Begonia Non Stop® White - Tuberous begonia

Begonia Nonstop® ‘White’ offers pure white flowers on a compact plant that maintains its neat appearance all summer long. Its continuous flowering from May until the frosts brightens up pots and planters in partial shade as well as sheltered borders. It is frost-tender so it should be planted after the last frosts and its tuber overwintered dry and frost-free. An easy and generous variety for the garden or patio.

A member of the Begoniaceae family, this cultivar belongs to the horticultural group of tuberous begonias, hybrids known as × tuberhybrida. The Nonstop® series is a German introduction from Benary; it comprises several compact, very floriferous and early selections in varied colours.
This one forms a small, dense, well-branched clump, 20 to 30 cm in height and 25 to 35 cm in spread. Its flattened, brown tuber sends up several shoots in spring. The stems are fleshy, smooth, green, and brittle; the foliage is quite decorative: it is composed of asymmetrical, glossy green, ovate to heart-shaped, veined leaves 8 to 15 cm long, with a finely toothed margin. Flowering begins in May-June and ends in October. The fully double male flowers are larger than the female flowers. They reach 7 to 8 cm in diameter and have numerous overlapping petals. In autumn, the foliage yellows and then disappears. This is when the tuber enters dormancy.

Nonstop® ‘White’ brightens up slightly shady balconies, north-facing steps and planters under an awning that filters the light. Create an opulent container by placing it in the centre, surrounded by a bright sedge ‘Everillo’ and a heuchera ‘Lime Marmalade’. Near a doorstep, use bluish hostas like ‘Halcyon’ as a backdrop and add fuchsias ‘Tom Thumb’, which flower from May until the frosts. At the front of a border, alternate clumps of begonias with silvery Brunnera 'Jack Frost' and small evergreen ferns such as Polystichum acrostichoides, the Christmas Fern.

Introduced to Europe in the 19th century from Andean species (Bolivia, Peru), tuberous begonias have been the subject of extensive hybridisation programmes. The Nonstop® series is obtained from F1 hybrid seeds and produces very uniform plants.