Perennial ground cover
How to grow bergenia (elephant's ears)
Bergenia cordifolia and hybrids
Bergenia grows in almost any UK soil in sun or shade, including the dry shade under trees where little else will. Plant pot-grown clumps in March to May or September to October with the thick rhizome sitting half out of the soil, never buried. Two things decide how good it looks: a lean soil with some sun for red winter leaves and plenty of flower, and dividing the clump every 3 to 5 years before the centre goes bare.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Sun to shade
- Soil
- Most soils; including poor and dry
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.5
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting bergenia (elephant's ears)
WhenPlant Mar to May or Sep to Oct; flowers Mar to May; divide every 3 to 5 years
Starting off
Plant pot-grown stock Mar to May or Sep to Oct; bare-root divisions are sold in Mar. Propagate by division in Sep to Oct or Mar every 3 to 5 years, lifting the clump and cutting the rhizomes into 10 cm sections each with a leaf rosette and roots, replanting at the surface; even leafless rhizome sections 5 cm long laid on compost in Mar root and shoot. Seed sown at 15 to 18°C in Mar germinates in 3 to 6 weeks but hybrids do not come true.
Spacing and planting
Clumps reach 30 to 45 cm tall in flower by 45 to 60 cm wide and spread slowly by thick surface rhizomes; 'Bressingham Ruby' and 'Overture' stay at 30 cm, 'Ballawley' reaches 60 cm. Plant 40 to 45 cm apart (5 to 6 per square metre) for ground cover, with the rhizome half-buried at the surface, not deep. Good in a 30 cm pot or trough in shade, where the leathery leaves hold all winter.
Varieties worth growing
- 'Bressingham White'
- Pure white flowers in April over deep green leaves; the best white, and robust in shade.
- 'Overture'
- Magenta flowers on red stems at 30 cm, with leaves that turn beetroot red in a cold winter.
- 'Eric Smith'
- Grown for the winter leaf: glossy, crinkled and bronze-red from November to March in an open position.
- 'Silberlicht' (Silverlight)
- White flowers that age to pink, early and free flowering, with large rounded leaves for ground cover.
- 'Bressingham Ruby'
- Compact at 30 cm with deep rose flowers and maroon winter foliage; the one for a pot or the front of a border.
Month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Nothing to do. This is when the red winter leaf colour is at its best.
- February
Pull or cut away tatty, brown and spotted leaves before the flower spikes rise.
- March
Plant pot-grown clumps. Divide old clumps if you did not do it in autumn. Thin compost mulch round, not over, the rhizomes.
- April
Main flowering. Keep planting. Nematodes for vine weevil in pots.
- May
Cut spent flower stems off at the base. Last planting before summer.
- June
Water spring plantings in dry spells; established clumps need none.
- July
Nothing to do.
- August
Nothing to do in the ground. Nematodes on pots at the end of the month.
- September
Plant. Lift and divide congested clumps, replanting the young outer pieces.
- October
Finish dividing and planting while the soil is still warm.
- November
Rake fallen tree leaves off the clumps so they do not smother the foliage or shelter slugs.
- December
Nothing to do.
Feeding bergenia (elephant's ears)
In the ground bergenia needs no fertiliser at all, and rich feeding gives big soft green leaves with poor winter colour. A thin mulch in spring and a little seaweed for plants in pots is the whole plan.
Low, tough evergreen ground cover that thrives on neglect.
Feeding plan
March, plants in the ground
Garden compost
A 2 to 3 cm layer between the clumps, kept off the rhizomes. No fertiliser.
Replanting divisions on poor, dry soil under trees
50 g/m² (the bottom of the label range), forked into the surface once before replanting. At 5 to 6 plants per square metre that is about 10 g a plant.
Potting up
5 ml per litre of compost: 60 ml (4 tablespoons) for a 30 cm pot holding about 12 litres.
April to June, pots only
1 g per litre of water as a drench every 3 weeks. Stop at the end of June.
Signs to watch
Purple-red leaves in Nov to Feb are normal winter colour; the same in Jul with stunted growth
Phosphorus short on cold, poor soil or drought
Bone meal and a compost mulch in Mar
Yellow older leaves between the veins in dry shade under trees
Magnesium short from root competition
Epsom salts drench at 20 g per litre
Few flowers and bare woody rhizomes
An old congested clump, not hunger
Di
Pests, diseases and problems
Neat U-shaped notches eaten from the leaf edges
Adult vine weevils feeding at night from May to September
Cosmetic on plants in the ground. Pick the adults off by torchlight and tidy the notched leaves away in February.
A pot-grown plant wilts and lifts away from the compost with few roots
Vine weevil grubs eating the roots and rhizome
Water on nematodes in late August or September and again in April while the compost is warm and moist. Repot into fresh compost, picking out the cream, C-shaped grubs.
Ragged holes in the leaves and flower stems grazed through
Slugs and snails, which shelter under the big evergreen leaves
Lift the leaves and pick them off, clear dead leaves from under the clump, and keep mulch thin round the crown.
Round brown or purple spots that spread into dead patches on older leaves
Fungal leaf spot, worst in wet seasons and in congested clumps
Cut off and bin the spotted leaves in February, and divide crowded clumps so air moves through them.
Flower spikes blackened and limp in March
Frost on the early flowers
Nothing is lost but that year's first flowers. Plant away from frost pockets and east-facing spots where morning sun hits frozen buds.
Rhizomes soft and brown, leaves collapsing from the base
Rot in waterlogged soil or from planting too deep
Lift, cut back to firm white rhizome and replant at the surface in a better-drained spot.
Pruning
Pruning and care
Lift and divide congested clumps with bare, woody rhizomes every 3 to 5 years in Sep or Mar, discarding the old centres. No staking or winter protection; the leaves redden and flatten in hard frost and recover.
Good to knowBig leathery leaves with spring flowers; tolerates dry shade. Remove tatty leaves in spring.
Growing in pots
One of the better evergreens for a pot in shade. Use a 30 cm pot or a trough with loam-based compost and a fifth grit, and set the rhizome on the surface as you would in the ground. Water when the top few centimetres are dry; it tolerates a missed watering far better than standing in a saucer. Vine weevil is the real risk in a pot, so treat with nematodes in April and late August. Split and repot every 3 years, when the rhizomes reach the rim.
Common questions
Why is my bergenia not flowering?
The usual cause is an old, congested clump with bare woody rhizomes, followed by deep shade and frost killing the early buds. Lift and divide it in September or March, replant the young outer pieces with the rhizome at the surface, and give it at least a few hours of sun.
Should I cut back bergenia leaves?
No, not as a whole: it is evergreen and the leaves are the winter display. Remove only the brown, spotted or tattered ones, in February before the flower stems come up, and cut the spent flower stems to the base in May.
Does bergenia grow in full shade?
Yes, it grows and covers the ground in full shade, including dry shade under trees, but it flowers less and the leaves stay green in winter. For red winter foliage and a full show of flower, give it sun for part of the day.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.