Not every owner of a garden plot is familiar with a wonderful ornamental plant called bergenia. It can be considered underestimated, because it is undeservedly rarely used in landscape compositions. We will talk about the types and varieties of the plant, planting and caring for it, propagating and using this not only beautiful, but also useful plant.
Content:
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Origin
Badan is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows wild in Central and East Asia. It belongs to the genus of the same name, which, in turn, belongs to the Saxifrage family. Badan received its Latin name bergenia (bergenia) in honor of Karl August von Bergen, a German botanist and doctor of medicine who lived in the 18th century.
Thick-leaved saxifrage - the first name of the plant
Badan became known to science after 1760., when the Swedish physician and naturalist Carl Linnaeus received a sample of an unexplored Siberian plant from the Imperial Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg. It received the name "thick-leaved saxifrage" and was known under this name for a long time, until the German professor of botany and opponent of Carl Linnaeus Konrad Mench singled it out as a separate genus.
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Large dark green leathery leaves of bergenia are collected in a basal rosette. With the onset of autumn, they begin to acquire reddish, brown, orange or crimson hues, giving the plant a colorful and exceptional decorative effect. First, the veins of the leaf turn red, then its edges, and then the entire leaf plate.
bergenia flowers
In a picturesque autumn garden, such an attractive plant will definitely not go unnoticed. On the contrary, bergenia will serve as a magnificent decoration of a personal plot. Even decorative leaves alone are enough to make a choice in favor of planting bergenia in the garden. But this plant also blooms beautifully!
Badan will always stand out from other plants in the gardenflowers bergenia can be white or all shades of pink, raspberry and lilac. They are collected in loose paniculate inflorescences on thick, leafless peduncles that appear among the leaves in early spring and continue to grow in height even during flowering. Badan blooms in spring - early summer. Flowering continues for two to three weeks.
This plant is drought-resistant and frost-resistant, and the bergenia keeps its shiny juicy leaves green even under a layer of snow. Tolstoy rhizome grows horizontally and is located at a shallow depth. Therefore, the perennial grows in breadth, forming picturesque thickets, and can be aggressive for nearby plants.
Badan can be considered a long-liver. In one place without transplants, this perennial grows and feels good for 10-15 years and even more. However, it is recommended to divide the bushes after 4-5 years: this contributes to their vigorous growth and lush flowering.
General view of the plant
To date, ten types of badan are known., which are wildly distributed in the temperate climate of Asia.They grow mainly in mountainous areas in a vast area from Central Asia to China and Korea, including the southern part of Siberia and the Far East, Afghanistan, northern Mongolia and the Himalayas.
The natural habitats of plants are alpine meadows and poor soils of stony screes and mountain slopes. Among the varieties of badan, annual plants are found, however, most species are evergreen perennials.
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Badan types
All types of badan are divided into two groups
Depending on the area in which the plants grow, all types of badan are usually divided into 2 groups (according to morphological features):
The most widespread in culture are two types of plants: thick-leaved and heart-leaved bergenia, which belong to the first group.
We will talk about these and other interesting types of bergenia that can be successfully grown in our gardens.
thick-leaved
When it comes to badan thick-leaved, you can often hear such names of this plant as "thick-leaved saxifrageor Mongolian tea. In the wild, this plant is widely distributed in Siberia, Kazakhstan, Primorye, in the northern regions of Mongolia, as well as in China and Korea. Badan thick-leaved grows on rocky slopes, in coniferous and deciduous forests and in mountainous regions up to an altitude of 2000 m above sea level.
It is this species that is most widespread in culture.. These plants are shade-tolerant and quite demanding on humidity. The thick, leafless stem reaches a height of 50 cm, and the rhizomes are 3.5 cm in diameter and have numerous branches that are located close to the soil surface.
Badan thick-leaved - medicinal plant. As a medicinal raw material, rhizomes are used, less often - leaves. Badan preparations strengthen the walls of blood vessels, help lower blood pressure, have a hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, astringent and antimicrobial effect.
heart-leaved
The bushes of this type of badan reach a height of up to 40 cm. Its dense or even rough leaves are dark green in color and heart-shaped. It is for this reason that the hearty bergenia got its name.
Plants of this species bloom in May, and flowering lasts about twenty days.. Small flowers, collected in dense racemose inflorescences, most often have a color of lilac or pink.
Less common are varieties with white or lavender flowers.
