General Culture:

Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soil in part shade to full shade. Tolerant of a wide range of soils, but prefers moist, humusy ones. Evergreen in the South but may suffer considerable winter damage in cold climates such as St. Louis. Remove all damaged foliage in late winter to early spring. Promptly remove spent flowering stems. Easily grown from seed. Spreads slowly by rhizomes.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Bergenia cordifolia is commonly called bergenia or heart-leaved bergenia. It is a large-leaved, clump-forming perennial that is primarily grown as a ground cover. It is noted for its dark rose pink flowers in April and its dark green leaves which turn purplish-bronze in winter. As with the species, ‘Winterglut’ features large rosettes of leathery, glossy, toothed, rounded, dark green leaves (to 10” long by 8” wide) that are heart-shaped at the base. Leaves typically form a thick, slowly-spreading clump of foliage to 12” tall. ‘Winterglut’ is noted for its reddish fall and winter foliage color and for its magenta-red flowers that appear in panicles within or above the foliage atop stout stalks to 16” tall in April. Leaves are often used in floral arrangements. Species plants are also commonly called pig squeak because of the noise produced by rubbing a leaf between thumb and finger. ‘Winterglut’ is commonly sold in the US under the trade name WINTER GLOW.