Distinctive characteristics of badan, agricultural techniques for growing, recommendations for transplanting and reproduction, diseases and pests, interesting facts, species. Humanity has long used the natural resources of the green world of the planet to heal its diseases. One of these "healers" is badan, which has not only medical properties, but also has great decorative effect. And it's nice to see beautiful green leaves of this unpretentious, but such an unusual plant on your site among the stones by the pond.
Badan (Bergenia) is a member of the genus of flora representatives with a long-term life cycle and included in the Saxifragaceae family. The genus includes about 10 varieties and, on their basis, multiple hybrids have already been bred by scientific breeders. The plant can be found in territories stretching from Central Asia and Afghan lands to China and Korea, in Siberia and Primorye, in the northern Mongolian regions and Kazakhstan, where the temperate climatic zone prevails. He loves to choose for his growth crevices in rocks and rocky ground. Many of the varieties grow beautifully in the Himalayas, climbing to a height of 4000 meters above sea level for existence, however, the beauty of alpine meadows is not alien to badan.
Sometimes this beautiful bush is mistakenly called Saxifrage, but it has nothing to do with the mentioned genus. It would be more correct to call it Bergenia (a name that few people know). It was given to a perennial in honor of a botanist and healer from Germany - Karl August von Bergen, who lived in the 18th century. He described plants in his writings, and the most significant of his scientific publications was "The Flora of Frankfurt". At first, the badan was called "Thick-leaved saxifrage", but later they created a new genus and ranked this plant in it, naming it in honor of the scientist. However, people call it "elephant ears" for its beautiful, large and unusual leaves. For its medicinal properties, it bears the name of "Mongolian tea".
Bergenia reaches a height of only 6–35 cm, is an evergreen and rarely an annual. The rhizomes of the bush are thick, horizontal and sometimes can reach a length of several meters. In them, bergenium accumulates nutrients and this helps it to survive the autumn-winter period. Above the root is covered with a brownish skin, and the middle of it has a delicate pinkish tone. It actively darkens in air, since it contains a large amount of starch. The root itself is located in the substrate at a short distance from the surface.
The leaf plates are placed in the root space, scaly in shape, painted in a dark emerald hue. Their outlines are large, rounded and so reminiscent of the ears of elephants, in length and diameter they vary within 20-30 cm. Their surface is glossy, shiny and leathery. The edge may be plain or wavy. A decorative rosette is assembled from them. With the arrival of autumn and the onset of cold weather, beautiful green tones disappear, and an attractive "blush" of reddish, purple, bronze and yellowish tones appears. There are varieties in which these color changes concern only the areas of the veins, in others, the edge of the leaf changes, and in others they turn red completely, like leaves on trees. This is due to the accumulated carotenoids in the foliage. With the arrival of the winter months, all the beautiful foliage does not die away, but covered with a snow blanket "hibernates" until spring days.
Badan flowers are as attractive as its leaves. The shape of the buds is goblet, the petals of the flowers have red, pink or whitish colors, they are located on thick peduncles, devoid of leaves. From them, spectacular panicle or corymbose inflorescences are collected, in which the number of buds is sometimes up to 120 units. The diameter of the flower can reach 2 cm. The flowering process stretches from the spring months to early summer. As soon as it begins, the flowering stems are very short, and the buds seem to "lie" on the foliage. But, as time passes, the peduncles begin to lengthen and rise above the deciduous mass. In this case, the length of the peduncle reaches 40-60 cm. In the end, fully grown, curled inflorescences tend to the soil.
After flowering, the fruit ripens in the form of a box with elliptical outlines. It consists of two lobes diverging to the sides along the abdominal suture. The capsule contains multiple seeds. They are oblong with a smooth surface, naked and faceted. Their color is almost black, they reach 2 mm in length. When decorating a garden with greenery, badan looks great in alpine slides or next to artificial reservoirs. It is good to plant it with plants with narrow and variegated leaf plates, such as: arabis, phlox or hosts. It shows its growth of bergenia well in mixborders and parterres. When grown in a garden of berry, landscape designers can create entire clumps - open areas of lawns with a continuous planting of this plant in a frame of taller shrubs or trees.
Conditions for the cultivation of badan, planting and care
- Landing place bergenia is picked up in the shade or partial shade with diffused lighting. Better that the rays of the sun hit at sunrise or sunset. In the rooms, east and west windows are suitable for this.
