It’s a steamy, lightly shaded situation we’re not used to seeing in Southern California. Shade cloth strung from structure to structure, and plants packed more tightly on benches than even your neighborhood nursery.
Arlene Hoskins’ garden in Yorba Linda is set up to grow begonias of all kinds, and you won’t find a waxed one in sight. Hers are rex begonias, cane begonias and rhizome types mostly grown for their striking foliage.
You would think that someone who has succeeded with a class of plants as picky as begonias might have been collecting her whole life. But Hoskins began only 18 years ago when she retired from teaching math. This avid gardener jumped into her hobby with a passion and reasoning few of us bring to the plant world.
“You can’t just go by what you read,” she said. “You have to discover what you need to do for a plant where you live.”
Good advice for any type of plant. When her rex begonias were doing poorly after their first winter season, for example, she turned to books that said to provide high humidity and shade.
Instead, Hoskins pulled them out into full sun for the winter and let the rain wash the pots clean. The results were spectacular.
“It’s trial and error,” she said. “What works in Yorba Linda may not work in other areas of Orange County.”
Hoskins says even downsides have advantages. The dry heat in her foothill location allows begonia leaves to grow bigger than they would at the beach. Experimenting is key to her success.
The rex begonias are the most beautiful of the lot with large colorful leaves that lean red. The flowers are insignificant.
Her rhizomatous begonias grow in pots in brighter shade further from the house. The most famous of the lot is Iron Cross, a striking begonia that grows in greenhouse conditions only. Hoskins pulled her specimen on to the patio to show it with the other rhizomatous types in her collection.
The begonia most of us may be familiar with are cane begonias, named for their jointed stems that can be pinched to shape.
“These are the most versatile,” Hoskins said. “Most gardeners will succeed with these in all areas of Orange County.”
Plus, you can easily root the stems in water and then add them to your container to fill in the undergrowth of these often leggy plants.
When we remarked on their spotted leaves, we learned something new from the teacher. Spotted cane begonias are not variegated at all and they don’t sport visible stomata (structures that help the plant absorb energy).
It turns out that spotted begonias have little windows – transparent plant cells that allow light to penetrate the leaf in shady tropical situations. “Some collectors call this blister variegation,” she said.
In all, Hoskins believes that growing begonias in Orange County is like growing them in the desert. “They’d rather live in a humid environment like Florida,” she said.
What we didn’t find in her tropical setting are tuberous begonias – common along the coast and known for their large showy flowers.
“You see those in the coastal areas, but they don’t do well inland,” she said.
The best advice that Hoskins gives to new plant collectors is to keep at it.
“You must try a plant three times before you give up,” she said. It takes that many tries to get it right where you live.
“Some people want to follow a definite recipe for growing plants. If that doesn’t work, by all means try what is not being said.”
Contact the writer: cmcnatt@ocregister.com
