BEGONIA FUN FACTS

The Ballarat Botanical Gardens have been growing Begonias since the late 1890s.
Begonias are grown by the Ballarat Botanical Garden horticultural team at our nursery here in the gardens.
We grow over 240 different tuberous Begonias and 300+ unique non-tuberous Begonias.
The Begonias require some form of attention for 10 months of the year, to have them on display for approximately 4 to 6 weeks – but we think they are worth it.
In total, we grow over 3,000 Begonias in pots!
Begonias have male and female flowers. Every day during the Begonia Display, we remove the new ‘single’ female flower, allowing the plant to put all its energy into the much larger and ‘showier’ male flowers.
Every large flower is supported by a wire to prevent the weight of the flower from snapping off.
The original ‘wild’ Begonias, which all the tuberous Begonias were bred from, are only 3cm in diameter. Some Begonias can grow very large, we have grown one with a diameter of 24cm!
Every Begonia pit in the conservatory and nursery is hand watered. It’s labour of love.

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Phoenix Building
25 Armstrong Street South, Ballarat Central VIC 3350