the house plant trade. There's more information in this paper you might be interested in. One thing that's worth knowing is this isn't a widespread begonia in nature. It only turns up in the southwestern corner of Guangxi province, that's close to the border with Vietnam.

[4:46] And the type locality, so the place where the specimen that they use to create the scientific description of the plant is big limestone rocks and it's described as growing on limestone rocks with abundant leaf litter or on bare rocky slopes in evergreen broadleaf forests. So obviously under other vegetation, not going to be hit with masses of full sunlight. So those are some guides as to how you need to grow it in your home.

[5:18] Now this is one of those options where you could, if you wanted to, get a piece of limestone and have your begonia ferrox growing in that piece of stone on a tray and be watering it to grow it as it does in the wild.

[5:34] This is a rhizomatous begonia like various other ones in this top 10. It does like higher humidity so you know if you've got a terrarium you can throw this one into, certainly do, and when I talk about begonia care for these rhizomatous types I'll go into detail of my setup, how I grow them. Certainly if you want a really big luscious amazing plant then probably a terrarium is going to be best, but they will grow in normal conditions. Mine's certainly been doing fine in a normal room.

[6:05] I've got a bit of baby cutting in my fish tank over here and that's doing fine too. It's not getting any special treatment at all, it's literally just sat in a fish tank and it gets down to about 12 degrees centigrade in this office when the heating goes off, so it doesn't need to be particularly warm either, although it will probably grow a bit faster if it's given more heat and light. So if you want to grow this begonia, you can grow it from a section of leaf, a whole leaf, It's easier to do it if you've got a whole leaf. And I think if you do get a cutting you're more likely to get it acclimatized to your natural room conditions than if you buy a really big plant. You might find that a really big plant might struggle in your home just because, you know, a plant that's been used to really good conditions will just.

[7:00] Drop some leaves and look unhappy, certainly at first, if it moves to your house where it doesn't quite have the optimum things that it loves.

[7:09] This species is quite similar to another species of Begonia called Begonia melanobullata, so you can imagine it's got these same bullae. The main difference is melanobullata has these bullae from a very early age, even immature leaves will have the bullae, whereas in the case of ferox only maturer leaves will have the bullae, so that's the major way of telling the difference.

[7:37] And also melanmobullata comes from Vietnam rather than China, so reasonably close by but not the same native range. So that's my tip for today, Begonia ferox. As I say, not the easiest. Don't start with this as your first ever Begonia. But if you've tried some of the other rhizomatous Begonias and you've had success, I love this Begonia. I think it's epic. And it's a real attention Seeker with those dramatic spiky leaves, so give it a go. It might be easier than you think, and maybe try mounting it on a rock and see how that goes. I'd love to hear if anyone's tried that. Well that's all for today's episode. I will be back next week with the final parts of my Begonia top 10, which I hope you've been enjoying. Thanks for all your get well soon comments, and thanks to those of you who've told me that you've received your Patreon cards. Great to hear that and they should be dropping through other letterboxes in the coming couple of weeks. That's all for today. Have a fantastic weekend.

[8:44] I'm off for a honey and lemon and I'll see you soon. Bye! The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by The Joy Drops and Whistle by Benjamin Banger. Both tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. visit the show notes for details.

[9:05] Music.

*Begonia ferox* is covered in bullae - spiky cones which look fierce but are soft to the touch.

The fierce begonia, Begonia ferox, has leaves with a dramatic feature that any punk would love - that's why they are number eight in my top ten begonias.

Begonia ferox is quite rare in the wild - it only occurs in the southwestern part of Guangxi province in southern China, close to the border with Vietnam.
It’s a rhizomatous begonia that lives as a lithophyte - a plant that grows on rocks. Specifically in the case of this species, it grows on limestone rocks.
You can see a photograph of Taiwanese botanist Cheng-I Peng with Begonia ferox growing wild on rocks here. You can read Dr Peng’s obituary here.
Dr Peng and colleagues first described Begonia ferox to science in a paper that came out in 2013. You can read it here.
The fierce begonia gets its name from its bullae - the conelike structures that dot the mature leaves. These only show up in more mature foliage - the immature leaves are flat.
This species resembles another begonia species from nearby Vietnam, B. melanobullata, except the latter has bullae that show up even on young leaves.
This begonia is somewhat harder to grow than some of the others in this top ten, but it will grow outside a terrarium. You could try mounting it onto a chunk of limestone situated in a tray of water.

