Epimedium 2012

[WimB]

Very nice, that 'Ko Zakura', Mark...maybe I should buy that one too!

Wim, where does one find the correct syntax of a Japanese cultivar name?  Everywhere I have looked, including the RHS Plant Finder, the cultivar name is listed simply as 'Kozakura', I have not seen it as 'Ko Zakura'.  Is there a reference for how the cultivar was first described?  Googling, it seems that 'Kozakura' is a Japanese surname.  Just curious, as I'm a stickler for details
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/plantlist.asp?code=XPou+&name=Koen+Van+Poucke&id=2966

I always separate the words according to their meaning: Ko = Child; Zakura or Sakura = Cherry Blossom....I'm not sure if that is how it should be separated, but that's how my Japanese friends showed me the meaning of cultivar names when I was writing my article on Japanese Adonis.

[ErnieC123]

Can somebody help me with these two Epimedium grdfl.ssp.koreanum? Maybe one is E.gdfl.ssp.flavescens?





Thank you before answering :-)

[gerrit]

Gerrit, I believe there might be a mixup in the one labeled as E. x youngianum 'Kozakura'.  I believe the plant you show is actually E. x youngianum 'Beni-Kujaku'  (Wim shows a photo of this).  I am posting two photos of each variety to compare.  Kozakura is an odd one, with deciduous sepals and little open cups of pale lavender with the middle of each petal stained a deeper lavender-pink.  It's not very showy, more of a curiosity.  It's in flower now (photos taken today), whereas E. youngianum 'Beni-Kujaku' is one of the earliest to flower (well, at least here that's the case), fairly showy with lots of deep red-violet flowers, until the quick-to-appear second flush of leaves overtakes the flowers.

Thank you Mark. You are definitely wright. This is not E.x youngianum 'Kozakura' indeed. Glad you noticed it.
Kozakura is a curiosity and I will buy it as soon as possible. I like it very much.

[RickR]

I like them, every one.

But Wim, Spine Tingler is magical!  And the photo is truly fantastic!

[McDonough]

Much to catch up with:

Ernie, great to see 'Fire Dragon', this is a new one in my garden too, just starting to flower and I'm excited to see the excellent color of the flowers.  

Regarding the two epimediums in question, your first E. grandiflorum koreanum is actually E. grandiflorum f. flavescens.  The other one, with large light yellow flowers low on the stem with foliage high above, is E. koreanum.  The species separation between E. grandiflorum f. flavescens and E. koreanum is cited in William Stearn's monograph on Epimedium.

E. grandiflorum 'Creeping Yellow' is an unfortunate name; from researching this one, it is a very nice foliage plant, the name referring to the light chartreuse green foliage that is banded with red and specked red; the flowers reported by numerous nurseries as pure white.

E. myrianthum does indeed have spectacular mottled spring foliage, I like these types of "eppies". Never heard of E. grandiflorum 'Kotobuki', seems to be so many subtlely different Japanese cultivars.  Here's a web site with many Japanese cultivars, many I have not heard of.
http://www.shikoku-garden.com/lists/List2009/Epimedium09.htm

Wish that I could find E. grandiflorum 'Freya' here, looks like a real winner.

Gerrit, I have no problem with E. grandiflorum v. higoense, and varieties 'Bandit' and 'Saturn' with lots of strong light.  In the Garden Vision Epimedium nursery, these received almost full sun, and did just fine, as do mine.

Wim, E. grandiflorum 'Akagi Zakura' is gorgoeus, a delicious red-pink color, and low stature.  Not heard of this one before.  

Regarding E. "pallidum", there is no such published name, no such species, it is a horticultural misnomer.

[WimB]

Shikoku has a very nice website....it's one of the few Japanese nurseries which exports:

Some more Japanese Epimedium pictures, here:

http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamakusa/newpage9.htm (if you click the pictures, they enlarge!)
http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamakusa
http://www.ishidaseikaen.com/webshop/products/list326.html

[ErnieC123]

Ernie, great to see 'Fire Dragon', this is a new one in my garden too, just starting to flower and I'm excited to see the excellent color of the flowers.  

Wish that I could find E. grandiflorum 'Freya' here, looks like a real winner.

Regarding E. "pallidum", there is no such published name, no such species, it is a horticultural misnomer.

'Fire Dragon' is a real nice cultivar but it looses its color when getting to warm!

I would like to send you a E. grdfl. 'Freya', but i don't know what i have to do. Clear of all soil is a must so it works only in winter. Do i have to put a plant certification into the mail? If it is easy , i would send you one plant. In summer a friend of my brother from the usa visits us in germany. Maybe she can take a plant to the usa. I will ask duty officers if there is a possibility.

I heard about E.pallidum that Ernst Pagels has selected this plant. He was a a student of Karl Foerster. Pagels breaded mostly grasses like Miscanthus. But he also breaded Sedum, Salvia, Achillea, Aconitum and other. Maybe he found a seedling next to E.vers.'Sulphureum' or other. He only registered about 140 plants of many selections he made. So this might be the problem. I will plant a E.vers.'Sulphureum' next to my E.pallidum and try to find a difference.

