Plant of the week: Begonia

Begonias are normally grown for their flowers – the great, big, gaudy summer bloomers which spring from tubers, or the seemingly-everlasting fibrous-rooted semperflorens which are ideal for long-term bedding and which appear to be immune to attack from pests and diseases.
By The Newsroom
Published 12th Feb 2010, 13:40 BST
Updated 12th Feb 2010, 13:41 BST

But this one is grown for its foliage, and it's a bit of a picky plant. It doesn't appreciate full sun and it demands very careful watering.

Even then, it can get all mardy and just turn up its leaves for no apparent reason.

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But get things just right and it will reward you with an all-year-round show of lovely foliage.

Give them somewhere bright but not hot and sunny; provide moist compost (a bit drier in winter); repot every year.

In winter, make sure that it's not stuck on the window sill behind closed curtains as the night-time temperature drops.

There are numerous varieties of foliage begonias, including this B Cleopatra, so you're going to be spoiled for choice.

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When you find one you really like it's worth taking plenty of leaf cuttings to propagate new generations because for some reason indoor begonias can be short-lived – three years is often a ripe, old age – although I do know of one specimen which has grown and thrived for more than a decade.