Life must be filled up

This week, I wanted to choose a flower that wasn’t yellow, which tends to be the dominant colour at this time of year. So I picked Bergenia. Some people absolutely hate Bergenias, or ‘Elephant’s Ears’ as they are known. Those huge, leathery leaves! That repellent bright pink! If, like me, you have a difficult patch in the garden, a patch which I’ve named ‘the death bed’ because it seems to kill anything I put in it, Bergenias can be your friends. Plus, as you see from the photos, they don’t have to have huge leaves or be a vivid pink. This variety is Bergenia ‘Harzkristall’ and was a great bargain: £2.00 from the nursery sale and in such a big pot that I was able to split the plant immediately. So far it’s put up with being in the shade, in a poorly drained bed and, last winter, actually sitting in standing water.
( more pics )