- Watering. It is important to maintain a timely watering regime. The first time the soil is moistened during the budding period of the badan, the next time when the plant blooms and another one after 2-3 weeks from its completion. But this is only if there is not enough rainwater. Under natural conditions, the lower dying leaves of the plant successfully protect the soil from drying out. If bergenia is grown in rooms, then such leaves are cut off - without even leaving cuttings, and when grown in culture in open ground, then the soil under the bush is mulched. In room conditions, the soil is moistened as the top layer dries.
- Bergenia fertilizers. As soon as the snow melts and the leaves damaged during the winter are trimmed, it is necessary to apply complex fertilizers. The next time the berry is fed after it fades and the growth of new young leaves begins. You can use the drug "Kemira-kombi", while a tablespoon of the product is diluted in 10 liters of water. This is enough for a plot of soil of two square meters.
- Plant transplant. There is no need to frequently transplant bergenia, since its rhizome well develops the soil in the same part of the garden plot. This can be done every 5 years. If your area has frosty and snowy winters, then the plant must be dug up, planted in a container and taken to the basement for the winter. Badan can grow strongly and be aggressive to other green spaces, as it spreads in breadth. The transplant is combined with reproduction, separating the basal sockets and planting them in a new place.
The substrate for any kind of bergenia is taken light, turfy, it will not allow water to lurk. The acidity of the soil is slightly acidic or neutral with a pH of 5, 5–6, 5. As soon as the transplant is carried out, watering is carried out very abundantly for 14 days.
Recommendations for self-propagation of badan
To propagate bergenia, a simple method of dividing an adult bush is used. This is done when transplanting a plant every 5 years, but if the curtain has grown, then after a year or three. The parent specimen must be of middle age and have large foliage. It is necessary to dig in the bush and carefully separate the root parts from it so that each of the divisions has a rosette with a sufficient amount of foliage. The rosette should also have a heel for better rooting and at least 3 points of growth. At the same time, the mother plant itself is not disturbed. The leaves should be removed from the cut, and only 2-3 youngest should be left. The parts are planted in prepared holes in the open ground or in separate containers with drainage and soil. On a flowerbed, the distance between plantings should not be less than 30–40 cm. The delenka is planted to a depth of 3–5 cm. Rooting is very easy, the rosette is growing in the first year, and flowering can be expected after 2–3 seasons.
It is also easy to propagate incense by seeds. Seed material is sown in May-June. If seedlings are to be grown, stratification will be required. In this case, the seeds are placed in a bag and powdered with moistened soil, then placed in the vegetable compartment in the refrigerator, where the heat indicators reach 5 degrees and the seeds are kept there for 2 weeks. In open ground, seeds are sown in early spring. They germinate in a flower bed for 2–6 weeks, if the heat readings are 15–21 degrees. When the seedlings appear indoors, in a mini-greenhouse, then planting in the ground is carried out after frost. If your region is cold, then the most illuminated part of the garden is selected for the badan.
Problems with growing bergenia
The plant is practically unaffected by pests due to the chemical composition of its parts. But from heavy, clayey soil, rhizome rot can develop, which is caused by fungal infections. Sometimes remulariasis develops - spotting on the foliage of a brown shade with a red border on the upper side of the leaf plate, and a whitish bloom is visible from the back. With the further development of the disease, the foliage dries out. It is necessary to carry out the treatment with foundation or any means that contains copper (for example, Bordeaux liquid or copper sulfate).
It can only be affected by the slobbery penny - an insect from the cicada family. Insecticides are used to combat. Nematodes are also harmful - a round worm, due to which the plant stops growing and the foliage deteriorates. In this case, it is practically impossible to save the plant. But it is worth trying, the roots of the badan are kept in a strong solution of potassium permanganate, followed by transplantation into disinfected soil.
Interesting facts about badan, properties
If you use dried leaves of Chigirinsky tea, it will help to raise immunity and cure multiple diseases. Cabbage rolls are prepared from fresh foliage. There are many phytoncides and active substances in the leaves that help strengthen the walls of blood vessels, are used for diseases of the oral cavity and digestive tract, women use it for heavy menstruation, and the plant is also widely used in cosmetology.
In the tanning and dyeing industry, badan is known because of the substances that make up the foliage.