Pacific
This is a herbaceous perennial plant with thick rhizomes and dense leaves that are oval in shape and up to 20 cm in diameter. Peduncles of this species grow up to 40 cm, and the flowers, collected in lush inflorescences, have a lilac hue and are shaped like small bells. This type of bergenia blooms in May-June.
The leaves of the plant remain decorative throughout the growing season.: In summer they are green, and in autumn they acquire a beautiful reddish hue. In the wild, Pacific bergenia grows among stones, forming dense thickets.
Strechi
This is perhaps the smallest of all types.. His homeland is Central Asia, the Pamirs, the rocky slopes of the Himalayas, Afghanistan and China. Small glossy leaves are 10 cm long and 3-5 cm wide. They can survive quite well under snow cover.
Peduncles reach a height of 30 cm. The plant blooms in May for two to three weeks with white or pink flowers.German breeders worked a lot with this species, who, on its basis, created a whole series of varieties with creeping stems and small leaves.
Ciliated
This plant is native to Tibet and the Himalayas., where it grows in shady forests and on mountain ledges, rising to a height of several thousand meters above sea level. This species has round "bristled" leaves and white or pale pink flowers.
In regions with severe frosts, the leaves of these plants die off in winter., but the bushes themselves successfully hibernate and grow new foliage in the spring.
Schmidt
This species includes garden hybrids obtained by crossing a thick-leaved species with a ciliated. As a result, a strong plant was bred with dark green oval leaves up to 25 cm long.
The leaves, sitting on long petioles, have serrated edges and a sparse fringe of hairs.. Badan Schmidt blooms with bright pink flowers, collected in dense inflorescences.
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Today, breeders are working to create new hybrid varieties of this unpretentious perennial. They differ from each other in the size of the bushes, the color of the flowers, the shape and shade of the leaves. But all badans, regardless of variety, are exclusively ornamental plants.
Tubby Andrews bergenia leaves
Of interest is the "musical" series of hybrids, named after famous composers. These plants are characterized by unpretentiousness and winter hardiness. They are relatively small in size, but large flowers.
A series of bergenia, bred in Germany, includes varieties:
- "Betchoven" ("Beethoven")
- "Bartoc" ("Bartok")
- "Britten" ("Britten")
- "Borodin" ("Borodin")
- "Bach" ("Bach")
- "Bizet" ("Bizet")
- "Brahms" ("Brahms")
Among the bergenia varieties there are real giants 50 cm high ("Hidenuspe", "Schneekofcnigin") and rather compact plants reaching up to 30 cm ("Abendglut", "Baby Doll"). Ornamental varieties have also been bred with variegated foliage unusual for bergenia ("Tubby Andrews", "Galina Serova").
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reproduction
Badan is propagated in different ways: by seeds, cuttings and division of the rhizome.
Let's dwell on each of them in more detail:
Young seedlings need to be shaded, watered and weeded, which interfere with the normal growth and development of plants. At the beginning of autumn or next spring, the seedlings should be dived, and in the first winter they should be mulched with a fairly thick layer of peat or dry humus.
Plants grown from seeds bloom 3-4 years after sowing. Seeds can also be sown in March in greenhouse conditions, and the seedlings that have appeared can be dived and planted in open ground in June.
Delenki are planted on a prepared site. It is better to immediately plant the plants in a permanent place, since the badan does not like too frequent transplants. The cuttings should be planted about 40 cm apart from each other. The first 2 weeks after planting, the plants need regular, but moderate watering.
The separated part of the rhizome is planted in its place, making the distance between plants at least 30-40 cm. Badan should be transplanted carefully so as not to damage the roots. Planting is carried out to a depth of no more than 5 cm. In the first year, the plants form a rosette of leaves, and bloom for 2-3 years.
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Badan can be planted in a variety of areas: in the shade and in open sunny places, on the banks of reservoirs and heated warm slopes. However, places located in light partial shade are best suited for perennials. Plants may stop flowering in full shade.
Badan can be grown in different areas
The choice of location for this perennial plant should depend on the result that you want to get. If bergenia is planted in partial shade, where moisture is retained in the soil longer, it will grow into a thick and juicy green carpet, but it will bloom quite modestly.
In areas warmed by the sun, the plant will delight with lush flowering, but will not be able to form powerful bushes with dense foliage and will have a somewhat oppressed appearance. Badan growing in the sun requires regular watering.
Low-lying areas where water stagnates or groundwater is close to groundwater are completely unsuitable for growing bergenia. In this case, the roots of the plant may rot. Badan will grow best on light, fertile and moderately moist soils, neutral or slightly alkaline.
