Epimedium 2013

[gerrit]

Epimedium sempervirens 'Passion Hearts'

A stunning plant indeed. Beautiful flowers in masses above the attractive foliage in spring. Red edges on the individual leaves, which is a plus too.
A plant to propagate. Do you have a nursery to introduce it?

[gerrit]

I will try a few more of these this year as the ground is prepared beneath the apple trees. At the moment the snowdrops look really good; these are a selection... groups of each variety are interspersed with ferns, epimediums, trilliums and other woodlanders which come on later.

An apple tree is a good protector for Epimediums. The roots going down in the depth without bothering the plants at the surface. Conifers has a superficial root system and take away all the moisture.
A deep layer of leaflitter, mixed with peat is a good soil for your new acquisitions especially your E.'Pink Champagne'

[Tim Ingram]

That is an extremely fine looking plant Mark. I wonder how many other epis are evaluated after significant trial in the garden like that? It really bears dividends.

Thanks Gerrit - I shall work more carefully on providing the best conditions for these plants. Our biggest problem is often long spells of summer drought, but I think once well established even the more moist-loving varieties can weather this quite well. Epimedium grandiflorum and its forms seem the most difficult, but also amongst the most delicate and beautiful, so I must try harder.

[gerrit]

That is an extremely fine looking plant Mark. I wonder how many other epis are evaluated after significant trial in the garden like that? It really bears dividends.

That's an analysis that make sense Tim. That's also what I am worried about. A breeder coincidentally finds a new hybrid and there we are: a new eppi. I see so many new hybrids from Japan (x youngianums f.i.) and I think: ah another white, another pink, why should I buy.
Koen from Flandres tests his new arrivals a few years before selling. Sometimes I think: buy only species, not cultivars like Aaron does, but it won't work. I see a new hybrid and I have forgotten my concerns.

[RickR]

That certainly looks like a real winner, Mark.

And with an apropos and equally savvy marketing name, too!

[Lis Allison]

Gorgeous plant! The reddish leaves really set off the flowers, beautiful.

If only you could smuggle some into Canada.....

[McDonough]

Thank goodness for weekends, with some time to get caught up.

Thanks Gerrit, Tim, Rick, and Lis, for comments on E. sempervirens 'Passion Hearts'. I will have to muster great fortitude to dig up my plant this spring and divide it into little bits.

Rick: I work hard on names; keeping a small book with possibilities. I agonized over a dozen or more names on this one, who knew that conjuring names could be so challenging.  A plant will be stuck with whatever name is given, in perpetuity, so it should be a good one.  There's a recent trend to use kitsch names to make a clever pun, rather than attempting to capture some key characteristic of the plant; I'm not a fan of the puns.

Gerrit: I know exactly what you mean about seeing yet another pink, white, or lilac youngianum; they don't look much different than dozens upon dozens of similar ones.  Heck, I could name 500 or more such lookalike seedlings every year.  And then things get named completely as the result of a mistake, like Epimedium 'Creeping Yellow', or as it goes around now, E. grandiflorum 'Creeping Yellow'. A nursery was sent an unknown Epimedium described as having yellow flowers and creeping growth, but in a case of mistaken shipment, what was sent was a white flowered grandiflorum; e.g. the wrong plant, but it doesn't matter, the plant gets labeled 'Creeping Yellow' anyways!  Google it, many places have this gaffe for sale, for only $10-$14 dollars.

Tim: so much of the focus on hybridization is with flowers, when in fact, there is so much more that plants like Epimedium can offer.  In the record drought year of 2011, I witnessed first hand which epis suffered terribly from the extreme dryness, and which ones sailed through; Epimedium sempervirens is a winner for drought resistance, and as well, superb for foliage, generally much more so that the grandiflorums and youngianums. So, a primary focus for me, is to work with sempervirens.  If you can get your hands on some, they might do very well in your garden, under your apple tree.

Lis:  I know that movement of plants between Canada and USA is easier than overseas, with some Canadian nurseries shipping to USA, not sure about the other way around.  Hopefully more Epimedium cultivars will become available in all of North America, including many exciting ones from the European continent.

