I discovered long ago I have no luck growing most begonias in pots. No matter how diligent I am, the leaves eventually turn crunchy brown along the edges and fall off until the plant is practically bare.

Several years ago I asked a begonia expert why the leaves turn brown and crunchy on my begonias. His answer: you are either watering them too much or not enough.

Gee, that helps a lot.

But I found my own solution. I planted some of my begonias in the ground. As hard as they were for me to keep alive in pots, they are that carefree and forgiving in the ground.

I put them -- cane, rex and rhizomatous -- on the north side of the house, under a wide overhang. Some are near the hose and get a squirt whenever I am filling my watering can, and others get very little attention.

Even though I had to dig through landscaping rocks to get them into the ground, they have thrived with very little effort. Although these begonias are there mostly for their leaves, some of them put on a pretty decent show with flowers.

One of the best landscaping begonias, the Begonia Odorata Alba, blooms year round, sun or shade, with big smooth, heart-shaped leaves and clusters of white flowers. It is a shrub-like begonia, and can be propagated simply by sticking a stem into potting mix.

A friend gave me a cutting, which I have grown into large bushes all over my yard. I have since passed on cuttings to at least a half dozen of my friends.

You are supposed to trim it back when it stops blooming, but don't hold your breath. There is never a time when it doesn't have at least some flowers on it.

While I don't see many butterflies around it, monarch larvae often travel over from some nearby milkweed and make their chrysalides on the back of its big leaves, an unadvertised benefit.

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