Bergenia

Bergenia crassifolia
Saxifragacae

aka "Pigsqueak" because of the sounds it makes when the leaves are rubbed together

Native to central Asia

perennial

hardy to -35 degrees F

prefers sun but does well in shade

24" tall x 24" wide

zones 3-8

purchased at Garden Fever Summer 2011

blooms April-May

remove spent flowers and blooms

easily grown from seed; propogates by rhizomes

allow seedheads to dry on the plant; remove and collect

They spread overground by thick stolons. If new specimens are desired, a mature clutch of leaves can be separated along the stolons to plant elsewhere.

Mine have been ravaged by slugs!! I have tried beer and Cory's Slug and Snail bait to not avail! I've even hunted them at night with a flashlight...

Bergenias have sundry traditional uses, the leaves having provided a "poor man's tea," & the high tannin content of the roots & stems having made it a useful ingredient in leather-tanning agents, wine preservative, tonic, or astringent. Root extracts have been used in Indian & Chinese medicine for treatment of kidney & gallstones, pulmonary infections, topically for blisters & hemorrhoids, & many other purported values. The active ingredients of extracts include bergenin & gallic acid, which at the very least have analgesic & astringent value so should indeed help hemorrhoids, though its value as an internal medication lacks such clear evidence.