Tuberous begonias are probably the most colorful and versatile of all summer container plants, and they are ideal for pots, hanging baskets, wall pots and window boxes. Although they are usually available as growing plants in early summer, you will have a much wider choice of color if you select tubers in late winter, and plant them in late winter or early spring so that they are ready to plant out after the frosts have finished in early summer.
Look out for begonia, which makes a magnificent plant that looks beautiful in a hanging basket. Also in this group are begonia peyote lace pink and peyote lace red, both of which have flowers with distinctive white ruffled edges. The cultivar peyote lace apricot makes a memorable partnership as an under planting to orange or salmon fuchsias, such as fuchsia thaliana.
If you decide to save the tubers for the next year, before the first frost of autumn lift the plant and move it into a frost free place. Gradually withhold water and allow the foliage to die down. After two or three weeks, remove the tubers and store them in a dry, cool place until the following spring, when they can be brought into growth once more. Alternatively, if you have a greenhouse, move the entire container under cover.
As the compost dries out and the stems die off, the tubers can remain in the compost with no further disturbance necessary. This is ideal for hanging baskets or for arrangements in which begonias are planted with fuchsias. They will break into growth in the spring when watering begins again.
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