My Favorite Begonia: B. ‘Lana’

Begonia ‘Lana’ is my favorite begonia. I have had B. ‘Lana’ for approximately 17 years. During this period B. ‘Lana’ has been through freezes, heat waves, hurricanes, hail and other weather conditions. Even through these adverse weather conditions, B. ‘Lana’ has persevered and flourished, rewarding me with rosy-red flowers in profusion.

This grand superba type cane was developed by Paul Lee in 1973 and is also known as B. ‘Encanto Lana’. B. ‘Lana’ makes a specimen plant in a short period of time and has won many Division Trophies for me throughout the years. As with all superba type canes, B. ‘Lana’ is a tall grower with dark green leaves, splashed silver, that branch readily. Propagation is easily done by stem cuttings and my B. ‘Lana’ has been shared with many people. What a joy to see a B. ‘Lana’ entered in a show and the exhibitor coming over to say that they obtained their plant from you and your B. ‘Lana’. At the 1999 Miami Branch Show, B. ‘Lana’ again won a Division Trophy. The plant was exhibited by Joyce Pridgen and she acquired her B. ‘Lana’ from mine.

When I moved to Sanford, Florida B. ‘Lana’ moved along with me. It experienced a hard freeze the first winter (1995). B. ‘Lana’ froze back to soil level. How sad I was when this happened, but I knew that I could obtain another plant from other growers who had B. ‘Lana’ from my original plant. Still I couldn’t throw my plant of B. ‘Lana’ away so I cut back all the old frozen stems to soil level. Spring came and I noticed new shoots sprouting from my B. ‘Lana’. How excited I was! B. ‘Lana’ grew more beautiful and lush as ever and rewarded me with its rosy-red flowers.

I will always have a B. ‘Lana’ in my collection and I recommend it to all begonia growers. Hopefully, you will enjoy B. ‘Lana’ as much as I have enjoyed mine.