There are a number of them that are completely winter hardy and an even greater number that can be somewhat hardy - depending on how wet things get in winter.

There is one form of Wax Begonia that is pretty reliable about coming back. A couple of the Angel Wings routinely come back. And a few of the Rex begonias will come back if planted up near the wall of your house (this helps keep them dry while they are dormant, its not a heat thing).

It all depends on what type of begonia you want to grow.

I've had them come back both up against the house and in containers that were stored in the garage over winter - no idea what type of begonia... just some I bought flats of at Lowes. (The ones that came back were the kind with the darker leaves - not the bright green leaves, if that helps.) Thanks for your answer, John - I had no idea it was a moisture thing! (Especially since I just today planted 15 babies in a new container!)

Claudia

Great. I don't know one kind of begonia from another but I like all of them. I have some in containers that I will store in the garage this winter since that would keep them dry. I am going to plant more in the ground too and take a chance that they might come back again. Good information. Thanks everyone.

I have some of the hardy ones and once planted they'll come back (and spread) forever if they like where they are! Beautiful, but can be a bit thuggy towards other plants. I'm going to have to yank a bunch that are trying to smother out some of my ferns.

Deb- throw a few of those in pots for me when you're weeding- i've about lost my patch through passing along stuff & drought! oops! I'd esp like the white, but can deal with the pink too. Do you have both or one or the other?

Will do Tammy, I have 2 pinks, but one of the pinks is more white when it first blooms and turns a pale pink.. or is it pale pink and turns white, can't remember, but will try to get both for you. They're mixed together and I usually don't know until they bloom.

Thanks, deb!

Some of the wax begonias can reseed themselves and come back as an annual the following year, but really the only true hardy-type begonia in the Carolinas would be either Begonia grandis or the mountain begonia Begonia boliviensis, although I'm not willing to try to see if mine will overwinter like Tony Avent at Plant Delights claims. ;)

Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy Begonia info

Deb I finally made a new shade bed that gives a better spot to the hardy begonia piece I got from you at the first Triad swap. It's fabulous this year with the move and all the rain.

I have numerous species/hybrids that have proven hardy for the last several years, including several varieties of B. grandis, a white and a pink form of B. sinensis (which may be a subspecies of grandis, or vice-versa, but is a much smaller and totally different plant), B. sutherlandii, a spreading, orange, tuberous, vivaparous species from S. Africa (I mulch this one), and B. boliviensis (I rooted extras from cuttings in order to risk my originals outside.) There is at least one wax variety which is hardy for me (survived one low of 5 degrees F); it's a tall, white clumper with green leaves that was given to me many years ago by my grandmother, but which is being marketed now as "Barbara Rogers"; it seems to be derived from B. cucullata (sp?), one of the original species from which the hybrids are all descended. A pink wax variety, "Kaylen", is marketed as hardy, but has not been so for me thus far. "Metallic Mist" is a rex that's been marketed as hardy to zone 6, and it has returned for me, but has never been a very vigorous plant, so I'm still evaluating it. It may be that the summer heat saps its strength to the point that it doesn't develop enough energy to survive the winters. Finally, I have a rhizomatous plant which I think is B. formosana (got it several years ago from the old Heronswood with only an id number) which also returns every year, but is of limited ornamental value, in my opinion.

I have a lot of Rex begonias that survive winter under mulch but I wouldn't say they thrive that way. They look better all year if kept in pots and brought indoors for the winter. Most of the classic Rex's are a five way hybrid with B. boliviensis as one of the parents. It is reliably hardy to like zone 7. Two of the other species used to create Rex's are marginally hardy this far north so the genetics is there, but with hybrids you're basically rolling the dice - you never know what genes are going to be expressed or supressed.

I live pretty close to Plant Delights and all of the hardy begonias I have purchased from them have proven hardy in my yard.

'Kaylen' the bronze leaved form of Wax Begonia has been reliably hardy for years and years in my garden.

I used to be a member of the Begonia Society and there is an active group of hobbiest working with hardiness in begonias.