Sandy's Garden ... Burgeoning Bergenias

When Dougal Philip drew up the design for our garden more than 25 years ago, he spoke of planning the layout in such a way that it was not possible to see the whole of this part of the garden from a single viewpoint.

The ‘back garden’ is divided into ‘rooms’ by careful positioning of large shrubs to forms ‘walls’ with open ‘doorways’ where paths give access from one room to another. It all sounds as if we have a very large garden indeed but, although pretty generous by the standards of housebuilders in 2021, these characteristics are achieved by skilful design rather than by virtue of sheer size.

Initially, of course … for 10 and more years … these design parameters could not be appreciated, for we simply saw over the small, young shrubs and trees so that Dougal’s intention was thwarted.

But the plants matured and, little by little, began to perform the tasks they had been planted to do. Gradually, the multi-roomed garden appeared, with tempting glimpses along pathways inviting us and our visitors to explore what lies beyond. And yes, it is still a temptation to venture beyond the limits of what can be seen to investigate what lies just round this corner or through that opening, even though we know what is there and are merely curious to see whether the plants are in full leaf, or flowering, or producing fruit or whatever.

And today, with Dougal’s design fully realised, a feature we had not anticipated … although he had … has appeared. Tall shrubs or small trees planted on either side of a path have grown and spread and now meet overhead, creating natural archways. We could never have achieved these wonderful vistas on our own!

In one fairly secluded and well-sheltered room, visible only to visitors who choose to access it, there is an area where the path is flanked by bergenias.

Their common name of ‘elephant ears’ comes from their paddle-shaped, glossy green leaves.

And, although bergenias are happy to grow in sunshine or shade, in poor soil or rich and are content to live through typical Scottish winters, cold winds can damage the foliage and frost can spoil early flowers.

Last week, I decided that the bergenias were burgeoning beyond their bounds. I uprooted some of the more recent, and more intrusive, additions to the colony and was surprised at the thickness of the fleshy roots which … fortunately … stay quite close to the soil surface.

Such roots must have encouraged mankind to find out whether they could be eaten or exploited for some purpose and, sure enough, the roots are used as a tonic in the treatment of fevers, diarrhoea and pulmonary affections in traditional medicine, particularly in the Indian sub-continent; and they have a high reputation for dissolving stones in the kidney.

As ever, gentle reader, do not explore any of these real or supposed benefits using plants from your garden! And don’t take proprietary bergenia products without consulting your doctor.

Although bergenias are non-toxic, they can affect your cardiovascular system.