Quick Guide: summer, half-hardy, full sun, height:20-60cm/8-24in, width: 30cm/12in

The smooth, rounded leaves of tuberous begonia hybrids (Begonia x tuberhybrida) make a perfect foil for their large, rose-like flowers. The colour range includes white, yellow, pink, orange and red. Pendula hybrids, with slightly drooping stems, are seen to best advantage in hanging baskets or window-boxes.

GROWING Start tubers into growth in spring in boxes of moist peat at 18°C/64°F. Pot on into 12.5cm/5in pots of compost when leafy shoots appear, then into 20cm/8in pots. Plant outdoors in early summer in well-drained soil previously enriched with peat or leaf mould. Lift before the first frosts and overwinter at 7°C/45°F, just covered with dry peat.

PROPAGATION In spring, when potting up, divide the tubers into pieces bearing at least one healthy shoot each. Treat as above.

VARIETIES 'Single White'; `Buttermilk', cream; `Festiva', rich yellow; `Margaret Collins', true pink; `Ninette', pale apricot, very large; `T. B. Toop', orange; 'Olympia', deep scarlet, Pendula hybrid; `Dawn', buff-yellow; `Yellow Sweetie', lemon, lightly scented.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS Weevils, eelworms, tarsonemid mites; grey mould.