And i just wanna say thanks a lot mark for bringing light into the dark!!! Now i know what E.koreanum and E.grdfl.v.flavescens is!

[McDonough]

Ernie, no need to attempt sending plants here.  The person receiving plants here in the USA, originating from another country, can be heavily fined if all the proper required certificates are not in place.  It's too hard to send plants internationally, the USA restrictions are many, so please don't attempt it, although I certainly appreciate your most generous offer.

Regarding E. pallidum, the problem comes from the fact it is named as a species, not a cultivar like 'Pallidum' (which in itself is invalid to name culivars with latinised names), but the botanical binomial Epimedium "pallidum" was never a published name, it appears to be a horticultural invention that only occurs in horticulture, not in botanical science.  There are many examples of phantom names that only exist in the nursery trade.  I still believe there is no such thing as true Epimedium "pallidum", but of course, some nurseries will offer a plant named E. pallidum

[McDonough]

Moreso than ever, I'm moving towards epimediums as supreme foliage plants.  Yes, I do love the delicate airiness of epimedium flowers, but the leaf forms, colors, and "leaf-build" (the way the leaves stack up), provide compelling attraction season long, all year long with evergreen species.  This series of 10 photos focuses on epimedium foliage and plant views.

1.  E. brachyrrhizum showing a lush second flush of lively bullate glossy foliage, the 2nd year evergreen foliage visible at the base. On my top 10 list, for gorgeous sprays of silvery pink flowers and year-round great foliage.



2.  E. brevicornu clump, another wider-than-tall cornerstone species that should be in every garden, with Corydalis nobilis in the background.



3.  E. sempervirens - MMcDonough selected hybrid.  Wow, this one is really paying off, been watching this one for 5 years.  I will be showing a spring foliage progression to show the foliar metamorphosis, the early foliage is dark chocolate color, now making a high rounded dome of layered shiny green, red-edged leaves.



4.  E. grandiflorum 'Princess Susan', the standard by which to compare bright two-toned grandiflorums by, one of the best. The flowers peak out at the periphery of a flat-topped leafy plateau.



5+6  E. membranaceum x ?stellulatum -  I have a number of these. Originally I identified these as membranaceum x brevicornu, based on the fact the seedlings were found under these two species which were growing intertwined.  However, the bright orange new growth suggests stellulatum as a parent instead, growing about 3' away (bees do fly). The foliage is the main attraction, and the fact the small white and yellow flowers keep on going until the end of August (everblooming characteristic from membranaceum).  In the foreground is E. youngianum 'Grape Fizz', a pleasant cultivar.



7.  The epimedium garden viewed in morning sunlight has special moments. Here we see E. x youngianum 'Sudama' aglow with morning light.  More about this unusual cultivar with ceropegia-like flowers that never open.



8.  In the center right is Epimedium pubescens 'Shaanxi Form'.  It is early to emerge and was whacked by a very hard frost, the stems and leaf growth hanging limp, but it has recovered.  I've been adding pieces of Bluets, Houstonia caerulea to line the paths, and they quickly bulk up into wonderful clumps that flowers for months.



9.  Here we see another putative E. membranaceum x ?stellulatum hybrid, this one smaller growing.  The lime green leaves behind it is E. pubescens, a newish form offered by Garden Vision Epimediums that is said to be partially creeping rather than clumping.



10. E. x versicolor 'Cupreum' - this plant is ancient, maybe 35 years old, and it remains an favorite with mahogany red heart foliage, each leaf with a network of green.  The coppery-pink flowers are a real attraction too.

[gerrit]

Wonderful pictures. You have given us moments of joy watching those lovely plants, especially walking through the morning light. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[gerrit]

What you see is a form of Epimedium davidii. Bought under the registrationnumber EMR 4125.
It is an odd one. Only cups, almost no spurs. I love my plant, because  it's a curiosity.

Please readers, comment on it.

[WimB]

What you see is a form of Epimedium davidii. Bought under the registrationnumber EMR 4125.
It is an odd one. Only cups, almost no spurs. I love my plant, because of it's a curiosity.

Please readers, comment on it.

One of Martin Rix's findlings....it's a very beautiful form, but I'm biased since I like all E. davidii!

[gerrit]

Today 2 members of the x omeiense family.

1. Epimedium x omeiense 'Stormcloud'. Mysterious coloured flowers like a stormcloud indeed.
2. Epimedium x omeiense 'Myriad Years'. Long stems, hanging down.
3. The same plant. That's me, lifting up the long stem, so you can look at the flowers.

[McDonough]

What you see is a form of Epimedium davidii. Bought under the registrationnumber EMR 4125.
It is an odd one. Only cups, almost no spurs. I love my plant, because  it's a curiosity.

Please readers, comment on it.

E. davidii EMR of my Favs too Gerrit; your plant looks like it is growing more robust than mine.  I also like it because it keeps sending up sprays of flowers, almost all of which I steal to dab pollen on other eppies

Your Epimedium x omeiense 'Myriad Years' brings myriad tears to my eyes, what a beauty it is, don't think it is available here in the USA, will have to look

[ErnieC123]

Enjoy my seedling with me :-)