I stumbled across a Bergenia 'Autumn Magic' at a nursery this past summer and fell in love with it! The large shiny lime green leaves are such a difference in a shade garden full of matte darker green. Mine is planted under a norway maple and doing just fine even without a huge amount of watering. It even had leaves until two weekends ago, when one of the dogs plowed through it. Loved the reddish leaves against the snow. I will definitely be getting more Bergenias to add to my shade gardens.

I love bergenia! I don't care about the flowerrs - the foliage is it's chief asset. Glossy, cabbage-like leaves that look good all season with a reddish tinge along the edges in the fall, progressing to a sort of burgundy-red fall color. The foliage is outstanding paired with finer-textured foliage (e.g. laceleaf Japanese, ferns, bleeding heart, etc).

Grows in sun or part shade, moist or drier soils (but will be stunted in very dry conditions) - can take conditions along a sunny walkway as well as it does part shade. Never noticed any pests bothering it (four-legged or flying) or disease issues.

Who care what cultivar you get - just get some!

Thanks for the feedback mxk3 and Karolina11...much appreciated.

I guess I am wondering if these newer cultivars have better or a longer duration of flowering.

I'm also a big fan, though I only have the plain species. As said above, they do great in dry-ish shade. Added benefit is that the leaves add a nice shine (texture wise I mean). I kind of like the flowers ;-) Adds a splash of color when only a few other things are blooming in the spring.

There are some nice looking cultivars out there with special foliage traits, like 'Bressingham Ruby', 'Solar Flare', 'Lunar Glow'. Too bad they all "green out" come summer or only retain the color in winter (really irks me when this happens, lol! I like foliage color to be ALL the time!). That is why I want to find the uber-cool 'Tubby Andrews', which has streaked variegation that doesn't fade away and pink coloration in winter to boot.
CMK

Here is a link that might be useful: A little Tubby...

Tubby Andrews looks great, it is now on my list. Bergenia is very easy to grow from saved seed. I make about 10 new ones every year. Al

I had Bergenia cordifolia in OH which I LOVED. The hot pink flowers well above the leaves were smashing in early spring, beautiful red leaves when the snow wasn't covering them. Just a dark green lump for summer though, but a nice contrast next to variegated or much lighter leaves. Takes the whole 3 years (sleep, creep, leap) to establish well, but worth the wait, IMO.

You may want some Coleus or wax Begonias or some kind of annuals this year, and maybe a few next year too, if you really do put your new shade plants as far away from each other as you're "supposed to."

Ooh...who's got Tubby for sale?

-mxk3, I think the site I linked to above (Sequim Rare Plants, good reviews too) has it...
CMK

Funny how one's taste changes. When I received a clump of bergenia, I didn't see anything appealing about it. My DS rescued it from a perennial garden that was being trashed by a new owner. Anyway I planted it reluctantly. That was years ago. Now it is one of my favourite perennials. I have planted clumps of it in various places and have shared it with anyone who wants some. I love how the big shiny leaves contrast with the other shade plants. I love how it survives the winter and rises up, battered and bruised but raring to go.

purpleinopp wrote: You may want some Coleus or wax Begonias or some kind of annuals this year, and maybe a few next year too,

I know this is off topic but after seeing last season many of my impatiens fall to "downy mildew" I will use anything else (but impatiens) for shade bedding plants. This will in fact include wax begonias and coleus and in fact more shade perennials.

Have you experienced this disease with your Impatiens walleriana? If so what interesting annual shade flowers might you use this summer?

Thanks for that experience north53. And given that you are in a zone 1b it is clear this is one tough plant. This thread has convinced me to include several in my shade garden. Thank you all for your contributions.

One more thing to consider; I would plant it where you don't have to see it during late fall, winter and early spring when I find it unappealing. North43's description, "battered and bruised " is pretty accurate. Around here the leaves have tears and dead patches so that they aren't decorative at all. It may be different for you since you are a bit warmer.

Excellent suggestion nhbabs. I will do just that.

Some of the plants I put in the shade make flowers, but they are incidental. Shade gardening is 90% about foliage, IMO. Most of the actual blooms I have are in the back yard but people walking by the front say, "I love your flowers" often.

You can't go wrong with wax Begonias, which can take some frost so will bloom until it's "hard winter." You might also like some Myosotis which will bloom the first year from seed. In general, white and very light-colored flowers are preferable to me in shade because they can be seen from a distance, in the shadows. To get the most satisfaction from any garden, I strongly urge you to always consider the foliage. Most plants that bore you without flowers will be boring most of the time because most plants don't bloom most of the time, just for a short time.

I agree, the leaves of the Bergenia I had were kind of beat-up during winter, but as one of the few things obviously alive at that time, I thought it was pretty cool to see.

