The world of begonias is a wonderful one comprising as it does the most diverse species of all the families in the plant world. It is only now that gardeners are realising their potential. In all, there are over 2,475 different species and cultivars of begonia but for more than a century they were known to European gardeners or gardeners with European gardening habits, as curiosities, plants that needed the cosseting of a hothouse.
But they do not need to be hothouse specimens in a temperate climate. They are proving exciting garden possibilities in areas of the temperate world where frosts are not heavy. They are hardy, they are diverse and they include some amazingly beautiful flowers.
