Growing Wax Begonia: A Complete Profile

By Growing Home Greens Team · August 20, 2026

Wax begonia is the low, glossy-leaved bedding plant that flowers steadily from summer into autumn in shade.

Twelve weeks for a two-foot plant

The seed is close to dust, and the seedlings are correspondingly slow. Our calendar starts it twelve weeks before the last frost, surface sown because it needs light. That is longer than a tomato needs, for a plant that finishes under two feet.

There is no shortcut, which is why nurseries sell it as starts and why buying a tray is a sensible decision rather than a cop-out.

Shade, and it does not sulk about it

NC State Extension lists partial to deep shade as preferred. It reaches 8 inches to 2 feet tall and 9 to 12 inches wide, flowering summer and fall. Perennial in zones 10 and 11, annual elsewhere.

The waxy leaves hold water well, which makes it more drought tolerant than most shade annuals once established.

Bronze or green leaves

The bronze-leaved forms take more sun than the green-leaved ones. If a square gets afternoon light, that is the distinction to shop on.

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Begonia.

Companion planting guide for Wax Begonia · Find your planting dates

Typically viable in USDA zones 3-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.

Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. Wax Begonia needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.

See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →

How many Wax Begonia plants fit per square foot?

Spacing: 2 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 0.5-2 ft.

Where to buy wax begonia seeds

• Botanical Interests
• True Leaf Market
• Burpee
• High Mowing Organic Seeds

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See it growing

Search YouTube for "growing wax begonia" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)

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Growing Wax Begonia: A compact shade annual that takes twelve weeks indoors from dust-fine seed, which is why most people buy starts.

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