As I continue to go through my slides, here's a couple nice youngianum epis:

In these two views we see several epimediums. In the center is E. x youngianum 'Pink Star', an adorable little plant with perky pink and white flowers, and neat spring leaves with a coppery flush. On the right is pink youngianum 'Hanagaruma', purple grandiflorum 'Pierre's Purple' behind, and E. x 'Black Sea' (light yellow flowers) on the left.

 


For sheer flower-power, among the very best youngianum types is E. x youngianum 'Hanagaruma'. It has excellent foliage, small leaflets, and neat "foliage build", low and wide growing. The flowers are in dense clusters above the foliage, a lovely lavender pink. Notice a few seedling babies.

[Hoy]

I can't understand why it is so difficult to get Epimediums in Norway It is the same 3 or 4 as always have been. So I have little hope of getting Mark's lovely 'Passion Hearts' here

[gerrit]

I can't understand why it is so difficult to get Epimediums in Norway It is the same 3 or 4 as always have been. So I have little hope of getting Mark's lovely 'Passion Hearts' here

Ah, Trond, not only you, I'm sure that I'll never admire it in my own garden.

[Lis Allison]

That's about the situation here, too. Nurseries all carry the same 2-3 varieties, because they all get their stock from the same wholesalers.

I'm wondering if the wholesalers might not be very happy to have more choice of good Epimediums? Your new one could be just what they need!

I have 3 varieties in my garden. Two are wedged into rock crevices and seem very happy there. I planted them below the crevices but they kind of climbed into them. They look great  hanging down and seem very healthy. The third one has been annoying me a bit. It spread across some Trillium recurvatum, with a bad effect on said Trillium. Now I'll take the trouble in the spring to lift the Epimedium and re-plant it a bit further away. Or else dig out the Trilliums, one or the other. Sorry I don't know the names of the Epimediums; everything, especially labels, is covered in several feet of ice/snow. The two on the rock face both have soft yellow flowers although the plants are not the same, the other one is white. I like the way they look 'right' in a native plants garden.

[McDonough]

Lis, you have a couple options for pimedium sources in Canada:

From the first page of this topic:
Thimble Farms Nursery - British Columbia, Canada, they do ship to the US & Canadian provinces
Excellent affordable list of Epimedium, including the new 'Atlas' from Free Spirit Nursury, about 55 varieties.
http://www.thimblefarms.com/perennials%20a-g.html

In Ontario, where you live, there is Lost Horizons in Acton, Ontario. In the PDF link below, they list a superb selection of Epimedium, including many of the newer Darrell Probst hybrids and other new favorites, 88 Epimedium varieties in their 2013 catalog.  Unfortunately, they say that they do not ship. I realize Ontario is a big place, Ottawa to Acton is listed at 460km (286 miles) via Trans-Canada Hwy, a 5-1/2 hour drive.  But maybe if you ever plan to visit Toronto, you could combine the trip with some nursery shopping

Lost Horizons Nursery, Acton, Ontario
http://www.losthorizons.ca/dwnld/Lost_Horizons_Catalogue_2013F.pdf

One important thing to know about Epimedium, they come in two basic types, those that clump, and those that run. Some of those that run, can spread as much as 12" a year by underground rhizomes, choose carefully with these.  I prefer those that clump and don't spread aggressively. I like the fact that Garden Vision Epimedium catalog always mentions the spread/clumping characteristic of all those they sell.

[Tim Ingram]

I'm not sure about shipping plants around North America; how about to the UK too! - that list from Lost Horizon's is some list. I think epimediums may be the plants for our garden this coming year and I will follow that advice about sempervirens.

[Lis Allison]

Thanks for those links, Mark. I am familiar with Thimbles Farms. Unfortunately, this familiarity is as the result of a Negative Ordering Experience..... so we won't say any more. But Lost Horizons in Acton sounds promising. Even if they don't have everything they list (and they warn about this in their catalogue), I'd still find much more to buy than my poor budget would allow. I could drive down one afternoon, stay over, shop in the morning, and drive home. Sounds wonderful! Maybe I'll do!

[McDonough]

Epimediums on YouTube (includes 'Pink Champagne'), nice music too:
"Most popular Epimedium hybrids cultivars and species for gardens, Elfenblume."

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nArEAJ-2DtQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nArEAJ-2DtQ</a>

[gerrit]

Nice pictures in a colourful garden indeed.