Epimedium 2010

A wonderfull plant! Epimedium is one of my favorite genuses too! But the ubiquitous slugs take their toll. I have lost several fine specimens particularly when the plants are young. At least I believe it is the slugs to blame. They devour the young shoots early in spring. Gingers too are affected badly.
You are lucky to live near a specialist nursery. Except a few common hybrids, "eppies" are almost impossible to get here in Norway. Have to buy from foreign nurseries which can provide phytosanitary certificates.

Epimedium grandiflorum forma flavescens - William T. Stearn recognized E. koreanum as a separate species distinct from E. grandiflorum as recently as 2002 (e.g., a yellow-flowered entity akin to grandiflorum yet distinct), and Darrell Probst has supported and enriched our gardens with both species and numerous collected forms of E. grandiflorum f. flavescens.  The key difference is that E. koreanum spreads aggressively, whereas all E. grandiflorum f. flavescens forms are tight clumpers.  I grow 9 selections of E. grandiflorum f. flavescens, they are roughly similar, yet each with their own distinct characteristics and charm.  I am only exploring a couple of these forms here.  All are available from Garden Vision Epimediums, contact Karen Perkins at [email protected]

One of the very first Epimediums I purchased was "Epimedium grandiflorum flavescens" from George Schenk in 1977. This plant is now identified as a cultivar; E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'La Rocaille', honoring the name of Harold Epstein's garden where this particular form was found.  Back then, it cost $14 in George Schenk's catalog when most of his nursery offerings were between a mere $1 - $2 American dollars. While expensive, it was a worthwhile investment because I still have the original plant, now 33 years old, and it has provided considerable pleasure in all those years.  It is what I call an "epimedium island', this curious effect among clumping epimediums where after a great number of years, a sizeable 2' (60 cm) clump never seems to spread any more... it just sits there content on being a happy large clump.

A few years ago in spring, I chopped off a piece (with great difficulty) and replanted it. The offset grew surprisingly quickly to fill the void and assume the same tight-clump proportion in only a few years.  In this series of photos, I show both the original 30+ year old clump, and a new clump.  In all forms, the elegant pale yellow flowers appear below a canopy of fresh foliage.  Perhaps not as showy as other epimediums because the pale flowers are partially hidden, this variety is elegant and refined and certainly worth a choice spot in the garden.

Photos:

1 & 2 - View of young 3-year old clump of E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'La Rocaille'.  Notice the beautiful dark color stems.

3,4,5 - views of an old clump of E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'La Rocaille'.  Pointed spring foliage is strongly tinged red, lasting into early summer.

6 - E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Nanum' - most "flavescens" forms grow 14" - 22" (35 - 55 cm), but this one is much shorter (6 - 8", or 15-20 cm in flower), with the flowers extending out to the periphery.

7 & 8 - views of E. grandiflorum f. flavescens #4 (Darrell Probst numbers his forms), this is a tall one, almost 2' (60 cm) with thin, wiry bright red stems, airy sprays of narrow foliage, and nice light yellow flowers.  The first photo is a flower closeup, the second shows E. x rubrum in flower, with the tall expanding red stems of "flavescens 4" in the upper right.

Plant any of these "flavescens" forms up on an embankment, to effectively show off their shy flowers and deep color stems.

Found two more old photos of E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'La Rocaille' as the leaves and buds emerge, showing off the trademark cinnamon red stems, a subtle yet exquisite form.

While all the new exotic Chinese Epimediums entice us with different plant habits, uniquely beautiful flowers, and bold spectacular evergreen mottled foliage, many other Epimedium species and cultivars are more quiet and subtle, yet fundamentally beautiful and essential to the garden.

I grow 39 Epimedium x youngianum forms, and love them all.  This group represents hybrids between E. grandiflorum and diphyllum, but one can also assume some of the lines have been blurred in the hybridization process.  They're all charming small clump-forming plants, equally nice for the flowers as the foliage, all suitable to smaller gardens where space is a premium.  Here's a classic example: E. x youngianum 'Jenny Wren' taken on May 11, 2007, low and floriferous in bloom with showy bloom above the foliage, and with nice speckled foliage season round.

A few Young ones ;D  (E. x youngianum cultivars)

All of the "youngianums" (hybrids between grandiflorum and diphyllum) are dainty little clump-forming plants.  Young spring foliage is often flushed or speckled with color, and a second leaf flush after flowering also shows some foliar interest. While generally rather small plants, the second leaf flush in June can give the clumps significantly more height and width.  Here's a sampling:

1.  E. x youngianum 'Fairy Dust' - Darrell Probst 2004 introduction. Pale but perky flowers, coffee tinged foliage.

2 & 3.  E. x youngianum 'Tamabotan' - originally from We-Du nursery, known under 3 other names.  Has the effect of double flowers because the petals and sepals are similarly sized.

4 & 5.  E. x youngianum 'Marchacos Sprite' - D.Probst 2003 introduction, good bright pink cutie.

