I'm with you. I had one for about 5 years. It never bloomed. Looked ratty every spring. I finally dug it up and put it into the compost. I live in northern Wisconsin.

I love the leaf shape and color, variation in my GREEN shade, but the blooms would be nice too. The Fall red the leaves turn is nice too. Wonder what the trouble is.

NEVER, EVER Igave up on it. I have one left and its only there cause it has varigated foliage.

I've been watching this thread in hopes of THE ANSWER. I haven't had any luck with Bergenia either, and was hoping someone would know. Surely, the answer is out there somewhere.

I became fully aware of Bergenia in 2000 in Eastern Europe. While riding the train through Poland and Austria, I saw huge window boxes hanging off balconies, full of gorgeous Bergenia. It was not blooming, wrong time of the year (fall), but it was so healthy, it looked like it would bloom come spring. After seeing it I vowed I would get some the minute I returned home.

Do any of you know anyone in Poland or Austria?

Ah! I just had a thought! Window boxes are containers! Do you suppose it does better in a container?

I've only seen it bloom once in this area. It was in a raised, mound shaped island in the middle of a blacktopped entrance to a campsite that my son was raking leaves at in the Spring. I was taken by it and bought it for that reason. It has never bloomed for me and struggles to survive.I don't imagine that it gets much winter protection in the location I saw it in. For all I know it was planted there that Spring. Perhaps I should try it in a more protected spot, for example up against my house foundation. Maybe I'll move it there. Can't hurt to try!

I have at least two varieties of bergenia that I rescued from the "throw-away" pile when I worked at nurseries, so I really don't know which varieties they are. The one I got first has multiplied, but none of those plants has ever bloomed. The other that I had for about three years, bloomed this past spring, and was very pretty and long-blooming. I do know that it is one of the newer varieties. Bergenia shouldn't be cut back in the fall. Unless the leaves are dried up (crispy) and brown in the early spring, they will usually come back - be patient!

Uhh, yes, every spring....
Can't imagine what's wrong, but these are incredibly tough, dependably-blooming evergreen groundcovers in these parts.

Well, I just noticed something - this is the 'Shade' forum. Perhaps bergenia are less prone to blooming in shade than in sun? Most (all?) plantings of them I've seen here have been in sun, and I actually don't think of it as a shade plant. Might that be it?

ABgardeneer....I to have beautiful blooms every spring...and yes the leaves make a fine plant all summer. The blooms stand on a tall spire and have pink blossoms. They love to be devided when they get too crowded.
Lillian

Interesting about the shade question. The marker said shade...but mine is in indirect sun until the trees leaf out, when it is supposed to bloom according to the marker...and it gets a few hours of morning sun the rest of the summer. It does look so healthy, maybe I will divide and move some to Sun see what happens. I still say though it cannot bloom as early as the marker says here in ZN 3/4 as the winter does a number on the leaves and it looks pretty shabby unitl June. I never cut it back, but in the spring I took away the brown leaves. New ones followed. Experiments...I guess that is why I love gardening!

They bloom in early June here (or at least did this year, from the dates on my photos - hard to remember without dated photos!). Despite our lack of snow cover, the leaves are evergreen. The first photo is from late winter, showing the leaves totally "deflated" - but they are evergreen and do spring to life... I don't do much removing of leaves - only a few through the season that the plant has "abandoned".


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So, I realize this is not too helpful, other than the possibilities that more sun, and minimizing removal of leaves, might help towards getting blooms.

i realize i am zone 5, however, mine are in the shade and bloom every year. now, an interesting idea i have: once you divide it, i bet it blooms! don't know why, but i never saw a bloom on mine until i did this. also, i moved some last fall to the east side of the house. despite being moved, it bloomed the following spring.

i read somewhere that some plants respond to root pruning when they don't bloom. my honeysuckle was the same way until i took a shovel and "underground" root pruned it. maybe a coincidence, but it bloomed after that.

Thanks for the pictures. The bloom is beautiful! Hope my transplant works! My leaves look black and dry April and May. They do however perk up and new growth emerges. The leaves are beautiful all summer.