Hardy Tropicals UK

I think I acually first came upon thios plant in a picture here from a members garden. I can't find alot of info on it from people in the US so I figured I would ask about it here. How large does this plant usually get? likes and dislikes, soil type and cold hardiness. basically anything I can find out about it before I run out and buy one would be appriciated.

Picture from Will Giles garden (Oct 2011)

I think there is a few people who grow it on here including me. It's one of my favourite plants but I find it hard to overwinter. This year will be my third attempt. I brought it into the house the last two years and it just didn't do well and eventually died. This year I'm leaving it in my outhouse with my bruggies. This will only be heated if we get a -8 outside. It has gone down to -1 in there so far and the begonia looks fine. Only time will tell.
I think Dave Brown has success with them.

the overwintering was my main concern..also read someplace there not much for heat either which isn't good for me since it is normally 100F or better in the summer. I wonder if they would stay planted out with protection like my palms get....hmm I do really want to try one here this spring just need good info so I can make it thrive.

Have a read here Mike http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/forum/v ... 123&t=7064

My small one is potted and is in my outdoor polyhouse which is currently fan heated to keep it above freezing. SO FAR...its still seemingly alive.

my one was looking really good in the heated polytunnel until it got a bit cold and suffered a bit of damage on the top
but now i have a new better heater and fleeced it problem solved

I over wintered 2 in my garage last year and this year they have gone in the greenhouse......for me they have not been pampered and not caused me any concerens......so far. I hope I dont eat humble pie for saying this now.

Mine are in the porch (closed) - no heating in there and so far are okay. I shall move them though to somewhere a tad warmer if we get really cold temperatures, dunno what temperature it gets down to on the really cold nights, but it got bloomin cold in there in past Winters.
Di

Mine is in unheated conservatory - which stays, but only just, above 0C.

Seemed to be OK like that last Winter. Watered it once-in-a-while. Doing the same against this year. But I have no real idea what I am doing with them, so I don't recommend following my lead!

Still in the same pot when I acquired it last summer and so far ok in a frostfree greenhouse kept almost dry.

well I did find one reliable source ( my first source was in the UK ) in the US and he seems to know what he is doing. alot of fake begonia luxurians over here apparently. often order one and you get somthing else from what I gather. anyways I emailed him to see about any he has for sale at the moment but he lives in california so his climate is nothing like mine. I'll have to do a bit of adjustment. for the ones who have this does it seem to prefer more sun or shade, the more I read the more it seems like a shade plant.

Might be best to wait for Spring? I'm guessing they would be subjected to quite a lot of cold whilst travelling to you, at this time of year?

I grow it in cool shade, it reaches around 4' from the ground (well it did after last years mild winter!) I keep a stand by plant in case it doesn't reappear, top growth wont take any frost at all, take a look at the following two pictures first from 17th November and second from 9th December following a light grass frost (check out the Hedychium and Fuchsia leaves right of shot untroubled by the cold)

begonia luxurians by charliepridham, on Flickr

begonia luxurians by charliepridham, on Flickr

I did find a person who is going to send me a rooted cutting in the spring. that plant is just beautiful and I can't wait to get one. I'll make sure and put it in some deeper shade even though I am short on that in my yard.