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Bergenia. Photo - photolibrary.com
Bergenia, Saxifraga, Elephants Ears
Call me old-fashioned but I’m a great fan of saxifrage, also known as bergenia. I remember cutting it for posies when I was a child. Its pretty pink flowers
carpet the ground through late winter and spring and the foliage looks good all year, especially when cool weather turns the edges crimson.
Here it is, flowering beneath cherries in one of the terrace gardens below Prague Castle in the Czech Republic. We visited in April and loved the gardens
here.
Bergenia. Photo - Sandra Ross
Description: this is one of our favourite tough groundcovers for shady gardens. Elephant ear-shaped leaves are green and lush. Rhubarb
coloured stems carry bright spires of pink flowers. They also come in white, ruby and purple. Tolerant of poor soil.
Size: 30cm x 30cm
Cultivation: not fussy but needs shade.
Special comments: bergenia are pretty grown with pink hellebores, pink cyclamen, and pink pansies and are perfect under camellias
as they flower at the same time. We have also seen saxifrage share space with pink tulips - the pink saxifrage, pink blossom and pink tulips
made a perfect spring picture.
Saxifrage with pink tulips. Photo - Sandra Ross
David Glen at Lambley Nursery in Victoria sells a new dwarf variety of saxifrage called ‘Pink Dragonfly’ which has bright coral-pink flowers and leaves
that turn a rich plum colour in winter. Find it at www.lambley.com.au.
Text: Sandra Ross
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