The plants I got were absolutely gorgeous -- big yellow blooms with dark green foliage. Really fabulous! I would like to order a large pot of them for my mother for Mother's Day and have them delivered to her from a local greenhouse (she lives in another state), but I'm not sure if I am asking for the right thing. Help, please!

There are basically 3 types of tuberous begonias - multiflora, non-stop and standards. The standards have the largest flowers (6") and are the most sensitive to cold, excessive light etc. while the multifloras have the smallest flowers (about 2") and are less sensitive to heat and light. The non-stops are in between.

The standards are really dramatic but they are finicky. They must have filtered light, support for both the stem and individual flowers, excellent drainage etc. There is also a pendular standard (hanging basket) which is also very dramatic.

I have an observation. I have the standard type tube begonias. I never need to support the stems during growing season. After leaves petered out last winter, the green stem continued to stand making food for the bulbs indoors.

This spring all bulbs came back with larger sized leaves. I wonder if the expert scripts for storing tubes are wrong. It seems leaving the stem and letting it continue in light in winter better the survival of the tubes.