I like the seedpods on that last one John. Keep up the good work.

This post was edited by hcmcdole on Thu, Nov 13, 14 at 5:13

Thanks, those seed capsules are actually on B. grandis, which you can barely see peeking out from behind and on the right.

I like the shape of the leaves in the third photo as well. I still like the seedpods despite they are from grandis. First photo shows promise too. I did not have luck with Torsa. What is your secret for keeping it?

Anyway the 3rd photo reminds me of x chungii (I hope I spelled that correctly). Got some cuttings from Ozzie a few years ago but didn't write the name down and forgot where I got it until a club member mentioned it - light bulb moment. Here it is in the same pot as a small Kissimmee.

I like the look of your B. xchungii, very different from the other collections I've seen.

The Taiwanese species are a very interesting group, probably derived from a series of hybrids between just a few initial species, including B. longifolia and B. palmata (or at least the Taiwanese counterparts of those species; I have my doubts as to whether they are correctly classified). Begonia xchungii is a sterile hybrid between those two species. Most of the other species, including B. formosana, have high chromosome numbers and probably originated as hybrids themselves, made fertile by polyploidization.

I have had very little trouble with 'Torsa'. Not sure what I might be doing differently but I think growing it in the ground makes a big difference.

Thanks for the all the info. I have some seed pods on the x-chungii but it sounds like they will be infertile.

Well if I ever get a chance to try Torsa again, I will have to try it in the ground.

I have a follow-up blog post, listing several more begonias I've discovered to be hardy in Washington, DC:

Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy begonias: the next generation