Tuberous Begonias
The Vast, Colorful World Of Tuberous Begonias
Tuberous begonias are quite a bit less fussy than many of their fellow species, and are grown primarily for their plush, beautiful, and plentiful blooms. Though many professional growers and greenhouses will prune the first buds of the season in order to make way for bigger flowers during the secondary bloom, you can rest assured that this plant will produce great color with very little work on your part. Also unlike many other species, tuberous begonias will grow in substandard soil, but this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to keep them well fed and moist. As with all plants, the more natural nutrition they receive, the more they will give in return.
Tuberous begonias will flower as triggered by the length of the days during each season. In order for it to begin blooming, the days need to offer 12 hours of sunlight or more. Likewise, as the days wind down toward fall, and the sunlight dwindles in hours, tuberous begonias will slow their flower production and begin storing energy and nutrition for over wintering. Some classes of begonia are scented, though most of them are considerably bland in scent. Tuberous begonias are separated into 13 different classes based on the type of flowers that they produce. A few examples of these classes include daffodil flowered, camellia flowered, single, double, and single fringed, so on. Another interesting note to remember is that begonias do not come in blue, even with all of the genetic and hybrid breeding.
The absence of blue should not detour you from choosing tuberous begonias, however, as they are available in just about every other shade that one could hope to see. From white to purple, red, to orange, these beauties are capable of delivering quite a punch of texture and color to your indoor or outdoor gardens. Grown from tubers, thus their name, these plants can also offer interesting and unique foliage which only adds to the experience of growing and enjoying them. Infusing your garden plot with humus, believe it or not, will offer your tuberous begonias the heavy and constant nutrition that they need to both store nutrition in the tuber, and to keep up with full bloom at the same time.
True to their tropical rainforest heritage, tuberous begonias cannot withstand heavy rains, as they are accustomed to being sheltered by larger plants, and they are easily damaged and killed by sudden breezes and steady winds. Shelter is key for your outdoor situation, finding an area that is protected from the wind and rain, but where they can still gain the benefit of filtered or defused sunlight. All in all, tuberous begonias are the easiest to care for, raise, and ultimately enjoy.