Trailing-scandent begonias grow vine-like, usually with many branches, and lend themselves superbly to hanging baskets or being trained up posts, trellises, and “totem poles.” Most are packed with small leaves and bloom in clusters more or less profusely,...
This group of begonias is small, consisting of about 35 species and 35 cultivars to date. The name is taken from their growth habit, “trailing” meaning to grow to some length over the ground, and scandent meaning climbing. They grow somewhat like vines....
Back in the fall of 1999, I was introduced to Begonia U002 not knowing that it had already been around for nearly 20+ years. Since it had a “U” number I thought it was something new. I was a fairly new begoniac and had just been to my first Begonia sales...
Did you ever go to a nursery and ask for a trailing-scandent plant and get a blank look in return? Let’s face it, the name for this group of interesting begonias is a bit strange. The trailing part of the name means handing. Think of a grape ivy with lots of...
Grown as easily as philodendron or ivy, B. solananthera is one of my favorite begonias. In late winter and early spring, the flowers are so fragrant they fill the whole greenhouse with perfume much like that of orange blossoms. This Begonia was found in the wild in...
Begonia solananthera was discovered in the Organ Mountains of Brazil. This species was originally described by Alphonse DeCandolle in 1859 in “Memoire sur la Famille des Begoniacees,” Annales des Naturelles, Series 4, Botanique II page 128. Later, in 1864,...