6 & 7.  E. x youngianum 'Azusa' - a personal favorite with largish white flowers, red sepals and stems.  Fall color is rich mottled red.

8. E. x youngianum 'Azusa' - fall color.  Also fall color on E. diphyllum 'Variegatum' and E. grandiflorum var. violaceum.

9  E. x youngianum 'Hanagaruma' - floriferous light pink

Epimedium x versicolor represents a group of semi-evergreen hybrids between E. grandiflorum and E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum.  All of the half dozen or so cultivars are first class plants, valued for their beautiful foliage, often highly colored in spring and with good fall color too, and their bounty of uniquely hued blooms.  The plants clump up and spread slowly, making fine foliage mounds, and showing remarkable durability, prospering even under very dry wooded shady conditions.

I thought I'd put together some photos that help show the differences in two Epimedium cultivars, E. x versicolor 'Cupreum' and E. x versicolor 'Versicolor', which are sometimes confused.  They have the same seed parents are are indeed similar, but when observing both in the garden, they are distinctive enough to easily spot which is which.

Compared to E. x versicolor 'Versicolor', the salmon pink and yellow flowers in 'Cupreum' have a deeper color, especially noticeable in the dark color red buds, and foliage of 'Cupreum' tends to be more intensely bronzy-red giving greater emphasis to the green venation.  Overall, I find find E. x versicolor 'Versicolor' a faster growing plant, more floriferous, with masses of softer pastel salmon flowers.  It is gorgeous!  In late autumn and early winter, the fall foliage color is different, a bright orangish-red (with yellow underlay) in 'Cupreum', a lustrous mahogany brown-red in 'Versicolor'. In the last photo, E. x versicolor 'Versicolor' is on the left, E. pinnatum colchicum 'Thunderbolt' on the right, showing intense fall color.

I hope to capture photographs of two more recent of Darrell Probst's versicolor hybrids, 'Cherry Tart' and 'Strawberry Blush'; both were too small in previous years to warrant photos, but should be good this year.

There is frequent confusion between E. x versicolor 'Sulphureum' and E. x versicolor 'Neosulphureum'.

'Sulphureum' has flowers a deeper yellow color than 'Neosulphureum'. The spurs of 'Sulphureum' equal the length of the inner sepals, whereas the spurs on 'Neosulphureum' are short, only about half as long as the inner sepals.  I am uploading several photos of E. x versicolor 'Neosulphureum', one looking up at the flowers clearly showing the short spurs.  Also, 'Neosulphureum' is much lower growing, has denser growth, and burnished bronze spring foliage, altogether a better plant than 'Sulphureum'.  The latter has much more open growth (shown in Photo 7), taller stems, and slightly red-tinged foliage in spring, and the aforementioned flower differences.

In Photo 6, we also see a recent evergreen species, E. lishihchenii, with bold corrugated leaves and large light yellow flowers, the fresh new leaf growth is vibrant light green compared to the darker burnished evergreen leaves below.

Epimedium timeline:  E. sempervirens 'Violet Queen'

Here are a series of photos documenting this partcular epimedium from April - December.  I draw from photos over several years, so the size of the plant may look different depending on the photo, but the goal here is to show early flowering and foliage emerging, the bountiful floral display on this selection (on a mature plant, such as the photo taken on 4-29-2009), the brilliant color of spring foliage, sprinking of bright new foliage in the start of a "second foliar flush", and ending up with the smoldering fall color that lasts well into winter.

The transition from photo 5 & 6 beautifully illustrate the transformation from a flowering plant, to s foliar plant, where the brilliantly color foliage rises above the fading flowers.

Epimedium profile:  E. sempervirens 'Candy Hearts'

With E. sempervirens, the best aspect of the species is the foliage, spectacular in some cultivars such as this 2001 introduction from Darrell Probst.  I include a number of photographs, as it presents itself differently day to day, week after week, and under different lighting conditions.  In late spring and early summer, there are flushes of colorful new leaves.  The flowers, while large, are a pale washed-out color (described as silvery lavender pink), but it is definitely worth growing for the foliage alone.  This is a very slow grower, and a clumper not a spreader.

Seedlings show interesting variation.

More Epimedium sempervirens.

Epimedium sempervirens are unsurpassed as foliage plants.  One of the best is E. sempervirens 'Aurora'.  It has pale lavender blooms, but it is the shiny foliage that really stands out, which can be beautifully edged in red. In the second photo, there is E. x setosum in the upper right with tiny white flowers (x setosum is a hybrid between E. diphyllum and E. sempervirens). In the 3rd photo, a more general view of an enbankment with several E. sempervirens cultivars, the cultivar 'Aurora' in the center, E. sempervirens 'Vega' in the lower right with very shiny pointed leaflets. The 4th photo shows E. sempervirens "Aurora' again, but later on when the colorful second flush of foliage appears.

Epimedium grandiflorum 'Dark Beauty' - partial spring to summer timeline.

