Begonia luxurians
14th May 2007
A tall sub-shrubby species from Brazil. Surprisingly tolerant of low temperatures, it won't take frost, but it will recover from temepratures approaching freezing.
Outstandingly exotic foliage, the heads of flowers are a little less than spectacular.
19th May 2007
19th April 2008
It makes a wonderful foliage plant when it is growing well. During the winter of 08/09 it has been turned to mush in the greenhouse (-5degC), so it may
or may not come back from the roots next year.
13th August 2008
If it doesn't survive, then I have been able to collect seed from the summer flowers, and should be able to raise some new babies!
10th January 2009
It got badly hit during the winter but there has been some regrowth from below ground (which I may now have killed by putting it in a warm
growing case for winter).
2nd January 2016
After years of struggling with drought, it finally got its roots deep enough to make use of the ground water and started to grow lusher stems. Note the
past tense. Someone decided to give it a bit of a yank in passing one day and by the time I found out about it, it was dead. Don't you just love people?
Fortunately I think it will be easy to replace though the next one will be rather better protected. At the moment I am thinking barbed wire and electric fences
so I'm going to give it a year or so while I calm down.