Begonia 9: Begonia ‘Thurstonii’

Begonia 'Thurstonii' growing at the Garden Museum in London. Photograph: Matt Collins.

Transcript

[0:00] Music.

[0:13] Hello and welcome to part nine of my top 10 begonias and today's begonia is Begonia 'Thurstonii'. The first begonia in the top 10 that I don't currently own. Consider this a call out for anyone in the UK who has a Begonia 'Thurstonii' and wants to do a swap. Get in touch because I would love a piece of this begonia and I'm going to explain why it's made its way into my top 10. Oh, and thank you to Andrew who took up a free trial of the Ledge End level of my Patreon and then became a member.

[0:51] Welcome, Andrew. Great to have you on board. And I will be recording a bonus episode on begonias for Patreon, which will be going out next week, which talks about some of the begonias that didn't make the list and why. Yes, I am looking at you Begonia luxurians.

[1:13] Begonia 'Thurstonii' is a hybrid begonia that is classed as a shrub-like begonia, and this is the first in the top 10 of begonias for usual room conditions that counts in this category. So, it's pretty obvious what that means. Shrub-like, it gets big and shrubby, it doesn't grow a single stem, it tends to bush out and get large. This begonia can get up to about a metre tall. If you've never come across the shrub-like begonias, I'll stick something in the show notes from the American Begonia Society which gives you some examples and descriptions.

[1:53] If you know begonias, other shrub-like begonias you might have heard of include Begonia listada and Begonia metallica.

[2:01] And, interesting we mention metallica because in fact Metallica is one of the parents of 'Thurstonii'. I think we can safely describe Begonia 'Thurstonii' as a heritage Begonia. It was first brought onto the market in 1887 by a chap called C. Thurston and its two parents are Begonia metallica and Begonia sanguinea. I should say here that Begonia metallica, is, according to Plants of the World Online, the Kew website, which I take as my authority, is an outdated scientific name. We should be calling it Begonia incarnata. However, I've not seen anyone using that name, so I'll just mention Begonia incarnata in the same breath as Metallica, and hopefully we'll all get a rough idea of what we're talking about.

[2:51] And this begonia has been pretty much popular ever since. Looking back in the archives, I could see lots of mentions of this Spagonia from the time it first came onto the market, right up to the 1940s. Not much about it for a while after that, it seemed to be in the doldrums for a few decades, but it's definitely coming back now. And I found a rather nice piece about Thurston's begonia in the Cultivator and Country Gentleman publication in August 1895. So by seven years, it had already achieved enough notoriety to get a whole article in this publication.

[3:29] And the writer who was called Chas E. Parnell writes, "It may be described as being a plant of vigorous growth, shrubby, free-branching habit, and growing from one or two feet in height, and as a specimen pot plant is exceedingly ornamental. It is a cross between Begonia metallica and Begonia sanguinea, having the bright red foliage and veinings underneath the leaves and bright metallic green shading to red in the younger growth on top, with the deep veinings of the metallica. It also has smooth glossy leaves and red stems of sanguinea. The flowers are of a beautiful deep pink in bud, but when expanded, of a beautiful shell pink." So that's what it looks like. It's a really lovely, glossy-leaved, almost olive-coloured leaf, a kidney-shaped leaf, with these red undersides and red stems. I admired this begonia when I saw it at the Garden Museum in London. I'll post a link to a little blogpost from the Museum about this particular plant from the head gardener there, Matt Collins. and I fell in love with it. I think it's a really beautiful plant. In terms of growing it, I think you could put it in pretty much the same conditions as you would an earlier begonia in this series, the 'Lucerna'.

