Elephant Ears / Bergenia cordifolia

Ten days ago, on 27 April 2016, I had a volunteer shift and afterwards, as the sun was peeping through the clouds, I decided to call in at the Reader Rock Garden. There was a reasonable number of plants in bloom, including several shrubs/trees covered in blossom. I wasn't sure if I was going to be too early or too late for Tulips, especially as this year has so far been most unusual, weatherwise, but there were a number in various colours. There was also a bush of gorgeous pink Hellebore flowers, hanging their heads as they tend to do. Also a few clusters of these vibrant Elephant Ears / Bergenia cordifolia. There was enough colour and variety of plants to make this visit worthwhile - and it should only get better and better with the coming weeks, hopefully.

Bergenia, also called elephant-eared saxifrage or elephant's ears, is a genus of ten species of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae. It is native to central Asia, from Afghanistan to China and the Himalayan region.

“Bergenia are incredibly hardy, and reliably evergreen throughout nearly the entire continent. Plants form a low clump of bold, leathery green leaves, which often turn bronze during winter. Short stems of magenta-pink flowers rise above the shiny foliage in mid spring. The winter leaves are a valuable addition to cut flower bouquets. Most effective when mass planted or used as an edging along a walkway.” From perennials.com.

www.perennials.com/plants/bergenia-cordifolia.html

We desperately need rain, though. In fact, this week's botany walk was changed from a natural area to the Reader Rock Garden, as either the wildflowers were already over or else they just hadn't grown because everywhere is so dry. I wouldn't be surprised if this year is a bad one for wildfires. Already, the massive fire in Fort McMurray and surrounding areas has been devastating to many thousands (80,000?) of people. They need rain so badly.