Bergenia ciliata ‘Patricia Furness’

An exceptional clone from R.B. Cooke’s garden at Kilbryde in Northumberland, later named by Alan Furness, after his wife, at the request of the RHS Joint Rock Garden Committee. Alan received the plant from the garden when it was maintained by the University of Newcastle following Cooke’s death. The garden was well known in botanical circles for the rare plants grown there, many raised from the collections of plant hunters in the 1920s and onwards. Sadly, the University sold the site and it is now a nursing home with most of the garden plants lost.

There is no information on the provenance of the origin of the plant and there’s no indication Cooke raised it from seed. It looks rather more like B. pacumbis than B. ciliata due to its glabrous leaf surface but it remains a named variety of ciliata for now.

The compact clusters of white flowers, blushed a soft pink, with a dark centre, is the main attraction. It makes an excellent cut flower but is best grown under cover to prevent the flowers being frosted. One to keep an eye out for at rare plant fairs, particularly in north England.