[4:58] That's a cane begonia to be fair, but the conditions it needs are pretty much the same. It's not going to be bothered by average room humidity unless you stick it next to a radiator or some other dry heat source. It needs plenty of good light, but don't stick it with your cacti. And other than that, just treat it as you would do a regular houseplant. Bear in mind that... As a shrubby begonia it will need a decently heavy pot otherwise it will topple over and it can get down to quite cold temperatures. I would think this would be fine down to five degrees centigrade with no problem. And we'll talk more tomorrow about substrates and watering of begonias in this top 10 as we wrap it up with some care advice.

[5:46] Do we know anything about Thurston? The chap who bred this begonia back in 1887? Well, not really. All I did find out was from a list of exhibits at the American Florists Convention in Buffalo, New York in 1889. There was a list of exhibits and one of those exhibits was from a C. Thurston of Ridgewood, New Jersey, of his new begonia, Begonia 'Thurstonii', which he, well, he named after himself. Why not? So I'm presuming that Thurston was a breeder of begonias running a nursery in New Jersey and indeed I did find one or two ads for his business offering new begonias, not specifically 'Thurstonii', but I imagine if I dug a bit deeper I might be able to find those as well. This was obviously all the rage in the late 1880s and 1890s.

[6:41] It had a following, people liked this plant, and I can understand why. If you've got room for something that's going to be as wide as it is tall and could get about a meter tall, this is a lovely begonia that will do fine in the average room temperatures. You've got these glossy leaves.

[6:58] And makes a really nice statement plant, teamed with the right pot, absolute perfection. Now if you are a super fan of mine, you might remember that I wrote a blog post back in, where was it, 2022, about a mystery begonia that I had been given a leaf of and after a lot of research it turned out to be a cultivar called 'Oldemor', which is, funnily enough, a hybrid with some of the same parentage. Begonia incarnata, aka Begonia metallica, is the male parent, and the female parent is Begonia scharffiana var scharffiana.

[7:40] Catchy, eh? So you can go read that blog post about 'Oldemor'. So this is basically another hybrid with Begonia metallica as a parent. The difference between 'Oldemor' and 'Thurstonii' though is that the leaves of 'Oldemor' are hairy. Unfortunately I didn't get a plant out of that leaf. You need a stem cutting for that and I only had a leaf but I need to go back to the person who gave me that leaf and ask them for a stem cutting because I'd like 'Oldemor' as well thank you very much.

[8:11] But yes, 'Oldemor' is also worth looking at. It's a really tough heirloom begonia and has a lot of the similar characteristics except if you like a pubescent leaf, it's a superior choice. If you like a glossy leaf, go for 'Thurstonii'. So I'll include a link to that blog post in the show notes and I'll link from that to this episode as well so you get the full picture. So I think there have been a long time in the past, quite a few cultivars of Begonia metallica and 'Oldemor' and 'Thurstonii' are two of them.

[8:44] I should say also 'Oldemor', I think I'm right in saying that its correct official name is Begonia 'Credneri', but as you know if you've studied Begonias at all, the naming is rather tricky and certainly you can get the plant as 'Oldemor'. I'm not sure I've seen it sold under the correct name of 'Credneri', Tell me if you have. If you're trying to get hold of Begonia 'Thurstonii', I don't know how easy it's going to be to be honest. I've seen it for sale in a few places in America, I don't think Dibley's in the UK has it, but it's one of those plants that gets passed around as cutting so hopefully you might be able to track one down. Difficulty in finding Begonia 'Thurstonii', but worth the search. I hope so anyway because I think it's well worth a look.

[9:31] And like all begonias, if you get it up to the light and look at the backs of the leaves, you get a magnificent show of beautiful, almost stained glass window effect from those red backs of the leaves. So it's a great plant. It's a really great plant. And that's why it's made it into my top 10, even though I don't have one. So that's today's begonia. Just a bit of other news, I have just found out today that finally finally Legends of the Leaf is available from Audible as an audiobook so if you have an Audible subscription you can use one of your credits to listen to Legends of the Leaf or you can buy it as a one-off purchase or gift it to somebody. I'd love you to go and listen and review it. Hopefully this will get my book out to an even wider audience. It's voiced by me so if you like the sound of my voice this could be an accompaniment to your Christmas festivities. So that's all for today I will be back tomorrow with the final begonia and my begonia care tips so don't miss that. In the meantime enjoy your begonias have a great day and I'll speak to you soon. Bye!

