- Common Name: Elephant's Ears
- Plant Benefits: green foliage tinged purple in winter and striking rose pink flowers early Spring, great groundcover and low maintenance
- Flowers: March to April
- Height & Spread: 40cm x 40cm
- Evergreen/Deciduous: Evergreen & Hardy perennial
- Where to plant: sun or shade, robust plant for edging and ground cover
- Goes well with: Ferns, Alchemilla and golden foliage plants
In winter, the leathery bronze leaves make an attractive addition to a cut flower bouquet. features showy fragrant pastel fuchsia coloured flowers on glossy faded green evergreen foliage. It grows slowly to an average mature height of 16 in (40 cm) and a width of 12 in (30 cm). One of my favorite spring-blooming groundcovers is in its glory this week. Bergenia have large lobed, waxy leaves, like giant green tongues, that can sometimes have jagged edges, but in a soft, friendly way. Rather cabbage like in feel, rub the leaves and you will understand how it earned its common name of Pig Squeak. The flowers are stunning at tulip time, in bursts and clusters atop six to eight foot stalks. Their foliage remains an interesting textural accent in the summer border.
The Bergenia cordifolia prefer moist soil rich in organic matter and well drained, sun or shade.They can also tolerate a wide range of soils.
The Bergenia are perennials grown primarily as a ground cover. Characterized by large rosettes of leather, shiny, toothed, rounded, with dark green leaves 10 "long by 8" wide heart-shaped at the base. The leaves form a thick clump of 12 "tall. The foliage turns purplish bronze in winter.Small dark pink flowers in dense panicles appear within or above the foliage on sturdy 16 "tall stems in April.
Plant rhizomes. Spacing: 30 cm. It is best to cut the faded flower heads to prevent fruiting.Although the Bergenia is evergreen plant, the leaves die throughout the summer. They should be removed as and when. This will promote the development of the plant.
The generic name honors the German physician and botanist Karl August von Bergen (1704-1760), professor in Frankfurt.Cordi for "heart-shaped" and folia for "leaf". The former genus name was of Latin origin: saxum for "stone or rock" and frangere to "break or break", referring to the ability of these plants to "crack the stones."
Plant width: 40 cm
Plant height: 40cm
Plant height: 40cm