How to Grow and Care for Angel-Wing Begonias

How to Grow and Care for Angel-Wing Begonias Begonia coccinea, B. corallina, B. dietrichiana, and hybrids

I’m proud to say I was not the first in my family to grow and care for an angel-wing begonia houseplant.

That honor goes to my daughter Frances, whose aunt Kathy gave her a five-gallon pot with a large, healthy specimen for her 11th birthday.

She kept it as a houseplant in her sunny bedroom throughout middle school, dragging it outdoors for the summer, carefully watering it, and deadheading the coral pink flowers.

I never had to remind her to care for her angel-wing begonia. She took it on herself to learn about the plant and followed tips from aunt Kathy throughout the three-foot-tall plant’s tenure at our madcap home with the resident blended family of five.

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That plant lived and bloomed for at least six years, a great run for a cane-like variety. I only regret that we didn’t realize how easy it would be to take cuttings and root the stems, or I imagine we’d still have an offspring of that same begonia at Newton Street all these years later.

I circled back to angel-wing begonias a couple of years ago when seeking familiar comforts during lockdown. I purchased them from the same South Knoxville greenhouse Fran’s plant came from.

Hers, mine, and the many other types of angel-wing begonia are outright beauties, especially when you pay attention to their growing requirements. You may wish to cultivate them indoors or outdoors or combine the two approaches.

The common name “angel-wing begonia” is used fairly loosely, creating a bit of a gray area on exactly which plants fall into the category.

I’ll explain