[10:47] Music.

The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by The Joy Drops and Whistle by Whistle by Benjamin Banger. All tracks are licensed under creative commons. Visit the show notes for details.

[11:04] Music.

The begonia for today is the one and only shrublike begonia that made the cut for my top ten.

There’s more on shrublike begonias on this page on the American Begonia Society’s website. Other shrublike begonias include Begonia listada and Begonia metallica.
Thurston’s begonia is a hybrid between Begonia metallica (more correctly called Begonia incarnata) and Begonia sanguinea in 1887 by someone called Thurston.
You can read the piece I found from The Cultivator and Country Gentleman in 1895 here.
When it comes to care, ‘Thurstonii’ thrives in good light and prefers average room humidity. To accommodate its growth, it requires a heavy pot. Surprisingly, this begonia can tolerate temperatures as low as 5C (41F).
While I couldn’t find much about the breeder of this hybrid, a Mr C. Thurston, it's worth mentioning that the plant was displayed at the American Florists Convention in 1889 and named after him.
You can read more about Begonia metallica in this piece in the American Begonia Society.
Another hybrid with Begonia metallica as a parent is Begonia ‘Oldemor’ which I write about in this blogpost.
You can read about the Garden Museum’s beautiful specimen of ‘Thurstonii’ here.

Begonia 10: ‘Silver Jewel’ plus my begonia care tips

TRANSCript

[1:15] Music.

[1:29] And welcome! It's the final part of my Begonia top 10. I'm bringing you the final plant in the list plus my Begonia care tips. So let's get cracking. What is the plant? It's Begonia 'Silver Jewel'. Now I do love a bit of silver coloration and this Begonia has it in spades. It's yet another rhizomatous Begonia, growing from that thickened underground stem, and this one was hybridized in 1955 by Sue Zug, and its parents are Begonia pustulata and Begonia imperialis. Both the parents, pustulata and imperialis, come from the Mexico and Central America segment of the Begonia genus.

[2:19] Pustulata, that's telling us that the parent plant had pustulate leaves - leaves that have that blistered effect. And indeed, 'Silver Jewel' has inherited this trait from its parent and the leaves are also pustulate. I think in the Begonian piece I found about this hybrid, that's the Journal of the American Begonia Society, they described the leaf texture as 'pebbly' which is actually really rather nice.

[2:50] Now this piece from the Begonian which came out in october 198: in fact I can link to this the Facebook version of this which was included on the American Begonia Society website as a throwback thursday so I'll link to that, you can have a look at it - normally you wouldn't be able to access the begonian archive unless like me you're a member of the American Begonia Society which i'd recommend you do - and the piece notes they can take a quite a cool greenhouse down to 56 degrees, that's 13 degrees celsius for us Europeans, in winter without damage, although they do rest in winter as most rhizomatous begonias are inclined to do.

[3:32] There's not really a lot else to tell you about this begonia, it's just a pretty looking silver and green knobbly-leaved begonia that is very nice and looks good with a selection of other begonia leaves. It's widely available also. This is one that you will find very easily, so it's worth a mention for that regard as well and I just think those silvery leaves are hard to top. So that's today's top 10 begonia, Begonia 'Silver Jewel'.

[4:03] Let's now move on to the issue of how to care for these top 10 begonias and begonias more generally. Begonia is a large genus, there are lots of species that count as houseplants that we grow, so really the first thing to do is to figure out what kind of begonia you have and then proceed from there. So roughly speaking with the 10 begonias I've featured in my top 10, they're divided into three. We've got the rhizomatous begonias, then we've got the cane types, which are Begonia lucerna and Begonia maculata, the polka dot Begonia. And then finally, yesterday's Begonia, the 'Thurstonii', which is a shrubby type. So really, I guess we're going to divide them into the shrubbies and the canes and then the rhizomatous, because the shrubby and cane Begonias kind of need the same things. And then the rhizomatous, a little bit of a different care regime. For any begonia though, just have a look at it and you can figure out a lot just by looking at your plant. Leaves that are puckered, leaves that have red on them, on the undersides, hairy red stems, these are often the begonias that like the lowest light levels of the begonias.

