Bergenia Spring Fling - Elephant's Ears

Bergenia 'Spring Fling' is an exceptional variety with its spring flowering in bunches of intense bright pink, so generous and erect that it is mistaken for an azalea! This carefree perennial forms a spread-out cushion of oblong, wide, evergreen leaves that turn green, then satin chocolate purple in winter. This classic and easy perennial gradually forms a dense carpet, even colonizing the most difficult spaces. Dry and hot locations should be avoided. Robust, undemanding, and hardy, it is essential in gardens with little light, with a well-drained, rather moist and humus-rich soil. It is a perfect ground cover in the shade of a tree or in a sunny rockery.

Bergenia 'Spring Fling' is a plant of the Saxifragaceae family, of hybrid and horticultural origin. It is a perennial herbaceous plant, about 70cm (28in) tall, with a creeping habit and vegetation gathered in tight clumps 30cm (12in) wide. It grows on a creeping rhizome, large, thick, and enveloped by the sheaths of the base of the leaves. Over time, this plant spreads, but its growth is so slow that it can hardly be considered an invasive plant. Secondary stems appear here and there, eventually forming a beautiful carpet. The leathery, rosette-shaped leaves are shiny and glossy. They are very thick, heart-shaped, with dentate edges. The numerous flowers are grouped in very erect and dense paniculate inflorescences that appear from April to June. Honey-bearing, they are borne by red branched stems that rise well above the foliage.

Bergenia 'Spring Fling' will grow well in most soils, but a soil rich in humus and moist is preferable. It tolerates sea spray and limestone soils. Too dry soils tend to limit its growth. It thrives in shade, partial shade, or sunny but not scorching situations: dense shade, where it does not flower, and intense sunlight should be avoided. Cold and poor soils enhance its colours. If you are looking for an elegant and sturdy perennial that will always be attractive, look no further than this Bergenia. It can be advantageously used in pots, containers, rockeries, borders, or as a small ground cover, or at the base of deciduous bushes that allow winter sun but protect it from its summer heat. It can be associated, to edge a path, with perennial geraniums (Geranium macrorrhizum), primroses, and in woodland areas with creeping bugles, oriental hellebores, hostas, and Rodgersias, Astilbes.