B. ('grandis 'Early Bird'' x longifolia)

"One of my unsuccessful begonia crosses. The plants are hardy, but just plain ugly."

"The hybrids were cute enough as seedlings, but let's face it, most seedlings are cute. As they grew bigger, I began to have misgivings about them. They were just... boring. Plain green leaves, pretty much intermediate between the parents but not distinctive in any way. And to my frustration, they never grew as large as either parent.

Yet here they are, one year later, having survived a cold winter and mocking me and my efforts. To be fair, one reason they look so bad is because they're getting too much sun; it was such a cold winter that the windmill palm that shaded them last year was completely defoliated and is apparently dead. But I went back through last year's photos and even at their shaded best, they never grew strongly and never looked good. They were so pitiful that I'm surprised they survived the winter at all; maybe they did it just to spite me."

• Classification: Cultivar
• Plant Type: Unknown
• Origin: America, USA
• Originator: John Boggan