Epimedium 2012

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.

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

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.

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  :D

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=kweke...

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

Looking forward to seeing photos of the leaves.

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

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.

Wim, you certainly come up with some of the most obscure Epimedium cultivars ;)

Listed as a form of grandiflorum in this link (E. grandiflorum 'Kusudama'):
http://www.florius.cz/semetin/eng/a58e.htm

The photo in your link shows a young plant, or at least, not a mature plant, hard to say much about it based on a few leaves.

I was curious about what "Kusudama" refers to; lots of references to origami come up, I believe it is a style of origami:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusudama

From this site, more is said about Kusudama origami:
http://www.theorigamipapershop.com/c-156-kusudama-origami-paper.aspx?gcl...
"Kusudama origami is made from a number of identical origami shapes that are glued or sewn together to form a ball.  The word Kusudama is made from a combination of two Japanese words kusuri meaning medicine and tama meaning ball."

Under fair use provision, here is a photo of an origami Epimedium plant, that comes up under a search for Epimedium Kusudama, screen capture from the following web site:
http://www.oriland.com/about/displays/exhibits.asp?category=spain2007&model=09&name=San%20Lorenzo%20de%20El%20Escorial,%20Spain,%202007

Once again I find myself evaluating "evergreenness" of epimediums, this winter being a particularly trying one for evergreen plants in New England, Northeastern USA.  This winter has been highly unusual for two reasons, it has been virtually snowless (just a 3-4 negligible inches of disappearing snow), and it's been roller-coaster ride of unusual mild weather, swinging to deep freeze and dessicating high winds, back to mild above-freezing weather.  I'm realizing that the evergreen character of many epimediums has some dependency on winter snow cover, because this nearly snowless winter has shown much more widespread foliar damage or winter kill on evergreen Epimediums than I've seen in the last decade.  Those that showed no foliar damage whatsoever the last 7-8 years, such as E. pubigerum & E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum, are rather leaf-burned this year.

Yet, a few species still look totally unfazed.  Here are some photos taken today, Feb. 10, 2012.

Left:  E. stellulatum.   Right: Epimedium 'The Giant'

Left: E. brachyrrhizum (the best winter eppie!), right: E. wushanense "Spiny-leaved form", showing some winter burn  

E. membranaceum x brevicornu; I have several plants of this cross, and they are more evergreen that both parents.  Not pictured is E. ilicifolium, still looking perfectly fine with green evergreen leaves.

RickR wrote:

I wonder, Mark, if you are going to have the "problem" I have here every year: when the spring air is warm, but the the frozen soil lags long into the season.  Marginal evergreens of all kinds tend to look fine until spring begins.

What is the frost depth in the soil now, compare to most years?

Probably not as deep as normal.  Overall it's been a rather mild winter, interspersed with some normal deep cold spells.  Hard to know based on this aberrant winter, other than to say the lack of snow cover most definately affected foliage "evergreenness" on some Epimediums.  But that's okay, generally I shear off any beat up looking foliage in late winter / early spring, to better enjoy the spring flowers.

Believe it or not, I don't have the epimedium bible, The Genus Epimedium and Other Herbaceous Berberidaceae (A Botanical Magazine Monograph) by William T. Stearn.  My list of things to buy is always so long, but with limited budget, discretionary spending on hobby items is always very restricted.  But tonight I finally ordered a used copy in "very good" condition from Amazon for $50, a very good price when researching availability of this book. 

On Amazon there are 5 remaining used copies, but they get expensive very fast, here's a screen capture of the 5 remaining used copies.  There is also a new copy for $215.99, but looking around at other sources, new copies can be bought for considerably less.

Amazon, 5 remaining used copies as of 02-18-2012:

A glorious range of Epimedium hybrids there Geoffrey, many new, exciting, and dramatic color combinations. :o :o :o
Thanks for posting all these, it gives a good sense about the upcoming possibilities with this genus. I sure hope that some of these hybrids are able to "cross the pond" and become available here in USA.

First, I will second Wim's praise of 'Perrine's White', flowers of such solid substance, with that light kiss of pink, a true beauty!

I like 'Glingal' too, carnival colors, flights of flowers, what fun it would be to have this flowering in the garden.

Do you have information on the parentage of these fine hybrids; some of the darker ones look like omeiense, particularly 'Akame'.  And the orange ones, these tempt me the most, the ones labeled Select 3 & 4 are glorious, I'm so filled with Epimedium envy ;)

Many of the hybrids you show us have contrasting yet complimentary inner and outer sepal colors, it's hard to choose a favorite, they're all so nice.  But I'm intrigued by the one labeled "big flower selections", as not only are the flowers large, but they are of fine form; love the broad white-lavender sepals and maroon cups outlined with a rim of yellow.  The one labeled Selection #17 is a similar color combination.

Interesting to see the E. pinnatum hybrid; I have seedlings coming along of some pinnatum ssp. colchicum hand-crossed hybrids.

The one labeled Selection #15 shows distinctively ascending sepals, a unique flower shape.  I'm inspired seeing such things, as it gives ideas and promise about what sorts of things are possible when hybridizing epimediums.  And last, Selection #16, a fine looking rosy one, but with long pale spurs tipped with yellow like bright points of light... magic.

Feel free to show us more!

