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After having seen E. campanulatum and E. x ecalcaratum '...' with very special inflorescence, I show my Epimedium davidii with irregular formed petals. Each flower is different. And I'm fond of it.
A local nursery was closing down and for a few days work helping clear up, I could have my pick of the remaining old stock. This was one I picked up. Along with a lot of the other plants from the same deal, there was no label. It was a dedicated 'alpine' plant nursery and so I'm thinking this plant is more than likely a species.
Ron, you asked for trade secrets on growing Epimedium. Here are a few that come to mind. Given them adequate space. They flourish with more light (sun) than shade in many cases; leaf coloring and flowering is best in a deciduous woodland that gets lots of sun when Epimedium are emerging and flowering. While delicate looking, they do great in sun for at least a portion of the day, with foliage coloring best when there is sufficient sun. While fairly drought resistant, they do best with adequate moisture, the ones I have lost was due primarily to being stressed by drought. They're not overly fussy about soil, but mixing in lots of decomposed bark mulch to a heavy soil works wonders and is much to their liking.
About drought resistance: it's good to repeat this. Epimediums can suffer from drought indeed. And even pass away. Altough most of the nurseries regularly claim they are drought resist. In my garden I lost several species under an overhanging conifer. The Epimediums had to compete with the root system of this thirsty conifer. And they lost the unequal battle.
That's exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks Mark, and Gerrit
It was a real pleasure to meet North Amercian friends old and new at the Czech event. Thanks to the terrific organisation of the Czech Team, I believe plant parcels from the post have already been delivered to some delegates.
It really is vital for phyto certification to be arranged for such an international event and the Czechs grasped that and went above and beyond excellence to make sure that everyone who could possibly ship plants home was able so to do. Knowing the disappointment felt by delegates at Nottingham in 2011, when such assistance was not provided, I felt that the Czech attention to detail was exemplary. Not only that, but the whole event and garden visits were superb!
It was good to meet you, Cecile, I hope you are safely arrived home now, too!
Probably the very best of Darrell Probst's epimedium hybrids is one called 'Pink Champagne'. Mine is a young plant that's just getting going, but the plant form, speckled foliage, and strawberry pink flowers in above-the-foliage sprays make this a real winner.
Epimedium 'Lemon Zest' is yet another of Darrell's excellent hybrids, this one a vigorous hybrid of E. ecalcaratum, with many stems and innumerable yellow bells, with with a hint of vestigial spurs, a delightful long-flowering plant.
The next two show a selected hybrid of mine, between E. stellulatum and membranaceum, brilliant mottled foliage when first emerging then turning green, and airy sprays of white and yellow flowers that last until August.
The small thimble-like yellow flowers of E. campanulatum are so cute, lacking any spurs, one of my favorites. In this vignette, we see three color forms of Iris cristata in the background.
Thanks a lot for the new information. Not a thing for the 'hurry-up' Face book page. We should reflect on this and read again and re-look the photos.
About 'Pink Champagne'. Now you may post pictures of this stunner without making me green of jealousy. At last I've got him. A very generous gift by Ben from 'The Houten Huys'.
You showed here the pictures of campanulatum and a hybrid of ecalcaratum. Two 'rare' growing species because of the shape of the flowers. The first I grow in the garden, the latter I 'forgot' to buy. Must do it as soon as possible.
This hybrid you showed, E. stellulatum x E. membranaceum must be a fantastic new cultivar, when it should get a name. Which such excellent parents.
Gerrit, I don't remember Darrell Probst ever having a form of E. wushanense given as working name of 'nova', the term 'nova' is usually in conjunction with the syntax "PlantGenus sp. nova", indicating a new as-of-yet unpublished species.
While fairly drought resistant, they do best with adequate moisture, the ones I have lost was due primarily to being stressed by drought.
Mark. I can't remember where I've got the story of wushanense nova. But true or not, it is plausible or perhaps likely.
About drought resistance: it's good to repeat this. Epimediums can suffer from drought indeed. And even pass away. Altough most of the nurseries regularly claim they are drought resist. In my garden I lost several species under an overhanging conifer. The Epimediums had to compete with the root system of this thirsty conifer. And they lost the unequal battle.
The lakes are still frozen but the ice cover will disappear in a few days now. I forgot to tell, we found a very cold frog on a patch of snow - it emerged from beneath the snow in fromnt of us. Apparently the sunrays penetrated the snow and reached the animal underneath. It looked cold but healthy and jumped along. The fungi Pseudombrophila guildeniae and Byssonectria terrestris are restricted to the very spot where an elk peed during the winter! (The Norwegian names implies that )
Yesterday we decided to take a hike. Our goal was the highest summit in this area. The terrain here can't boast of spectacular alpine forms but is a calm undulating landscape - an undulating piece of a Precambrian peneplain tilting a little from west to east. No steep mountain sides, no avalanches either! But a lot of bogs, lakes, creeks, dry ridges and moraines. The lower parts are covered by spruce forests and pine at the driest sites. Higher up birch forests take over although the spruces are slowly creeping upwards. When my father-in-law was a boy no tree was to be seen up here. We didn't reach our goal though, it was a though walk. The path was partly covered by deep loose snow, very soft in the heat, and the small cosy creeks were like rivers impossible to cross without getting soaked. Eventhe path was like a creek filled with meltwater. The birch woods are hard to walk in due to a lot of fallen trees. A lot of trees were killed by birch mothlarvae a couple years ago and now the dead treas make a labyrinth. The only flowering plants we did see were some grasses and sedges in the bogs. Not even the creeping azalea (Loiseleuria procumbens) was in flower. Some bumblebees looked in vain for them. At the treeline the Norway spruce (Picea abies) makes krummholz patches consisting of one clone. The stems are young but the root can be very old. Most trees show damage (brown leaves) from blowing ice needles in winter (that's why they often lack branches and leaves in a certain height). It is not frost damage. At this time the green clubmosses (Lycopodium clavatum) are easily seen, later they disappear in the vegetation. A big rock with red moss or rather a liverworth (Ptilidium ciliare) did catch our attention too.
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