[5:23] If you've got a really succulent leaf, then this might be a begonia that can dry out quite considerably. If it's a much finer leaf, like for example, Begonia ferox or Begonia longiciliata, the puckering makes it look thicker than it is, but actually if you feel the leaf, it's actually quite fine. These begonias are going to need more air humidity than the really chunky begonias. So again, erythrophylla of these rhizomatous begonias is so reliable and faithful just because it has such succulent leaves and that's what makes it such an easy plant to grow. So have a look at your plant first and observe what you can about how it's evolved to survive and that will help you to understand how to care for it.

[6:09] So let's start by talking about those rhizomatous types, which make up the majority of my top 10 including things like Masoniana the Iron Cross Begonia and of course the lovely Begonia ferox, the fierce Begonia with those pointy bits all over the leaves. How do you grow these and make them get really lush and lovely? Well, often times we're thinking about humidity when it comes to Begonias and it is true, most Begonias that fall into this camp will need humidity of at least 40% 40 to 60% relative humidity is what is usually suggested. They certainly aren't things that you want to have in a very hot stuffy room where they're right next to a radiator. They won't like that.

[6:58] But there are lots of things that you can do to help the plant if humidity isn't quite as high as you would like it. And I think the main thing you can do with these plants is just take a look at the substrate that they're potted in and amend that because the most likely scenario for your begonia is that it drops its leaves because there is just too much water around those roots. In fact, I got a message from a listener called Emily with this exact problem - A Begonia masoniana. she sent me a picture looking very sad, it only had two leaves left. The stems had obviously grown quite big and then all these leaves had dropped off and when I looked at the substrate it looked quite clumpy, quite heavy, there was a white crust on the surface indicating the presence of an excess of mineral salts from hard water. That's why this plant has declined. It's worth remembering that these rhizomatous begonias can come back from the dead via that underground storage organ so if you have one of these plants in this situation don't give up.

[8:07] All you need to do is, well I say all you need to do, but you need to take it out of the pot and refresh that substrate and make it more free draining. So what does that actually mean? I would advise you to get regular house plant compost and then add a good amount, by which I mean a third of the overall volume of drainage material. Now this idea is something that I've learned over the years from talking to begonia growers. I'm not claiming this as any great knowledge of my own. People like Jim Booman from Booman's Florals and also Tom Cranham in the UK, begonia grower extraordinaire, got me on the right path with this technique. So your regular houseplant compost and then cut it with about a third to a half drainage material. This could be perlite, it could be a small expanded clay pebbles, it could be akadama, which you may not have heard of but it's a tiny little clay pellet substrate that is often used in bonsai substrates and is becoming more popular for use with begonias. Again, it adds drainage, it's lightweight, it's porous.

[9:17] What happens when you add that drainage material in is that you can water more generously. So what happens then is if you've got hard water, the mineral salts from that water get flushed through the plant rather than sitting around and causing the plant problems, because of course, begonias haven't evolved to deal with the mineral salts in hard water. So that tends to result in browning edges to the leaves.

[9:43] So you need to make sure that drainage material is. Added and then you can water more generously. You'll find the plant dries out a bit more quickly but of course you can water more because your potting mix is no longer sponge-like and won't be holding that water around the roots where it's going to cause rot. So when you water, where does that water go? My technique is I have a big flat bottom dish as big as you can find and into that I pack lots of begonia pots. At the bottom of the dish is either gravel or expanded clay pebbles which are nice and lightweight and when I water from the top the water shoots through ends up in this gravelly pebbly mix. Doesn't keep the bottom of the pots wet but does provide a little reservoir where water could evaporate and increase humidity around the plants. Another little tip you can do, get a piece of nylon cord, 5-10cm long, poke that through the bottom of the drainage holes of the pot, and then the other end goes into the pebbly reservoir and you've got yourself a wick watering scheme. Works brilliantly!

