Bergenia x schmidtii
Family: Saxifragaceae | Origin: Central and Eastern Asia
We all know how much we lack winter-flowering plants for shady corners in the Jerusalem area. Most of us use the beautiful hybrid Cyclamens for this purpose and usually replace them every year in the spring.
We are often asked by customers about perennial plants that can fill this gap and the cart under these conditions is indeed quite empty.
Schmidt's Bergenia, is one of the best solutions for this problem – It blooms in the shade for the whole length of our winter and also has impressive leaves. Furthermore, it is very long-lived!
This is a sprawling plant with large, smooth and wide leaves of a vivid green color that grow from short, thickened stems and form a clump about 20-30 cm high and 50-70 cm wide. The flowers are abundant in upright clusters of light pink flowers borne on reddish stems from December to March. Occasional blooms also occur at other times of the year.
Bergenia x schmodtii is best suited to growing in containers or in enriched soil, in mountainous and lowland gardens. In good conditions it spreads slowly and can cover a small shaded area, which will be adorned with abundant pink blooms every year throughout the winter. It is also relatively drought-tolerant and resistant to root competition under trees, but in severe root competition it will prefer to grow in a container. For best results one should water it regularly and fertilize it about twice a year.
We like to clean the old, dry leaves every few months and to shorten long stems once every two to three years after flowering to refresh the entire plant.
Most species of bergenia are cold-resistant, but suffer from prolonged heat, and other varieties of bergenia, tested in Israel, were found to be sensitive to heat and degenerated within a few years.
Schmidt's Bergenia, on the other hand, was tested even in the Jordan Valley and survived very hot summers there, despite the fact that the two plants suspected of being its parents, bergenia ciliata and bergenia cordifolia, do not grow successfully even in the Jerusalem area.
We also know plants that have thrived in the same pot for 20 years or more, and ours (in the photos) is already over 30 years old!
Being a hybrid, this bergenia does not produce seeds and its propagation from cuttings alone is relatively slow, so it is not a cheap plant, but in our opinion it is worth every penny due to its beauty and longevity.
So, if you want a perennial winter-blooming plant for your shady corner – Schmidt's Bergenia is the plant for you!
Interested in another perennial that blooms in winter in shady areas even in the high mountains?
P.s.
We have written about Fragrant Tulbaghia in the past and it also has a card in our site..
לקריאה על ברגניית שמידט בעברית לחצו כאן