Types of badan
Badan thick-leaved (Bergenia crassifolia) or as it is called Saxifrage thick-leaved or Mongolian tea or Chagyr tea. It grows in Siberia, can be found in Kazakhstan and Primorye, as well as (from the name) in the northern regions of Mongolia, China and Korea. He likes to settle on rocks, talus, rocky slopes or old moraines, sometimes the height of his living space is 2500 meters above sea level. Perennial with herbaceous growth and evergreen foliage. Its rhizome is powerful, creeping, highly branched. Shoots are divided into two types: vegetative rosette and flowering, devoid of leaves, which, when fruiting, can reach a height of 40 cm. The leaves on the first shoots are large, leathery and glossy. Their outlines are obovate, painted in bright green tones. With the arrival of autumn days, this foliage background changes to a fiery red.
Bell-shaped flowers with whitish, pinkish-lilac or lilac-purple petals. The bud reaches 12 mm in length. Dense inflorescences are collected from the flowers. The flowering process, which began in early summer, can last 3-4 weeks.
Based on this variety, the following varieties were bred:
- Giderruspe reaches a height of 60 cm and has buds of a pale pink color, which gather in inflorescence groups, reaching a length of 20 cm. The flowering process takes almost 60 days.
- Purpurea, the bush can reach a height of half a meter, its flowers are purple-red with a diameter of up to 1 cm.
Badan Ugamskiy (Bergenia ugamica V. N. Pavlov) likes to settle in rocky crevices, climbing up to 2500 meters above sea level. Sizes are 16-30 cm. The flowering process occurs in July-August, and the fruits ripen in August. Basically, the variety grows on the territory of Kazakhstan, and it is listed in the Red Book.
Badan Strechi (Bergenia stracheyi) or Badan Gorbunova (Bergenia gorbunowii). Native habitat on damp rocky surfaces of Central Asia, in Afghan lands and in the Himalayas and China. Its landings can occur at an absolute altitude of 3000 meters. At first, the name of the variety was given to the plant in honor of Gorbunov, who was the leaders of the expedition group that was moving to the Western Pamir region, but then the variety was renamed. This is a living relict work of nature.
The leaves have an elongated ovoid shape and a glossy surface covered with cilia, the edge is serrated. The length of the leaf is 8–10 cm in length and up to 3–5 cm in width. The leaves are well preserved under the snow cover. On peduncles with a length of 40 cm, inflorescences in the form of brushes are formed, collected from small flowers with a length of 15 mm. Their color is whitish or lilac-pink. Flowering occurs in mid to late summer.
The best varieties are highlighted:
- Gazebo is a miniature variety with parameters of 20 cm in height, leaves are measured 4–6 cm and flowers of a white hue, which changes over time to pink;
- Beethoven height up to 40 cm and snow-white flowers, peduncles are painted in pink, and the calyx is brown.
Badan cordifolia (Bergenia cordifolia) is a plant with a height of 40 cm, is a variety of Badan thick-leaved. Here the leaf plate is rounded, with a rough surface, its color is dark green. Bell-shaped flowers have deep pink or lilac shades, from which the brushes-inflorescences are collected, inclining to the ground. Blooms in May. There are species with lavender or whitish petals of the buds. It has been cultivated as a culture since 1779.
Badan Hissar (Bergenia hissarica) is an endemic plant (which grows only in one place on the planet) of the Hissar ridge, it is a rather rare relict species. The rhizome process is powerful, a basal rosette is formed from the leaves. Their shape is obtuse, oblong and obovate, with a bare surface, matte along the edge, pubescent with dense cilia. Peduncle height 20 cm. Brush inflorescence is formed of 6-8 flower buds with white or slightly pinkish petals.
Badan hybrid (Bergenia x hybrida) bred by breeders variety, including the most cultivated varieties:
- Abenglut is a shrub with a height of about 30 cm and bright green foliage, which acquire a bronze-brown hue in autumn. The flowers are bright purple, sometimes double;
- Frau Hall it is distinguished by the buds of a snow-white color and marsh color of the foliage, the leaf stalks of the autumn days acquire a bright purple color;
- Shneakenigin has a height of up to half a meter, the edge of large large leaves is wavy, the flower-bearing stems are purple. The flowers are large, white with a calyx shape, gradually changing color to pink.
For more details about bergenia or badan, see this video:
