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| Epimediums in the rockery |
I've been trying to think of something to blog about for the remainder of this winter.... I really find blogging to be good mental exercise (as I try to recall the names of all those plants) and quite relaxing as well. After focusing on magnolias in the last post, it dawned on me that I might pull together some of my photos from the past three or so years with the idea of focusing on a particular plant in each installment. Today I'll reference some of the epimediums that grow in the gardens here at Oak Lawn Cheese Factory.
Early in my gardening experience I was only aware of spreading cultivars of epimediums. I planted a couple plants and immediately forgot them for several years. Eventually I became interested in the clump forming cultivars and this in turn reminded me that years past I had planted the spreaders. They had long been buried in the shade of large arborvitaes and reasonably mature magnolias. This was one of the absolutely driest and most unattended parts of my gardens.
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| E xversicolor 'Sulphereum' |
Upon checking out the situation, I discovered Sulphereum was alive and well despite not thriving. Epimediums are plants that generally prefer decent soil and well-drained conditions to be at their best, but obviously in my experience, they can deal with much less. Sulfereum spreads four to five inches a year, has lovely foliage, and sprays of short spurred flowers pictured above. This plant makes an excellent ground cover.
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| E. x 'Domino' |
When I became aware of clump forming cultivars of epimedium, I ordered a few plants just to try them out. Domino, pictured above and below, soon became one of my favorites. Last year the plant stopped flourishing. I realized that the soil in the epimedium areas of the rockery, though quite rich black loam, had compacted over time and probably wasn't draining as well as it should. I dug out all the plants in that area and worked in a number of soil amendments to lighten the soil and improve the drainage. I was able to cut Domino into two good sized clumps. I am hoping that it will once again thrive this spring.
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| E. x 'Domino' |
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| E. x 'Domino' |
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| E. grandiflorum 'Circe' |
Circe (above) is a cultivar of Epimedium grandiflorum and is truly an eye catcher. I suspect the best feature is the sheer abundance of bloom... similar to Yubae pictured below, it offers 2-3 times the number of bloom stems and also has very attractive foliage.
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E. grandiflorum 'Yubae' |
Many epimediums have two flushes of foliage growth each season. E. grandiflorum 'Yubae' pictured above is no exception with its first flush of foliage and bloom being half the height of its second flush. Additionally, this is one of the longer blooming cultivars. The nomenclature for this cultivar has been quite confusing over the years, including the incorrect use of the names 'Rose Queen' and 'Crimson Beauty'. Yubae is a good example of Epimedium blooms with long spurs... in this case Yubae's are tipped with white. These spurs and blooms on wirey stems were in fact the thing that first drew me to epimediums... common names for epimediums include Fairy Wings, Barrenwort, and Bishop's Hat among others. Personally I find the Bishop's Hat connotation quite fitting.
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| E. grandiflorum 'Princess Susan' |
Grandiflorum cultivars are among my favorites and Princess Susan (above) is no exception. The plant was discovered in the garden of Harold Epstein, a self taught horticulturalist of the highest level and one of epimedium's greatest proponents. Susan was his daughter... in fact, looking through any epimedium list will draw numerous connections to Mr. Epstein. For example... "Pseudo-Larchmont" ( Mr. Epstein's garden was in Larchmont, New York).... another example is "Queen Este"... Esta was his wife. At the time of his death in 1997, Mr. Epstein was involved in a long term project of classifying the genus Epimedium. It is amazing to me that this man left his career as an accountant after suffering a heart attack, and without any prior knowledge of horticulture, went on to become recognized as one of the most important men in this country's gardening history.
I have acquired a number of additional epimediums over the past few years. I have had some difficulty with a few of them and am pretty certain that this has been due to drainage issues and soil that is too heavy. My gardening friend 'Frogpond' has been growing epimediums much longer than I have (in fact, it was in his garden that I first discovered the clump formers) and he is finding numerous seedlings that are coming into bloom. Many of the named cultivars have come about in this way.
Among the plants I am endeavoring to grow is E. brachyrrhizum, a species from China. This plant is short but has flowers in lavender-pink that are almost 2" in diameter.
Among the grandiflorums, Bicolor Giant involves pinks and raspberrys and even has some excellent fall foliage color. Lilafee is quite popular with large violet purple flowers and chocolate tinted foliage in the spring. Orion is considered a giant 'red' and is from Japan. This one grows about 15 inches tall at bloom time with no second flush. Pierre's purple has wine-purple flowers with white spur tips. Pseudo-Larchmont is a cherry rose and white grandiflorum. Saxton's Purple has lavender flowers and foliage with a coppery tone. Tama No Genpei has lavender pink and white flowers and can be seen to the right of Cerci in the above photo. I also grow some of the Epimedium x Youngianum which are fertile hybrids of grandiflorum and diphyllum. As with so many other plant genera, epimediums could easily become a passion.
I think that one of the reasons that I am so attracted to these plants has to do with how well they combine with other spring bloomers, including primula. I recommend giving them a try, remembering to provide some shade, and well drained yet moisture retentive soil which is where I made my mistake early on.
Take care, Larry
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