Since in the wild, badan grows well on poor stony soils, you can try to make a similar soil in your area. To do this, they usually mix 2 parts of sand, 2 parts of small stones and 1 part of soddy land. A small amount of gravel and sand can also be added to loamy soils.
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Badan - a plant not too demanding
Badan is not too demanding in care. When growing this plant, you need to monitor the soil moisture and try to prevent both its drying out and moisture stagnation. Loosen the ground around the bushes should be careful not to damage the roots located close to the surface.
In the spring, bergenia can be fed with universal mineral fertilizer at the dosage indicated in the manufacturer's instructions. The second time they carry out top dressing after the bergenia has faded. It is at this time that the plant lays new rosettes of leaves.
After flowering, if you do not plan to collect seeds for further propagation of bergenia, it is recommended to cut the flower stalks. This is done so as not to weaken the plants and to allow them to form strong healthy leaves.
Badan winters well in temperate latitudes, does not suffer from frost and does not need shelter. However, if you decide to cover the bushes for the winter with spruce branches, in the spring they will thank you with powerful growth and more friendly and lush flowering compared to those specimens that were not provided with shelter for the winter.
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To determine if a plant is sick, you need to examine its leaves.
Badan quite rarely gets sick and is practically not damaged by pests, however, improper growing conditions can provoke infection with fungal diseases. Such a danger arises at high humidity of the soil and air. First, round brown spots appear on the leaves, which later turn brown-gray.
You can determine the fungal disease by carefully examining the leaves. If a white bloom is visible on the bottom of the leaf, this indicates the presence of spores. When infected with fungal diseases, bergenia leaves can dry out completely.
Spores are transmitted along with diseased planting material and remain viable even in the cold season. Therefore, having identified the disease, it is necessary to cut and burn diseased leaves, and treat the plants with copper-containing preparations, for example, Bordeaux liquid. During the growing season, spraying can be done as a preventive measure.
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If, after wintering, you notice dried and blackened leaves on the bushes of thick-leaved bergenia, do not rush to throw them away. The leaves that overwintered under the snow underwent a natural fermentation process and acquired healing properties. In Siberia, Mongolia and the Far East, it is customary to brew and drink them like tea.
Dried bergenia leaves
This drink is called Mongolian or Chigir tea. It has a dark color, has beneficial properties, has a tonic effect and improves immunity.
Badan rhizomes are also used as medicinal raw materials. They are harvested in the summer months (June-July).
The rhizomes, as well as the leaves, contain up to 27% tannins., which belong to the group of gallotannins. In addition, gallic acid is present in the leaves, up to 22% arbutin, up to 35% tannins and 2-4% free hydroquinone. Bergenin isocoumarin derivatives have also been found in the rhizomes.
Badan preparations are used in folk medicine as hemostatic, astringent, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agents.. They are used for bleeding, inflammation, colitis and are used in dental practice to treat chronic inflammatory processes in the oral cavity and gum disease.
Interesting feature: with age, the content of tannins in the leaves of bergenia decreases, and in the rhizomes it increases.
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In culture, badan began to be grown from the middle of the 18th century. Garden forms of this perennial are widespread in Europe. The original outlines of the bushes, interesting shape and rich colors of leaves and inflorescences allow you to create picturesque compositions.
Badan in landscape design
The plant has a decorative appearance from early spring to frost:
- spring bergenia bushes are decorated with numerous inflorescences with bright flowers
- summer its juicy foliage serves as an excellent backdrop for other flowering plants - irises, daylilies, phloxes, bluebells, asters, doronicum, gaillardia, alyssum
- v September bergenia leaves change their green color to a colorful autumn range, and the plants again come to the fore, attracting attention with bright colors
- even with the onset of winter leaves remain fresh, leaving in this form under the snow
Different varieties of bergenia react differently to the onset of cold weather. This is manifested in a different change in leaf color in late autumn. In some varieties, the edges of the leaves darken first, becoming brighter as the temperature drops. For others, the red border turns into bizarre stains, while for others, the entire leaf plate immediately becomes crimson, orange or crimson.
In Russia, bergenia is rarely used as an ornamental plant. And in vain: it looks great in plantings that mimic the natural landscape: on the banks of reservoirs, in Alpine rollercoaster and rock gardens. Badan is good as a border plant.
Groups of the same type of varieties look great against the backdrop of manicured lawns. Badan goes well with ferns, coniferous and ground cover plants. Its large round leaves make harmonious combinations with plants that have narrow and split foliage.
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