Gone Gardenin’ — Dramatic begonia stands tall

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/03/2018 (2850 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I have grown various varieties of Rex Begonias in the past — with limited success. I usually had trouble with their rotting off at soil level and I was even less successful when I tried to grow them outside in the summer.

Two springs ago, I came upon some plants at a garden centre that certainly looked like Rex Begonias, but they were being offered as plants for the outdoor garden. I bought two plants even though I wondered if they were a type of Rex Begonia.

They seemed somehow different from other Rex Begonias that I had previously grown. The plants were much sturdier and exhibited a robustness that the Rex Begonias I have previously known did not have. They were in fact a form of Rex Begonia called Gryphon.

I planted one in each of the two large mixed containers on the front driveway on either side of a wooden and wrought iron garden bench. The begonias were part of an under planting that included tradescantia and plectranthus beneath tall red salvia, cannas and acidanthera.

The begonias performed satisfactorily but didn’t get very large — I now know that they were too crowded by other plants and objected to the canopy of taller plants above them.

I potted the plants up into one large pot in the fall and took them into the sunroom for the winter. I placed them near, but not in front of, a south-facing window.

They seemed happy but didn’t put forth much new growth during the late fall and early winter, which I didn’t expect them to do. Their foliage also became paler than it had been outside, perhaps because I am not in the habit of fertilizing plants in the winter.

When we got home from our winter holiday, I was surprised to see that the begonias were in full bloom. The flowers, held above the foliage on stiff stems, consisted of clusters of shell-pink orchid-like blooms produced on the ends of the stems — not unlike the flowers of other Rex Begonias. After the blooms faded, I snipped off the flower stems.

When it was time last spring to move the plants outside, I decided to give them more space by planting them in their own large container by themselves. I planted both of them in a tall black planter near the front entrance.

After I had planted them, I realized that with their upright growth habit the container would need a spiller to tumble down the front of the tall container. I bought a nettle vine to serve this purpose.

I added some slow release fertilizer to the soilless mix in the container — Gryphon Begonias, like other begonias, prefer rich soil that is kept moderately moist. The plants were in full shade on our north-facing deck so the soil did not dry out quickly although I must say that the plants seemed to be quite drought tolerant because I inadvertently let the soil dry out a couple of times to the point where the plants wilted but they rebounded with no harm done.

Toward the end of the summer when I thought the slow release fertilizer had been exhausted I fertilized the container with a soluble 20-20-20 solution a few times. My Gryphon Begonias put on an absolutely fabulous display.

The tropical looking foliage of Gryphon begonias is striking and dramatic and the large lobed, maple-shaped leaves are deeply cut and marbled silver and green on the surface. The undersides of the leaves have hints of pale orange.

The container made a dramatic statement at our front entrance and elicited many admiring comments from guests over the summer. The nettle vine turned out to be a perfect choice as a spiller; it soon reached the deck after cascading down over a metre from the top of the pot.

It did not impede the growth of the begonias at all, whose foliage covered the top of the pot so that the nettle vine was only visible as it emerged from the canopy of the begonia foliage. The begonias proved to be sturdy and were not fazed by the wind that our raised deck sometimes experiences.

The Gryphon Begonia is a fast growing plant and it didn’t take my plants long to develop into attractive bushy specimens. It gets about 60 cm tall and wide and the tag states that it will tolerate quite a bit of sun. When the plants were in the pots on the driveway the year before they spent half the day in sun, but I think they performed much better in the full shade location they were in this summer.

Named after a mythical creature that has the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, the Gryphon Begonia has strength and durability, so it is very aptly named. It is a dramatic and statuesque plant.

The Gryphon Begonia was a Proven Winners introduction and was recently renamed Pegasus so you may find that name on the plant tag if you see it in a garden centre. I think the plant is patented but seed is available in some seed catalogues.

As the plant is quite fast growing, raising plants from seed might be an interesting project. Gryphon Begonias look great in both pots and hanging baskets. In large mixed containers the begonia should be planted in the centre front of the container acting as the thriller of the arrangement. Any plants in front of the begonias should be trailing plants that have little height and act as spillers.

Filler plants will not be needed as the begonia will fill up the whole pot and will object to neighbours encroaching on its space. A Gryphon Begonia planted all by itself in a large attractive container also makes a great specimen in the landscape.

This winter I will enjoy my Gryphon Begonias in the sunroom. I will admire their spring display of bloom, and they will definitely find their way back into my summer garden. The Gryphon Begonia is a keeper!

» Albert Parsons lives, writes, and gardens in Minnedosa.

» wtw@brandonsun.com