Epimedium 2012

[McDonough]

I start out with a couple web links I found, showing Epimedium in the wild in China.  This particular site has 5 species listed; I'm featuring two of their links.  The first is to Epimedium brevicornu, with some nice photos:

E. brevicornu:
http://www.gaolongxiao.com/chinese/product/product_view.asp?productid=1083

Next is E. grandiflorum:
http://www.gaolongxiao.com/chinese/product/product_view.asp?productid=1086

The site also shows a plant listed as E. pubigerum, but the photos themselves have watermark captions as Epimedium hunanense, yet the photo depict neither species! Looks more like the starry white flowers of E. stellulatum or pubescens  (my guess is, it resulted from confusion between the similar names of pubigerum and pubescens.  The moral is, doesn't trust everything found on the internet; lots of bogus misinformation out there.

[McDonough]

Going through my digital photos, I came up with the following selection of memorable views, most I haven't shown before.

The first two views showing E. x versicolor 'Strawberry Blush' and E. x youngianum 'Royal Flush'.  The dark leaf lavender-pink flowered plant is 'Royal Flush', a stunning plant with glowing chocolate red leaves in early spring, retaining some dark leaf color when in flower in late April, the flowers held just above the foliage.  The recent versicolor selection 'Strawberry Blush' has broadly plump pale yellow sepals, the deeper yellow cup and strawberry blush color not seen from above; one has to peak at the underside of the downturned flowers to see the blush  This one has complimentary bronzy leaves too; an excellent plant.




On the left is an Epimedium garden view; notice the mottled shoot of Arisaema tashiroi x amurense in the center, a spontaneous hybrid that occurred in my garden.
On the right is another garden view, with E. grandiflorum 'Lavender Lady' in the center, one of the showiest grandiflorums.  However I am of the belief that 'Lavender Lady' actually has some E. sempervirens genes in it, based on the rich leaf color that occurs after the flowers are prime.




Left: one of many self-sown E. brevicornu x membranaceum hybrids, with outstanding hot foliage color is spring.  Need to work on these to get bigger and better flowers.  On the right is E. sempervirens "Variegated", an outstanding variegated form in every respect.  Sadly this one was a casualty of the 2011 record-breaking drought here; where dozens of epimediums could not withstand multiple months of no rain whatsoever.




The fun of growing Epimediums is growing on many self-sown hybrids (as well as engaging in intentional controlled hybridization), on the left is one such spontaneous hybrid of E. youngianum 'Otome'.  It might not be particularly special, but it's different enough and costs nothing to have an excellent unique garden plant; we get too fixated on only having verified named species and cultivars.  On the right is one of my favorite Epimedium species, E. stellulatum, an all-around excellent garden plant with great mottled spring foliage and clouds of white flowers, and in the autumn and winter, the low evergreen bristly-edged leaves are darkly veined and fascinating.

[McDonough]

Courtesy of a candid photo of me and Darrell Probst "talking epimedium", taken by my friend Marsha Russell that she posted on Facebook.

[Tim Ingram]

Mark - the planting you show reminds me very much of the woodland garden at Kew made by Tony Hall. There are also many epimediums there, even a few hybrids although as a botanical collection they must prize the species. In amongst them are marvellous plantings of trilliums, ferns and all sorts of woodland plants. Although flowers provide the colour my greatest impression was the variety of distinctive foliage in many of these plants and the epimediums and related genera are pre-eminent in this. I have always wanted to make such a planting but not really succeeded so far; your pictures certainly inspire me to continue!

[McDonough]

Thanks Tim, but I think epimediums speak for themselves. If they are given room to grow into mature clumps, one can't go wrong, they provide aesthetic attraction all season long, and complement rather than compete with their company.

[Hoy]

Mark, when can we expect your book on Epimediums?

[McDonough]

There are others that have much more experience and knowledge than I do on Epimedium; when I'm able to retire in 9 years, we'll see what happens then.  Until then, I'll keep on posting 

[WimB]

Mark, when can we expect your book on Epimediums?

I'm waiting for that too, Trond!    And I'm still waiting for the start of "Mark's vision nursery" too.... 

[WimB]

Yesterday I received a piece of Epimedium grandiflorum 'Azumino'.

It was still in leaf, so it's certainly not a pure E. grandiflorum.
The rootstock looks like the ones on a grandiflorum and the flowers look like a grandiflorum too (according to the friend who gave it to me).

I can find no information about this "hybrid"(??) though, so I was wondering if anyone here knows anything about this cultivar?

[McDonough]

After searching, my guess is this in not actually a deliberately named cultivar, but possibly something found or bought in the city of Azumino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.  In one of the two references found, they do say the leaves are evergreen, so probably not E. grandiflorum.  My guess is, we've just witnessed the birth of a new and expensive cultivar that will be mass produced.

Epimedium grandiflorum "Azumino"?

http://www.kwekerijen.net/planten/index.cfm?showall=yes&fuseaction=kwekerslijst&searchstring=&filter=&kw_id=1141&kwekerij=De%20Hessenhof

This site says they "bought as E. grandiflorum 'Azumino', but keeps its leaves, no E. grandiflorum type?".  There's no photo for it, the photo is for another cultivar below it.
http://www.hethoutenhuis.eu/index.php/p2/z5/e/169/0/0/1096/6

[WimB]

After searching, my guess is this in not actually a deliberately named cultivar, but possibly something found or bought in the city of Azumino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.  In one of the two references found, they do say the leaves are evergreen, so probably not E. grandiflorum.  My guess is, we've just witnessed the birth of a new and expensive cultivar that will be mass produced.

Epimedium grandiflorum "Azumino"?

http://www.kwekerijen.net/planten/index.cfm?showall=yes&fuseaction=kwekerslijst&searchstring=&filter=&kw_id=1141&kwekerij=De%20Hessenhof

This site says they "bought as E. grandiflorum 'Azumino', but keeps its leaves, no E. grandiflorum type?".  There's no photo for it, the photo is for another cultivar below it.
http://www.hethoutenhuis.eu/index.php/p2/z5/e/169/0/0/1096/6

Thanks Mark,

"De Hessenhof" had it for sale but it was no longer on their sale-list since last year!
"Het Houten Huis" has no picture of it indeed... I'll try to post a pic of the leaves tomorrow and I'll post a picture again when it's in flower!

As for it being an expensive cultivar, I know of one nursery in Belgium which will be selling it...don't know the price yet   

[McDonough]

Looking forward to seeing photos of the leaves.

From Google maps, this is what Azumino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, looks like:

[WimB]

Looking forward to seeing photos of the leaves.

Voici 

Had to pot him up today, but all the potting soil and compost I had was frozen solid, real fun to get soil defrosted inside the house 

[McDonough]

Well, that foliage certainly disqualifies it from being a "grandiflorum" type.  Based on the leaf shape, evergreen habit, and noticeably bullate/veined character, it looks just like an Epimedium sempervirens type.

However, since it is already beginning to show up in the trade as a grandiflorum cultivar, and with a location name possibly mistaken as a cultivar name, I fear the misidentification might persist and become widespread.

Wim, thanks for posting the photos.  Now I can't wait (but, will have to wait) to see the flowers.

[WimB]

Anyone ever heard about an Epimedium (grandiflorum) 'Kusudama'. Or even better, maybe someone has a picture of this form?
A friend of mine has this Epi in her nursery, but she forgot to take pictures last year.

The only pic I could find of this cultivar was here: http://www.bluetendatenbank.de/web/Epimedium-,1,100,2546.html