American Begonia Society Seeks Thompsons’ Heirs To Reprint Beloved ‘Begonias’ Book

Although it is now out of print, there is no book on begonias that the American Begonia Society holds in higher regard than Millie and Ed Thompson’s “Begonias: The Complete Reference Guide.”

The late Southampton Village couple—they were both plumbers who lived on Hill Street—started the guide in the 1970s. “The Thompson Begonia Guide,” as it was called then, grew to three volumes in three-ring binders.

The volumes were collected in a 356-page hardcover published by Times Books in 1981, and it remains a highly coveted book: A used, worn copy sells online for no less than $70, and most sellers are asking for $129 or more.

Andrew Messinger, the “Hampton Gardener” columnist for The Press, wrote about the Thompsons in a 2015 column about plant collections: “They raised thousands of these plants in what started as a hobby. Things got out of control, as passions do, and the Thompsons became two of the world’s top experts on begonias, publishing a book that even to this day is, to many, the bible of begonias.”

In the preface, the Thompsons wrote: “Begonias are a wonderfully diverse group of plants with various growth habits, many leaf shapes and sizes, seemingly endless leaf colors and color patterns, and many interesting types of flowers and flower clusters.”

The chapters explain proper potting, grooming, watering and propagation of begonias, the diseases and pests that growers are confronted with, and the methods for growing indoors and outdoors—and there are pages and pages describing various species and cultivars.

Now, American Begonia Society leaders are hoping to republish that book. But in order to do so, they must get permission from the Thompsons’ heirs—and ABS President Sally Savelle is seeking help to locate the couple’s sons.

Ms. Savelle said last week that the book is still very current and contains valuable information, and it is also part of ABS’s history, which the society would like to preserve.

The guide details the diversity of begonias, which were originally found in moist subtropical and tropical climates. The different species of begonia number more than 1,800, and there are tens of thousands of hybrid varieties cultivated in nurseries and greenhouses.

ABS, founded in 1932, aims to promote interest in the shade-loving plants, while also encouraging the development of new types and gathering and distributing information. To that end, the society publishes The Begonian, a bimonthly journal.

The March/April 2008 edition of The Begonian includes a tribute to Millie Thompson, who died in 2007 of heart failure at age 81, according to the journal. She was predeceased by her husband, who died in 2003 at age 79. The journal notes that Ms. Thompson was survived by her sons, Donald of Massachusetts and Robert of San Antonio, Florida.

Ms. Savelle, of Concord, Massachusetts, has been unsuccessful so far in efforts to locate the sons. “I wasn’t a member of ABS when Millie published her book,” she noted.

One member who overlapped with Ms. Thompson is Freda Holley, Ph.D., of Louisiana, the current ABS publications chair and the editor of The Begonian from 1997 to 2009. While she never met Ms. Thompson in person, they often spoke on the phone or corresponded over email.

“During that time, I worked with Millie on several stories,” Ms. Holley said last week. “And, of course, I knew her book well. It was kind of like a bible to us in the society those days.”

When it was released, the guide’s color photos of begonias were the first that many ABS members had ever seen, Ms. Holley said.

She added that she just recently brought one of her copies of “Begonias: The Complete Reference Guide”—she has a well-used copy and a pristine autographed copy—to the ABS Southwest Region Get-Together for the judges to use as a reference.

“My other one is so worn and debilitated you wouldn’t believe it, because of how much I use it,” Ms. Holley said of the copy she travels with. “It really is a magnificent resource for begonias.”

To honor Ms. Thompson, Mr. Holley wanted to name an ABS fund after her. The fund would support the publication of new materials on begonias. She remembered calling Ms. Thompson with the idea of naming it the “Mildred Thompson Fund” and expecting that Ms. Thompson would ask to add her husband’s name to the title, as she usually did for anything with her name on it.

But to Ms. Holley’s surprise, Ms. Thompson instead requested that it be called by a less formal name: the “Millie Thompson Fund.”

That’s not the only thing named after Ms. Thompson—there is a hybrid begonia named for her. Hybrid B. Millie Thompson was originated by Gordon Lepisto of St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1975. The female parent was B. versicolor, and the male parent was B. John Blais. According to the Thompsons’ book, B. Millie Thompson is grown in a horticultural terrarium, because it requires high humidity.

The Thompsons had begonia varieties that numbered in the thousands, and around the time they were working on their book they relocated their collection from a garage-turned-hothouse at their Hill Street home to a greenhouse they agreed to build at then-Southampton College. In fact, it was Mr. Messinger who negotiated that move.

Called The Thompson Greenhouse and billed as “a living museum of begonias,” with more than 1,400 different species and cultivars of begonias, it was open year round with free admission.

But, as The East Hampton Star’s Irene Silverman recalled in a column last year, in 1986, vandals broke into the greenhouse, smashing windows and destroying plants. A year later, Ms. Silverman noted, The Thompsons donated the bulk of their collection to the New York Botanical Garden and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Ms. Thompson’s papers, including articles she had collected about the discovery of new species of begonia, were donated to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Begonia Species Bank, according to Ms. Holley.

If “Begonias: The Complete Reference Guide” is indeed republished, it can’t be revised and updated. “Millie, who was very protective of her work, has specified in her will that no changes can ever be made to her book,” states the tribute to her in The Begonian.

To contact the American Begonia Society to help reach the Thompson family, email Sally Savelle at americanbegoniasociety@gmail.com, or call her at 978-287-4837.