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Bolivian begonia

GCornelis / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 3.0

Bolivian begonia

Begonia boliviensis

Bolivian begonia is a tuberous begonia from the eastern Andes of Bolivia and northwest Argentina, where it grows in montane cloud forest, in rock crevices and on slopes near streams. From a tuberous rootstock it sends up stems about 12 to 18 inches tall with narrow, lance-shaped, toothed leaves and drooping scarlet to orange flowers of four pointed segments, carried in pairs or threes. The plant collector Richard Pearce brought it to Europe in 1864, and it became one of the wild parents of the tuberous begonias (Begonia × tuberhybrida); its own selections and hybrids, such as 'Bonfire' and the Million Kisses series, are sold today for hanging baskets and pots. It is frost-tender: it can stay outdoors all year only in frost-free gardens around zones 10 and 11, so elsewhere it is grown as a summer container or bedding plant, with the tuber lifted before the first frost and stored over winter, or the plant replaced each year.

Climate fit: narrow (13/100)

Container

Border

Filler

Light

Part sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Mature size

12-24" tall · 12" apart

Hardy in zones

10a-11b

mild to nearly frost-free winters

Native in Illinois

No

Grown as an ornamental; treat it as toxic and keep it away from pets.

°C

°F

Cold hardiness

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

Plotwright

USDA Zone 6b

-5°F to 0°F

Won't grow here

2050

2100

Zone 7a

Plotwright

0°F to 5°F

Won't grow here

In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.

✕

Out of range today and still out of range in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

What it needs

Conditions

Light

Part sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

12"

Habit

Tuberous, frost-tender perennial with fleshy stems, narrow toothed leaves and drooping scarlet to orange flowers, grown as a summer container or bedding plant

Care tips

•

Lift the tuber before the first autumn frost, once the leaves start to yellow, and store it cool and frost-free over winter; or treat the plant as a one-summer display, as the RHS says most gardeners do.

•

Give it partial shade, or sun for only part of the day, since the RHS warns that tuberous begonia leaves can scorch in hot sun.

•

Water at the base and keep the compost moist but never soggy: the RHS and NC State Extension both say begonias rot in wet conditions.

Lifecycle

Planting

Start tubers into growth in March or April at 64°F, as the RHS advises for tuberous begonias: set them hollow side up on a tray of moist, sandy, peat-free compost, then move each into its own 4 to 5 inches pot once the leaves show. Harden the young plants off and move them outside only after the danger of frost has passed. NC State Extension says begonias want partial shade, humidity and moist, well-drained soil high in organic matter at a pH of 5.5 to 6.5; the RHS allows sun or partial shade but warns that the leaves can scorch in hot sun.

Transplanting

Plant into a hanging basket, pot, window box or shady bed once frost is past; NC State Extension allows 12 inches to 3 feet of space per begonia. The stems are brittle, so the RHS suggests supporting taller ones with canes, and NC State says begonia leaves and flowers are fragile and need shelter from strong wind.

Early growth

Water regularly in dry spells but keep the water off the leaves and never let the compost stay wet: the RHS and NC State Extension both say begonias rot in over-wet conditions, and the RHS suggests standing pots on feet so they drain. The RHS adds that dropping flowers can be a sign of over-dry compost. From four to six weeks after the final potting until September, feed container plants every two weeks with a high-potassium feed such as tomato fertiliser.

Maturity

Flowering carries on through summer. NC State Extension lists mealybugs, whiteflies, thrips, scale, spider mites, slugs and snails among begonia pests, with powdery mildew, Botrytis blight and Pythium root and stem rot; the RHS adds fungal leaf spots and occasional Phytophthora root rot for tuberous begonias. In autumn the leaves start to yellow on their own: water less from then on and lift the tuber before the first frost.

Propagation

Divide tubers in spring: once the shoots appear, the RHS says to cut the tuber into sections that each have at least one bud, leave them to callus for a few hours and pot them with the tuber level with the compost surface; sections without roots will not grow. In April, 4 inches stem cuttings taken with a heel of tuber will root in sandy, peat-free cuttings compost with bottom heat of 64 to 70°F. NC State Extension and UF/IFAS also list seed for begonias.

Native range

Climate notes

•

Outdoors all year only in frost-free gardens, around zones 10 and 11; elsewhere it is a summer container or bedding plant whose tuber is lifted before the first frost. No species-level hardiness zone rating was found for it. NC State Extension's page for the genus Begonia, which names Begonia boliviensis and its hybrids among the tuberous begonias, gives USDA zones 10a to 11b and says most begonias do not tolerate temperatures below 55°F. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions says begonias as a whole can be grown outdoors in zones 8b to 11, but that in Florida the fibrous-rooted and rhizomatous begonias, not the tuberous ones, do best. This record uses the narrower 10a-11b. The RHS rates tuberous begonias tender and says to lift them before the first frosts.

•

The native range here is taken from Kew's World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), the dataset POWO publishes: northwest Argentina and Bolivia. GRIN Taxonomy places it in the Argentine provinces of Jujuy, Salta and Tucumán and the Bolivian departments of Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and Tarija, and Wikipedia describes montane cloud forest on the eastern side of the Andes, where it grows in rock crevices and on slopes near streams. WCVP records no areas where it has naturalised.

•

Keeping the tuber over winter: the RHS says to water less as the leaves yellow in autumn, lift the tubers before the first frosts and store them in barely moist, peat-free soil or sand in a frost-free shed, ideally at 45°F, watering them now and then so they do not shrivel and checking them for rot. NC State Extension instead says to dry the lifted tubers and store them in dry peat at 35 to 41°F. Both keep the tuber cool and frost-free over winter; they differ on whether the storage medium stays slightly moist.

•

Size: Wikipedia gives the species' stems as 12 to 18 inches tall and the cultivar 'Bonfire' as 24 inches, and the RHS gives 16 to 18 inches for Devotion, one of the Million Kisses hybrids. No source gives a spread for the species, so the spread and spacing here follow NC State Extension's figures for begonias in general: 9 to 12 inches wide, with 12 inches to 3 feet of space each.

Plant this, not that

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Similar plants

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Educator packet

Plant packet

Bolivian begonia educator packet

Bolivian begonia is a tuberous begonia from the eastern Andes of Bolivia and northwest Argentina, where it grows in montane cloud forest, in rock crevices and on slopes near streams. From a tuberous rootstock it sends up stems about 12 to 18 inches tall with narrow, lance-shaped, toothed leaves and drooping scarlet to orange flowers of four pointed segments, carried in pairs or threes. The plant collector Richard Pearce brought it to Europe in 1864, and it became one of the wild parents of the tuberous begonias (Begonia × tuberhybrida); its own selections and hybrids, such as 'Bonfire' and the Million Kisses series, are sold today for hanging baskets and pots. It is frost-tender: it can stay outdoors all year only in frost-free gardens around zones 10 and 11, so elsewhere it is grown as a summer container or bedding plant, with the tuber lifted before the first frost and stored over winter, or the plant replaced each year.

Scientific name

Begonia boliviensis

Plant type

perennial

Hardiness

10a-11b

Light

part-sun, part-shade

Moisture

moderate

Spacing

12"