Geo wrote:

A few more pictures...

http://www.mytho-fleurs.com/images/Epimediums%20Thierry/pages/thumbnail/...

Enjoy! 8)

OMG! :o :o :o  I just ran through all 10 pages of Epimedium images, the new Thierry hybrids are simply mind-boggling, so many stunning flower forms and colors; I'm practically at a loss for words.  I also like the fact, the whole plant is shown in many cases, after all, it's not just about flowers; so few web sites that show Epimedium flower photos ever show us the whole plant. Mr. Thierry's hybridization goals are good ones, and it is obvious he has succeeded with those goals in developing so many spectacular flower forms and colors, and plants with really attractive foliage too.  I am humbled by that impressive body of hybridization work; at the same time his results sparks the imagination about what the possibilities might be, and now I'm more anxious than ever to "play" with epimedium crosses this coming spring

How fortunate you are to be close to such an exceptional nursery and nurseryman.  Would love to see more on Thalictrum hybrids too.

WimB wrote:

Mark, I think yo would feel like a child in a toystore over there  ;D  ;)

True enough, with the simple suggestion of "enjoy" and a link, I arrived at the state of epimedium ecstasy ;D :o

Geo wrote:

Well Mark, I feel very happy to be close to Thierry! Ideally I would be close to Thierry, Darrell Probst of Koen Van Poucke, Daniele Monbaliu of Crug Farm and Pan Global Plants...Then I would be the happiest man of the world...^^

I know what you mean Geoffrey, I feel fortunate to be relatively close to Garden Vision Epimedium, although so far as Darrell Probst's epimedium hybridization efforts, he has moved on to Coreopsis hybridization, so I'm not sure what his plans are for Epimedium from this point forward.
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=442.0

Geo wrote:

It is just a small glimpse of what he will propose this year, he said that in 2013, it will be more interesting...We'll see.

Based on the link you provided, I'm sure there will be dozens of exciting new hybrids worthy of introduction.  Now, if we could only get them over here in the USA!

Quote:

Unfortunately, as many nurseries these days, he can't do everything he wants. For example, there would be very interesting to hybridize species such as platypetalum or ecalcaratum, actually two of my favorites, but species with small flowers don't pay enough attention to people, they like big colorful flowers, though showy (as for Heuchera, people tend to prefer more colorful, and this is true for many plants, unfortunately).
Epimedium brevicornu, for example, few people interested, while it is in my opinion an excellent species. As for Epimedium pubescens, which is in my top 10 here.

Geoffrey, you and I think alike, I couldn't agree more! I find some of the small-flowered ones (like E. campanulatum) pure delight, and I want to work with species like campanulatum and setosum.  I think I have photographed E. brevicornu more than any other epimedium, because a mature plant forms an outstanding clump in the garden, rather distinct from many of the other species.  I only have E. pubescens in the "Shaanxi Form" that Darrell introduced, notable for being hardier than typical E. pubescens, and it has quickly climbed to the top of my list of favorites.

Quote:

Here is an E.ecalcaratum hybrids breeds by Mark Libert in Belgium, its flowers are smaller than those of ecalcaratum, a little beauty. But unsaleable according to Thierry. (I think it's a cross between ecalcaratum and a wushanense or something like 'Amber Queen'/'Caramel')

Wow, that's a very special one, even if flowers are small they are in such abundance, and look at the orange color, superb!  Too bad such delights are considered unsaleable, but that's okay I suppose, it will take the efforts of dedicated "eppie" fans (such as ourselves) to play around with hybridization and possibly create new worthy hybrids unencumbered by the demands of large scale marketability.  I believe there is a niche market for small, neat plants, just as there is for large flamboyant ones.

Quote:

Hybridizations that Thierry doesn't make, but you do Mark, are with grandiflorum and other japanese species. Not really his cup of tea, they're more capricious here.

There strong rationale to cross Chinese evergreen species with the Japanese deciduous types such as grandiflorum.

Geo wrote:

You know, I can send seeds if anyone is interested. It's just that the seeds remain viable during shipping.

Yes, we should talk about that, I'll send a PM.  I have sent small moist-packed seed envelopes of Epimedium seed in 2010 to a number of people and they were received well, might be a good way to increases one's epimedium gene pool, and I'm happen to share.

Geoffrey, is the photo of the Thalictrum hybrid showing 'Splendide' or 'Purple Rain', sure is something special.

By the way, does anyone have experience with Epimedium elatum?  It's not particularly attractive as a flowering plant, foliage is nice but flowers are few and tiny, but it has the attribute of being among the tallest species, reaching 4' (1.3 m), and could be an asset in a hybridization program.  Isn't much information out there on this species, it's in the Stearn monograph, and in a few links:

E. elatum
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arifk11/5387226746/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arifk11/5387549964/in/photostream/

Description and drawing from Flora of Pakistan
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=116046&flora_id=5
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=250064598

Thought I'd cross-post here to a topic on Tobacco Rattle Virus on the SRGC Forum, a virus that affects many plants, but apparently can affect Epimedium as well.  A question was put forth as to whether E. diphyllum 'Variegatum' was actually carrying TRV, I don't think it's a virused plant at all, just a true variagated leaf form.  Regardless, something to be aware of, particularly for those people enmassing a collection of "eppies".
http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8738.0