Surround the pot with moist peat and mist the leaves regularly. Foliage Begonias Begonias in most cases are grown for their floral display, although the situation is reversed with Foliage Begonias. The original Begonia rex came from India, but the species no longer exists and all the colourful ones you see on display are hybrids. The off centre heart-shaped leaves are easy to recognize but the Foliage Begonias include many other shapes, stars, ovals, spears, etc. Leaf size varies enormously ranging from the one-foot long foliage of B. Ricky Minter and some varieties of the B. rex to the half inch leaves of B. foliosa.
Surfaces range from waxy and smooth to dull and deeply puckered.
Most Foliage Begonias bear thick rhizomes which creep over or just under the soil surface. Growth habit is generally bushy or trailing, but a few tall Foliage Begonias are available. All detest overwatering and direct summer sun, and they are not difficult as long as there is some room heat in winter. Do not expect Foliage Begonias to become part of the family like Palms and Chlorophytum. Even with care these foliage varieties usually last for only a year or two under ordinary room conditions.