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Begonias are a profusely-flowering, low maintenance option for the garden or containers that require very little care and pack a huge punch. Keep begonias’ soil moist but not soaked, check on your variety’s light preferences (depending on the variety, begonias will produce spectacular blooms in full shade all the way to full sun), and watch out for botrytis blight, a fungal leaf infection that plagues these plants in the garden. Begonias will bloom from spring to your first frost without any deadheading needed, but you can always pinch off old blooms or do some light pruning of the stems to promote a more incredible show. Some (tuberous) varieties can be dug up in the fall, stored, and replanted the following spring, which makes them a great investment, and all can be potted and brought inside to spend their winters as houseplants if you just can’t live without them between gardening seasons. Begonias are members of a genus (Begonia!) containing about 1400 different subtropical and tropical perennial flowering plants often grown seasonally in cooler climates. Those include fibrous-rooted begonias like the wax begonias; cane stem types (angelwing begonias), characterized by their tall stems; and hairy begonias, which have felt-like leaves. Rhizomatous begonias include the rex begonias, grown for their brightly coloured and patterned leaves. Rieger begonias, tuberous begonias, and whopper begonias are also popular in nurseries.
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