Begonias sure are gaining a lot of attention lately, and I’m riding this wave like an amateur surfer. Not that I didn’t like them before, but I’m excited by all the cool available begonias that are popping up everywhere.

Just this week I added these beauties to my ever-growing collection, and I’m hunting for more.

Of course, it might be my newest obsession, but it makes sense. Lemme explain.

Lately, plant groups have a variegated begonia or a unique hybrid in almost every other post. Of course, alocasias are still there, so are anthuriums, and philodendrons. The plants that were hyped at some point are still available, just at a much lower price.

During the lockdowns, when the houseplant industry boomed, Philodendron Pink Princess was a rarity, and people were fighting to spend a small fortune on a leaf clipping—at least these are the stories. I joined the party later, and picked up some great bargains from people excited to go out again. Many beauties were left behind and were sold dirt cheap.

After philodendrons, anthuriums had their time in the spotlight. Beautiful plants, high potential for hybridisation, with loads of unique plants still roaming around. I guess their downfall was their shyness in front of the camera. A weakness exploited heavily by alocasias, with their alienish looks and dramatic variegation. The trouble with Alocasia is that drama is not limited to looks, being notoriously difficult to look after and a magnet for pests.

Begonias have dramatic looks and high potential for hybridisation, and are easy to propagate. I guess here the plant nerds are showing a middle finger to tissue culture, after losing any hope of getting their investments back with old school propagation (yes, I’m talking about Dutch nurseries). It’s not worth propagating begonias through tissue culture when many of them grow a few plants from a leaf left in dirt.

I’m pretty sure this new hype is here to stay… for at least a year.