No blooms (except some Coleus spikes) in this pic...

purpleinopp wrote: Some of the plants I put in the shade make flowers, but they are incidental. Shade gardening is 90% about foliage, IMO.

And yet I think it is possible, with the right choice of plants that this 90% can be lowered...significantly? Of course as always the difficulty in fairly discussing such an issue is our definition of "shade". If you give me 3 hours of direct sunlight I can provide you with a garden which is quite floriferous in the traditional sense. But for argument sake lets say it is a quite shady location then I do use annuals to give colourful flowers. I do really like wax begonias and I used them quite successfully last season but it has been my experience that they are not as productive (as compared to shade impatiens) in significant shade. What do you think?

I've admired others' Impatiens, but rarely have them because the foliage bores me. Where I am now, I'm jaded toward the Begonias because they are perennial here. But with the mildew issue, opinions are really a moot point since anything looks better than dead Impatiens.

My son brought home a potted {{gwi:194914}} (links to pic of this plant) from school for Mother's day a few years ago and out of selfishness, I left it on a table on the covered front porch where I liked looking at it the most, but it never got any direct sun. It did not increase its' mass quickly, but did reach about 3x its' size and flowered constantly until coming inside for winter (not necessary, just more selfish whimsy.) Anyway, it's been blooming ever since I got it, and has been put in the ground by now. Unless we get a really cold night, this winter may not break its' streak. Particular eyes may see the Impatiens as more showy, but it can't compare to the toughness of the Begonia. A moot point in 5b, but exists in warmer locations. I keep breaking off the tall stems to start new plants.

No doubt there are other plants that bloom in shade. I have fond memories of Veronica, Pulmonaria, Dianthus, bleeding hearts, Trilliums, Heucheras, Thalictrum, Brunnera, Violets, yada yada yada. Just no longer interested in hardly any of them unless I run out of Coleus and Persian shield. I really can't stand waiting for plants to bloom for a short time (a month or two) that I don't otherwise really enjoy looking at, and most of them are just too short. Some of these would be enjoyable to me now, so I would buy if I saw them, but we really don't want much/many ground cover type plants here, too attractive to snakes, too hard to mulch/weed. Thank goodness everyone doesn't feel the same way, I'm more than glad other people's gardens are very different.

As far as a showy focal point pot in the shade, I don't think any Impatiens or wax Begonias could hold a candle to mixed Coleus, OTHER Begonias, with sweet potato vines and Tradescantias spilling over the sides... Just the view through my eyes... More pics of areas and plants on blog if you want to see a lot more pics of virtually flowerless shade areas.

I realize I'm in the minority here, but Bergenia does not appeal to me in the slightest. I grew it for years and finally just couldn't stand looking at it any longer. To the compost pile it went.

The plant I had was from a friend, so I have no clue as to it's proper ID. I found the flowers ugly, the leaves slightly less so, but just not worth keeping around.

I guess we all have different tastes.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin for that. Of course we are interested in the "nays" (as well as the "yays"). Maybe what I will do would be to plant one or maybe 2 'Bergenia' in a bit of an out of the way location as a test.

yech, I think it is pretty horrid too - as well as providing shelter for a gazillion slugs and snails.

Bergenia was brought here from Siberia in the late 1700's. It was a common planting amongst Calfiornia mission style homes, and often times you'd see them planted around the base of a fountain. Which makes sense to me because although they are touted to be drought tolerant, they look far better with consistent moisture in my garden. They stand more erect, the leaves glossen up more and new growth appears, and is far more attractive in these conditions than in drier soils.

I find the flowers attractive, and the plant compliments Amsonia Hubrectii (sp?) nicely when planted at the base - in the fall the color combo is stunning with the golden leaves of Amsonia against the red leaved Bergenia.

Mine do not attain the stark red you often see advertised, but are rather more splotchy red. I believe I have Bressingham Ruby mixed with another cultivar.

Personally, I wouldn't put this in a dry area of my yard. I will echo the sentiments of others in terms of spring appeal - not much going for it.

As I perform annual yard clean up, removing leaves from around the base of Bergenia, the plant breaks off easily at the base so you have to be careful.

I second mxk3's original post. I received two (one larger, one small - both of the same type of bergenia) from a coworker. I love them! The flowers are nice in the spring but there's something about the foliage that is just amazing. Glossy, rounded, perfectly bright green but still has some tinge of red to them. I'd love to get more and use them in place of hostas. I especially love the Bergenia Bressingham Ruby on BlueStone.

UPDATE:

Thanks for all who contributed to this thread.

I just picked up a couple of Bergenia Dragonfly Sakura today.

Dang. I never ordered "Tubby Andrews" this spring. Now I want it. NOW. BAH!

I bet there is still time for you to get "Tubby".