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Begonia grandis ssp. evansiana |
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| | New growth in late spring |
| Common name |
hardy begonia |
| Family |
begoniaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial (Z6-9) |
| Flowers |
soft pink, white (September) |
| Size |
18" |
| Light |
part shade |
| Cultural notes |
ordinary garden soil (not too dry) |
From seed  |
germinate at room temperature (do not cover)
detailed seed-starting info below
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We grew our first from seed, labeled as subspecies evansiana. So tiny and delicate as seedlings, I was surprised they survived - but they did, and by mid-summer, it was showing off its lovely foliage; by late summer, the first soft pink flower appeared. In the years following, I thought several times that the plants were lost, but in fact they are just very late to emerge: late May or early June in our garden. Somewhere along the line we picked up a few new plants, probably not of the subspecies - these are the white ones above, making for an appealing contrast in foliage and flower with the Daphne retusa behind it. When it still hadn't reappeared by sometime in late April, I figured my plant was lost. But a recheck in early June shows that it is alive and well
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| | The show keeps on going after the flowers fade: the curiously winged triangular seed boxes are quite decorative in their own right. |
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| | Blushing flowers just opening |
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The leaves are works of art, especially when they are back-lit by the sun. The blood-red veins are offset by forest green, and tiny holes in the leaves allow some of the sunlight to come directly through, giving an almost twinkly appearance.
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| | The patch in our woodland area grows to impressive proportions by late July. |
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We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. Seed for this plant is included on my seed trade list About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Begonia grandis ssp. evansiana
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Susan Johnston | May 26, 2006 | In addition to growing this plant from seed, you can also most easily produce new plants from the bulbils that appear in the leaf axils following its late bloom season. You can either pluck them off the plant and sow them directly outside, or you can just allow them to fall from the plant on the soil and new plants will grow the following spring. You can also collect the bulbils and plant them indoors for new plants if this plant is not hardy in your zone.
Begonia seeds are some of the tiniest seeds available. Begonias are monoecious, with both male and female flowers appearing on an individual plant, so that you only need one plant for fertilization of the female flower to occur, or to produce fertile bulbils.
Just thought you might want to include this information, unless you are strictly limiting your information to seeds.
I love this site!
Susan
Once again, proof that the collective knowledge of online gardeners is enormous! Thanks for filling in more details, Susan. |
| Rebecca Probst | Oct 26, 2006 | Hi.love this plant; it self-seeds ferociously, too. I work in a huge garden center in PA; While it is on the tables in the shade section it will bloom, of course. Every June we begin to see seedlings under the tables, in corners, in horrible gravelly spots, anywhere....ruly rugged. We always sell out of this plant and I have been known to pull some out of the strange places and give them to customers! |
| Ed Neel | Sep 29, 2009 | Susan Johnston's May 2006 info told exaxtly what I wanted to know.
Thanks for the help. |
| Kevin | Jun 09, 2010 | I love this plant with impatiens omeiana, another little thug! Hardy begonia and hardy bizzie lizzie together, wonderful! Kevin |
| Diane | Jul 10, 2014 | I work at a garden center and fell in love with the begonia grandis..The foilage is just beautiful.Since I don't own my iwn property I bought it for my daughter's garden.I didnt even germinate. Im really excited now. |
| Deb | Sep 18, 2014 | I just rescued a few of these from a house that is facing the wrecking ball. I had no idea what I was taking but I thought they were pretty. I am delighted to discover what they are and hope they survive the shock of moving while flowering. |
| Henry | Jul 15, 2017 | This begonia has proven hardy in Saint Paul, Minnesota (zone 4/5) and in Northfield, Minnesota (zone 4). More Minnesota testing underway. |
| Emma | Dec 09, 2017 | I bought one plant a few years ago. I have very alkaline clay soil and it has distributed itself quite widely by simply dropping its bulbils into every pot! I now have rather more than I originally intended, but their very late appearance which you remark on makes them good associates for a number of small bulbs that are gone before the ground is shaded by the Begonia leaves. I have also tried other forms of hardy begonia, but this is the only one that persists reliably. It goes very well with hardy fuchsia flowers. |
| Aleksa Kudyba | Mar 01, 2021 | I am looking for particular indoor begonia. Have a picture but unable to paste into comments space.
Thank you
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- Seed from '04 HPS/MAG exchange. Surface-sowed to 6pak, with light, 70F. Just a few seedlings from many seeds, with germination starting at 19d. Seedlings stay tiny for months.
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Last modified:
December 16, 2017
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