Begonia

We received this labeled as Begonia sp. Guizhou 2011 but which we strongly suspect is a Mark Weathington Taiwan collection in 2010. We have the latter from Mark and the two are identical. A compact species to be sure, with small pale green, angel's wing leaves held aloft by short stems. Pink flowers. Hardy in our area mulched during winter.

A Dan Hinkley collection from Mt Emei in China's Sichuan Province and touted as being hardy to Z7 but only by those in serious zonal denial. That said, a customer told us that he mulches his deeply and it has survived our worst winters so there is a clue - mulch!. An attractive plant with late season pink flowers and well worth trying in a sheltered spot.

A Hinkley collection from Vietnam of this stunning foliage species whose bullate rumpled leaves are covered in imposing bristle-like hairs. A gorgeous container plant or if you live where the frost is light and infrequent - and you know who you are and just so you know, we hate you - then this is fine out in the garden. Flowers white if memory serves.

Asian seed collection from an area denuded of woody plants for firewood and hungry small goats. This Begonia found a tenuous asylum between boulders. Light pink flowers and leaves covered in light red hairs and is a rhizomatous type suited for milder gardens in the PNW if mulched in winter. A portion of the proceeds goes to the Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy. This is a different collection from the OJ10-VN140 collection we offer.

Large green leaves stippled in evenly spaced pale hairs and small flowers pink in bud and on the reverse, opening to nearly white with the gentlest of pink touching the face. A rhizomatous species that has been hardy in mild PNW gardens especially if mulched in winter with something airy yet insulating. A Hinkley collection from China.

A tuberous species allied to Begonia taliense and differing mainly in the shallow lobes of the leaves. This is native to SW Sichuan and the Zhongdian Plateau in Yunnan. This has reasonable hardiness as it grows up to 2600 meters and is excellent in zone 8 gardens especially if you winter mulch. A low and densely clumping species with bright pink flowers late in summer.

Our collection from Asia from a mountain range little explored by westerners. One of the rhizomatous types allied to palmata which we expect will have hardiness down into zone 8 especially if mulched. Flowers are either pink or white - memory has failed but can say definitively they are not blue.

A Shayne Chandler collection from China of this most attractive species which has proven hardy in his garden as well as the equally mild garden at Heronswood both which are zone 8b. Lovely deeply lobed leaves liberally spotted in white and the late season pink flowers play well with the foliage. Mulch in winter zones 8a-7b and in colder areas, deeper mulch and using your microclimate siting to the max is advised until the hardiness limits of this species are better understood.