[10:53] And this way, as I say, you can water more often, those mineral salts get washed away, you can change the pebbly reservoir whenever you need to, to freshen that up, but you will find that begonias like this kind of environment. They're grouped together, humidity gets a bit of a boost, they aren't stressed through too much or too little water around the roots and they can regulate their own moisture levels via that nylon wick. By the way, which you can buy from haberdashery stores or you can just harvest the handles from an old gift bag. They tend to be made of a nylon cord that's very suitable for this purpose. So that's what I would recommend for your rhizomatous begonias. Try this dish method and let me know how you get on and how it affects your begonias. Of course if you can water with rainwater that doesn't have a lot of those mineral salts, even better. That will make your begonias grow even better and you won't have any problems with crispy edges because the mineral salts won't be there for the plant to struggle to process. On the picture that Emily sent me, I could tell there was a problem with these mineral salts because you could see a white crust on the surface of the soil.

[12:11] So in Emily's case where she's got this begonia, masoniana, the iron-crossed begonia that has died right back, I'd take the plant out of the pot, knock off all that old substrate, have a feel of that rhizome, check it's firm. If it is firm, you can repot it into this much more free-draining mix and that way the plant should start off again once it's had a chance to establish there.

[12:39] I certainly wouldn't give up on it Emily. Don't increase the pot size, keep the pot size the same, it certainly doesn't need to go any bigger and I've got lots of begonias with this dish system that are in actually ridiculously small pots and they still do rather well. You could grow them of course in terracotta to aid that evaporation of water. I don't do that because I find that they work perfectly well in plastic and it's more convenient. You get a lighter weight bowl, otherwise you end up with a very, very heavy bowl, which you might need to occasionally move around when you're cleaning and things. But yeah, terracotta is an option. Just make sure that you're accommodating the fact that water is evaporating from the sides of the pot in terms of the amount of watering that you are doing. So that's rhizomatous begonias. When it comes to the cane and the shrub-like, these are a lot less worried about this free-draining, very free-draining substrate that I've been talking about. Certainly I would add some perlite to your mix when you are using a regular houseplant compost with these ones, but they are used to a bit of a richer environment in the soil area than the rhizomatous.

[13:55] It means you don't have to water quite so often, but the roots won't rot as a result of being in that slightly more humus-y mix. Humus being another word for the organic matter in the soil. And remember too that these begonias grow rather tall, so you might find yourself with the problem of them toppling over. You can counter this by putting some big stones either at the of the pot or at the top of the pot and that way you'll weight down your plant or planting them in just a very heavy container so they can't fall over.

[14:30] One other issue that somebody wanted me to address was powdery mildew. Unfortunately I don't have a lot in the way of amazing tips for this. Powdery mildew is a fungus that can affect very healthy begonia leaves and leave this white powdery stuff on them which is the fungus itself. I would honestly say if you start getting this problem with your plants, I would chuck them away and start again. You can spend an awfully long time trying to fix this problem with fungicide sprays, but oftentimes it has absolutely no effect and the problem will just keep on coming back.

[15:09] This is a good reason to keep taking cuttings of your plants and have a backup collection somewhere else in your home so that you're not relying on one set of plants for success. but powdery mildew is a real problem and it's hard to fix. You can try taking a load of the damaged foliage off the plant and seeing if it will revive itself. Keeping it in a good shape will help, as will promptly removing any dead or dying or damaged plant material and making sure there's good air circulation. But honestly, if you get powdery mildew and it's a bad case, you might just want to start again. I hope this has been helpful, my top 10 begonia rundown and some tips there. I'd love to know if there's anything I've missed out, what else can I add? Are there any plants that I haven't mentioned that you think deserve a place in the top 10? Drop me a line to ontheledgepodcast at gmail.com. Oh, and there's a trailer coming up at the end of this show for another podcast that I appear in, it's Our Plant Story's Pick of the Year featuring me and a couple of other podcasters. Definitely worth a listen to that trailer so don't take your headphones off quite yet. Well that's all for this week's show.

[16:28] And remember, begin with a begonia and you can't go far wrong. Bye!

[16:37] Music.

