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How to grow begonias and best varieties
Begonias come in a huge array of shapes and colours. Discover our best begonia varieties and tips for how to grow them.
Begonias will bloom all summer long and into the autumn in patio pots and baskets, with little attention needed. They also do well in partial shade. As they're tender, they shouldn't go outside until the danger of frost has passed in the UK in mid- to late May.
Which? Gardening magazine grew a range of popular varieties to see which would give us the best display.
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Key facts
PLANT TYPE Tender perennial
POSITION Partial shade
SOIL Best Buy compost for containers
How to grow begonias: month by month
| January | February | March | April | May | June |
| PLANT | PLANT/MOVE OUTSIDE | FLOWERING | |||
| July | August | September | October | November | December |
| FLOWERING | FLOWERING | FLOWERING | FLOWERING |
Best Buy begonia varieties
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Full testing results for begonias
| Variety name | Overall rating | Height x spread (cm) | Flowering duration | Flower impact | Flower coverage | Suitability for baskets | Scent | Pests & disease |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'Apricot Shades Improved' | ||||||||
| 'Belleconia Soft Orange' | ||||||||
| 'Bossa Nova Night Fever' | ||||||||
| 'Fragrant Falls Lemon' | ||||||||
| 'Funky Pink' | ||||||||
| 'Illumination Golden Picotee' | ||||||||
| 'Illumination White Sparkle' |
The more stars the better. Overall rating: Ignores price and is based on: flower duration 20%; flower impact 20%; flower coverage 20%; plant shape (suitability for growing in a basket) 20%; pest and disease resistance 10%; scent 10%.
Caring for your plants
Planting
Most varieties are sold as plug plants. Order early to allow time to grow to flowering size. Plug plants arriving in spring need protection from frost.
Either plant in a basket straight away or, if you don’t have space, pot up the plants into 9cm pots and wait to plant your basket when it’s ready to go outside in mid to late May.
Three plants should fill a 35cm basket.
Before planting, add a Best Buy controlled-release fertiliser to a Best Buy compost for containers.
Gradually acclimatise your plants to outside temperatures before actually placing your basket outside, when all risk of frost has passed. Ideally, place baskets somewhere that gets shade during the middle of the day.
Discover the best plants for hanging baskets and patio pots
Watering and feeding
Water regularly, especially during hot weather, when pots and baskets will need watering more than once a day. The controlled-release feed added to the compost will keep plants looking good until late summer. But from mid-August, it's worth giving them a boost by feeding with tomato food.
Discover our Best Buy garden irrigation systems
Deadheading
Most begonias are now ‘self cleaning’ and the dead flowers fall to the ground. If your begonia retains the old blooms, then pinch them off regularly to encourage more flowers.
Learn how to make your own compost
Common growing problems
Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew appears as a white powdery coating on the surface of leaves, or as blotchy, pale yellow leaves. Remove affected leaves or use a fungicide.
Read more about how to treat powdery mildew on plants.
Vine weevil
Notches eaten out of leaf edges are a sign of adult vine weevils. From August onwards, their grubs will eat roots, causing the plants to wilt even if watered well. Check the compost for small, white, C-shaped grubs.
Read more about how to get rid of vine weevil.
How we test begonias
We planted 15 varieties of trailing begonias in hanging baskets at our trial site. The emphasis was on the many new begonias that have come on to the market in recent years, including new scented varieties. We added controlled-release fertiliser to our Best Buy compost for containers, before planting three plants in each 35cm-wide basket. The plants were hardened off before being put outside in late May. We assessed them throughout the summer for: Duration, impact and coverage of flowers; even growth and suitability for a basket; whether flowers had fragrance; How susceptible they were to common problems.