Begonia grandis-Hardy Begonia

Propagation of hardy begonia is done by two different methods, one is by sowing the bulbils which is a small bulb like fruit in a leaf axil, the plant will reseed by itself when they fall, or by digging up the plant and dividing the roots in the spring. This begonia is a cousin to the annual begonia that many people plant year after year, but it is only hardy in Zone 6-9 and flowers from August until frost with pink blooms on burgundy/green leaves, but there is also a white flowering species. Pinching keeps the plant from becoming leggy and deadheading prolongs the blooms but it only needs less then two house of filtered sunlight and is prone to stem rot if overwatered. It would compliment the hole that bleeding hearts leave when they die back early. It reaches a height of 2 feet and likes a well drained composted soil with a neutral pH. In China they call it “autumn crabapple.”