Plant Database
Heartleaf Bergenia
Bergenia cordifolia
Bergenia cordifolia is a tough, semi-evergreen perennial prized for its large, leathery, heart-shaped leaves and showy spring flowers. This clump-forming plant spreads slowly by thick rhizomes to form a lush, weed-suppressing ground cover. The glossy, dark green leaves are rounded to heart-shaped with scalloped, toothed margins, often developing attractive bronze to reddish-purple tones in autumn and winter. In early to mid-spring, it produces sturdy, upright stems bearing dense clusters of nodding, bell-shaped flowers in shades of white, rose, or purple, attracting early-season pollinators. Exceptionally cold-hardy, deer-resistant, and adaptable to a range of shade conditions, it is an outstanding choice for woodland gardens, shady borders, mass plantings, slopes, and as an understory ground cover beneath trees and shrubs.