BICOLOURED TUBEROUS BEGONIA

Once upon a time I would plant begonias in my hanging baskets and containers and then, after they had died right back to nothing, throw the plant out with the rest.  Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water!  Although I have gardened for more years than I would care to admit to the World Wide Web, it had never occurred to me that tuberous begonias can be overwintered and planted the next year.  How foolish is that?   It's just a case of retrieving the tuber.   In June 2011, I had an orange and red bicoloured begonia in a hanging basket and then, in winter, threw the contents of the basket onto the garden.   While I have no compost bin, I chop and turn everything except perennial weeds, woody material and diseased material back into my soil to improve and feed it.  Anyway, imagine my surprise the following year, summer 2012, when I see a little orange and red begonia surviving in my garden border among the roses.  It was the orange and red one from the year before and it was struggling a bit.  When it started to die back for the winter, I rescued it, overwintering the tuber in a cool and dry place.  Now it is growing again in another hanging basket; see below.

Bicoloured tuberous begonia.  

Bicoloured tuberous begonia.  





Bicoloured tuberous begonia. 
Note that the double flower is male and the

smaller flowers that you see to the side are female



You can see male and female flowers begonias more clearly in the photographs I just took below (as you can see, it is raining).  The flowers are suspended from the same, main stem.

Tuberous begonia 'Illumination' pink

Tuberous begonia 'Illumination' pink - single female flower left,

double male flower right.