[16:57] Both tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. Visit the show notes for details. Introduction to the Special Edition of Plant Stories

[17:07] Sally Flatman

Welcome to this special edition of our plant stories. We've got loads of plant stories, but not just from this podcast, but from three other podcasts too.

Jane Perrone

Whenever you read about garden wildlife, do you ever, ever see a spider mentioned? No.

Scotland Grows podcast And he just talked so warmly about trees.

Sarah Roots

And I don't mind if I'm talking about composting human poo, and I don't mind if I'm talking about bees, and I don't mind if I'm talking about witches, like anything goes as long as it relates in some way to gardening or to being outdoors.

Sally Flatman In a former life working as a BBC radio producer, I sometimes got to produce the Radio 4 Pick of the Week program, highlights from the week's broadcasting. And if you were really lucky, you got to produce Pick of the Year. So I thought, why not do it here? I contacted three other plant podcast presenters and asked if they fancied being a part of it. And they all said yes. Though one did tell me it was a bit like being asked to pick her favourite child. So whether you're spending time in the kitchen or out in the garden planting the last few bulbs or driving around as we all do at this time of year, I hope you will enjoy this episode and have some new podcasts to check out too.

Begonia ‘Silver Jewell’ has pustulate (aka pebbly leaves) in dark green and silver. Photograph: Jane Perrone.

FInd out about the final begonia in my top ten as well as all you need to know to keep these plants alive this winter and beyond.

My final begonia in the top ten is Begonia ‘Silver Jewel’ which is a hybrid of Begonia pustulata and Begonia imperialis, both of which come from Mexico/Central America.
It was hybridised in 1955 by Sue Zug.
This is a rhizomatous begonia, growing from a thickened stem underground.
If you want to read piece from The BegonianI mention on ‘Silver Jewel’, you can read it on Facebook here.
For access to the whole archive of journal The Begonian you’ll need to join the American Begonia Society. This piece describes the ‘pustulate’ leaf surface as ‘pebbly’.
It’s widely available including from Dibleys Nurseries in North Wales.

Begonia care tips - rhizomatous begonias

The rhizomatous begonias do best grown in a freely draining substrate, adding one third or more drainage material to a regular houseplant compost. This could be akadama (a fine clay substrate used in bonsai substrate), small leca balls, or perlite.
By making the substrate more free draining you can water more regularly, and mineral salts in ‘hard’ water won’t build up so quickly - this is good as begonias have not evolved to cope with mineral salts, so they tend to make the leaf edges crisp up.
You can remove this problem with mineral salts altogether by watering with rainwater.
These begonias like humidity of 40-60%. You can boost humidity by putting several pots of begonia into a large flat bottomed dish with gravel or expanded clay pebbles at the bottom. When you water from the top, the water drains through to this reservoir. The water can then gradually evaporate and boost humidity around the plants.
You can add a nylon cord ‘wick’ of about 10cm long to each pot, poking one end up through a drainage hole and making contact with the substrate so the plant can regulate its own water levels.
If you see a white crust on the surface of the potting mix, this is usually a sign that there is a buildup of mineral salts. Take it out of the pot, knock off the substrate and repot into a more free draining mixture, watering with rainwater if you can.

CARE tips for shrubby and cane begonias

Most of the above applies, but these begonias can cope with a more humus-rich (ie less free draining) potting mix. Regular houseplant compost with a small amount of added perlite will be fine.
These begonias often get top heavy so make sure the nursery pot or cache pot is heavy to prevent an accident.

Powdery mildew tips

This fungal condition is a real issue for begonias. If you get a severe problem I’d generally suggest being harsh and throwing plants away and starting again.
It’s also advisable to take regular cuttings of your plants so you have some backups if things do go wrong.
Good air circulation and removing any dying or damaged plant material promptly is always helpful for preventing the conditions that can lead to powdery mildew. You can use fungicide sprays as well.

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CREDITS

This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops and Whistle by BenJamin Banger (@benjaminbanger on Insta; website benjaminbanger.com).

Foliage houseplantsJane PerroneNovember 27, 2023Begonia4 Comments