As you have had success with Gloxinias and other begonia seed, your lack of success maybe due to the seed. If you put it onto a sheet of paper, tip the paper up and tap it, any good seed will roll down onto another sheet of paper placed to catch the seed. I have bought seed in the past with only dust in the packet, and not a single seed. I do a lot of hybridising, and grow a few thousand seedlings each season, giving them a 14 hour day, and set the temperature at 75f. Germination takes between 8 to 14 days, although at a lower temperature it could take longer.

I think that is why they are more like annuals here due to our high temps but I still buy a few every year and don't worry about tossing them. Well I tossed a pot of Bonfire that I presumed dead on the compost heap last spring and later in the summer it did this! I doubt it survived our winter but I will continue to look for signs of it. Oh, those cats! Whatever you do, don't go away for a weekend and let one of your cats locked into a bedroom without water, food, and a litter box! We had 3 cats at the time and checked everything, closed the bedroom doors and had an extra litter box and a food and water silo in place. Whoops, when we got home we had closed the extra bedroom door with our little female in that room for 2, maybe 3 days. She was fine but the sleeper sofa wasn't. Well, cats are much easier to take care of than dogs. And dogs in the garden are a lot more destructive too. A squirrel knocking over small pots is nothing compared to a 90 pound dog chasing said squirrel among hundreds of pots or same dog digging a hole to China going after a chipmunk. I won't even talk about the urine damage to our lawn this winter (our oldest dog cannot make it up and down stairs any more so out to the front yard on a leash). Ah, the joys of pet ownership? My motley crew - Max the old man and Duke the 10 year old puppy aka troublemaker.

Those look fantastic! A nice come-back from my bummer entry. Usually by now, we've already been flirting with 100 degrees, but it's barely got near 90 a few random days so far. Tons of unusually cloudy, much cooler days. We've only needed to turn on the A/C at night a few times so far, so coming inside, at least here, wouldn't have helped mine. I don't deny that it might help for those who keep their house much cooler. I think it may have been diseased when I got it. Before taking the pic at the top of this thread, I had trimmed off crispy-edged leaves. A lesson of recognizing being in denial, seeing only the healthy leaves and flowers. It's also possible that it didn't appreciate my rough handling/removing the old soil during repotting, and/or that the soil mix had something in it that made the plant sick. I mix/keep potting soil in a baby pool outside, so organic activity is to be expected. Usually that's positive, but occasionally there are some detriments. If my failure (and the great advice about these plants given here!) helps anyone, that's a great tribute to this dear, departed plant, and just generally good. I ain't too proud to say when I've killed a plant. Thanks for the pretty pic!! Very seductive, that yellow is especially pretty to me, a great shade.

Simply gorgeous! but i have a question and i am a newbie to begonias. i have planted several NON-STOP varieties in my shade gardens...they look just like that but the flowers bloom, it seems, behind and under the leaves. is that what makes this an ON TOP and mine a NON STOP? and, do these plants like to be deadheaded? i've noticed they drop older blooms almost automatically but do they need help with that? :)) thanks!