Published on Saturday, August 9, 2025

By Victoria Torley

Begonias are happy flowers and easy to like. My mother always planted them in the shade, but down in Costa Rica, they thrive in the sun, and why not?

After all, most begonias originated in tropical climates.

Still, since my experience was with begonias in the shade, it confused me quite a bit when I first saw them growing in my neighbor’s sunny yard and then spotted them on one of our fence posts. Evidently, some begonias love the sun.

That wasn’t the only confusing thing.

1) Begonias are supposed to be little. Nope, begonias can be a shrub.

2) Begonias have flowers that peak out from under the leaves. Nope, begonias have tall flower stalks that tower over the leaves, and the whole thing can be nearly a meter tall.

Oh, the things we learned “Up North” that aren’t true in the tropics.

Take this, for example. I used to plant my black raspberries in full sun up north. Down here, full sun gives the leaves sunburn. A sunburned leaf turns white and does the plant no good.  Once I replanted my berries in an area with afternoon shade, they began to produce like crazy. Love that black raspberry pie.

There’s like a whole army of begonia types out there, but the real showstoppers are the tropical ones. The secret to keeping ’em alive? It’s all in the dirt.

You gotta have a mix that breathes and drains quick, or those roots are gonna straight-up drown and rot. Keep the soil damp, never bone dry, never swampy.

Yeah, some begonias got their own little quirks, but most of ’em are all about that bright light life. When the rainy season starts dumping, you'd better keep ’em covered. If you’re running a begonia collection in a shade house, slap a sheet of clear plastic over the top so your plants don’t end up soaked and sad.

Plant of the week. Well, would you look at this! Flowers on my coconut palm! We have never seen them flower before, and didn’t think they were mature enough to flower.

The coconut palm can take up to 6 months to sprout and six to ten years to fruit (you have to guard against beetles), but we must have done something right because three of five are in flower. That’s a lot of coconuts!

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Find more interesting stories about gardening in Costa Rica on the AM Costa Rica Garden page. Questions on this article, Ms. Victoria Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached by emailing victoriatorley1@gmail.com
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