Most often grown as annuals, wax begonia flowers are typically pink, white, or red. Individual begonia flowers have four or five petals, and they grow in loose clusters of single or double flowers. Wax begonia flowers normally bloom from May until October.

When we had our first married home Back East https://pbase.com/britestar/image/173308448 , I planted wax begonias along the front walk in the shade of a huge tree. They were grown as annuals. New plants were planted each Spring. This became part of horticulture tradition for me: marigolds and geraniums in the planter boxes on the sunny front porch & wax begonias in the shade along the front walk. Tulips lined one side of the driveway & daffodils lined the other. After Spring turned into Summer, marigolds were planted on the "tulip side". This was followed by Mums in the Fall that lined both sides of the driveway. The Summer/Fall wax begonias (along the front walk) followed early blooming crocuses that were intermixed with Spring tulips. I loved our first home and was always working with the flowers in the yard during the warmer months. More so than I do at our current home.

One Spring (about 16/17 years ago), when I couldn't find the plants that I really wanted to put in one of the planter boxes on our deck (of our present home), I decided to try wax begonias instead. I had liked wax begonias when I'd grown them at our "old house".

However, when I tried them in the planter boxes on our deck here, these wax begonias didn't have the same impact. They were plainer & not as floriferous. The dark leaves were also prettier than the flowers. And I wanted flowers. Nevertheless, because they were still thriving when the first Fall frost hit that year, I brought the wax begonias into the Solar Room to try to "winter them over". These were the first "annuals" I'd ever tried to keep for an extra season. The next Spring (when I could find the plants that I'd wanted for our deck the previous year), I purchased those and a new planter box for the deck. I then never again put the wax begonias back outside.

Well, these flowering, "annual" wax begonias are still going strong well over 15 years later. The flowers aren't fancy. But they have become "old friends" that remind me of our first home. They also bloom all year round, 12 months a year.