IN THE midst of all the hullabaloo around Brexit and the drama of the Euros, it’s possible you may have missed the other big story that grabbed the attention of Britain’s classier tabloid press over recent weeks. It concerns one Montagu Denis Wyatt Don (60) – better known to you and I as BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don, a man who makes even middle-aged heterosexual males go weak at the knees.
It seems he caused minor uproar by ‘avin’-a-go at begonias. The controversial contribution was viewed by millions as it came during BBC2’s Chelsea Flower Show coverage, when Monty and co-presenter Joe Swift discussed ‘the plants people love to hate’.
"I hate a plant because it is repulsively ugly and that’s the begonia," Monty said as the scores of onlooking blue-rinsed ladies and their flat-capped husbands took a collective sharp intake of breath. "Don’t tell me that anybody likes begonias?" he added, as if to deliberately ratchet up the controversy.
There were no kittens killed, no ancient oaks felled and no sensitive souls offended, yet Monty’s remarks were soon emblazoned across the pages of the Daily Mail, who were quick to point out that this wasn’t his first attack on this fail-safe summer star, favoured by gardeners for use in hanging baskets and containers. In 2000, writing in The Observer, he said: “If begonias were a song, they would be the kind of maudlin croon performed by a ‘family entertainer’ in a toupee."
And elsewhere: "The leaves have a bat’s-wing quality, with colourings reminiscent of the pavement outside a pub at closing time on a Saturday night."
Needless to say, there were numerous people happy to defend the begonia, including the secretary of the National Begonia Society, Robert Bryce.
"If the British public did not like begonias then they would have died out 100 years ago," he said, while Paul Hansord, horticultural director at seed firm Thompson and Morgan, told The Mail our Monty was "out of touch with the true gardening public".
Personally, I’m with Monty on this one – and have said as much before in this very column. How can I can put this? If the begonia was a political party, it’d be Ukip and it would definitely want to Leave the European Union. Enough said.
There are, however, gardeners who love begonias and I imagine some may actually be reading this. If you are a fan, please feel free to share your thoughts with me, and perhaps I could help put you in touch with other begonia lovers – together you can form a support group.
Harsh perhaps because in theory, I should like begonias, which tick many of my preference boxes, such as – they grow in sun and shade; give long-lasting colour; and don’t demand a great deal of maintenance. In urban gardens in particular, where conventional beds are rare and containers or baskets provide home for most plants,
the begonia is seen as a premier performer; rarely wilting and blooming until the first frosts.
Planted as dormant tubers in late winter-early spring, begonias come in an nauseatingly broad range of colours and flower types. There’s white, reds, pinks, oranges and yellows that come as large showy doubles, fringed fimbriata types and picotees, whose petals boast edges of contrasting colour.
Lift the tubers in the autumn when the leaves yellow, drying them for a day or two before storing them in barely moist soil or sand in a frost-free environment – ideally at 7C (45F). Water occasionally to prevent them shrivelling. Recommended varieties include the semi-trailing ‘Million Kisses’ series for baskets and fellow basket favourite, the cascading begonia 'Illumination Orange’ (an AGM holder) which boasts vivid vermilion flowers.