This is among my very favorite eppies, a chameleon to be sure, almost a different color and aspect every other day.  It emerges with foliage that is near black-red, but quickly assumes more muted tones of red and green, eventually giving over to green but strongly tinged red on the older foliage, the new leaflets still black-red.  The flowers are large spidery two-toned lavender and purple, showy and worthwhile in their own right.  The famed "second flush" of foliage after initial flowering is almost as spectacular as the initial foliage, young leaflets blood red, shading to paler suffused red tones on slightly older leaflets.  Eventually new leaflets are luminous light green against the darker green of older leaflets, yet still sporting red juvenile foliage through the season.  Fall color is an unremarkable yellowish.

Another dark-leaf beauty, colorful aspects of Epimedium grandiflorum var. violaceum 'Bronze Maiden'.

This is a 1999 introduction by Darrell Probst, another of those dark-leaf selections that goes through a dramatic cameleon-like transformation of foliage color.  The mahogany brown-red foliage is so shiny that it can look like polished leather.  It is a solid clumper with showy sprays of lavender flowers above the neat foliage.  By June the leaves turn green, but new foliage in the second flush of foliage and sporadic new leaves all summer, are richly red-tinged.  Outstanding!

Three miscellaneous grandiflorums, E. grandiflorum 'Saxton's Purple', a fairly unique color, E. grandiflorum 'Princess Susan', a 1999 Darrell Probst introduction with showy bi-colored flowers of clean white and bright rose, and E. grandiflorum var. violaceum with lively flowers and contrasting dark color spring foliage.

Epimedium x sasakii (hybrids between E. sempervirens and  E. x setosum)

A modest species to be sure, but still attractive in a demure way.  Slow growing, attractive colored foliage in spring, sprays of small pale flowers. This one is now a bittersweet memory for me, as Sasaki Associates is the name of the company I was recently laid off from after 20+ years service.

I grow two forms offered by Garden Vision Epimediums, and his 2001 introduction E. x sasakii 'Melody', a more robust showy hybrid.  These have evergreen foliage, which can be seen in the last photo.

A portrait of Epimedium x 'Black Sea'

Sometimes listed as a cultivar of E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum, I found the hybrid parentage listed as E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum x E.pubigerum on the JEARRARD'S HERBAL web site: http://www.johnjearrard.co.uk/index.html
It's a super web site, scroll down to the list of genera and select Epimedium.

This hybrid is something special, with little else quite like it, a good candidate for hybridization efforts.  In photos 1-2 taken spring 2009, the evergreen foliage had been cut off early, to get a clean floral display, not that it is necessary in this hybrid because the flower stems soar past the old foliage for an aerial display.  Without the support of the old evergreen foliage at the base, the flower stems did not grow as tall, and rise with angular ascent, rather pretty I think. The clouds of pastel yellow orange-veined flowers put on a good show.

In photos 3-6 taken the previous year in 2008, I left the evergreen foliage on, and one sees a different effect in spring, looking more substantial, the dark red shiny basal evergreen foliage "grounding" the airiness of the new growth.  Photo 7 is a closeup view of the flowers.  Photo 8 shows the special feature of this hybrid; the beautiful red-black burnished autumn-winter foliage.  Photo 9 shows the same (younger) plant taken on New Year's Day 2007.

Epimedium x 'Black Sea' emerging shoots on 3-25-2010.

A couple more eppies.

Epimedium x youngianum 'Capella' - a spritely little thing with bright rose flowers (leaves of E. sempervirens 'Candy Hearts' in the background).

Epimedium grandiflorum 'Lavender Lady' - Darrell Probst introduced this in 2000, reportedly a spontaneous cross between E. sempervirens 'Violet Queen' and E. grandiflorum 'Silver Queen' found in Harold Epstein's garden.  Gorgeous spring foliage and showy flowers.

I am impressed, Mark! You have some collection! Many colors have I never seen before either. Takes time to view all the pictures too. Good to have something to do when I am tired of looking at the snow here (has snowed all week - seen no sun (not at home, but in the mountain, that is)).
Do you know Mark if any of your suppliers dispatch abroad?

Hoy wrote:

I am impressed, Mark! You have some collection! Many colors have I never seen before either. Takes time to view all the pictures too. Good to have something to do when I am tired of looking at the snow here (has snowed all week - seen no sun (not at home, but in the mountain, that is)).
Do you know Mark if any of your suppliers dispatch abroad?

So often, photos of epimediums only show close-ups of a few flowers, failing to depict the chararcter and charm of the whole plant.  As a result, it is difficult to get an idea about what an Epimedium species or cultivar will look like after a few years growth,  So this photographic essay is to demonstrate what these marvellous plants look like in the garden thoughout the seasons, to display the unique character of each.

Garden Vision Epimediums can dispatch internationally, although it is very expensive to do so.  There are European-based nurseries with good collections of Epimedium that might be able to ship at less cost.

Epimedium timeline threesome - Photos 1-10:  E. x versicolor 'Versicolor', E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum 'Thunderbolt', E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Chocolate Lace'.

These three species are planted side by side along a garden path.  The metamorphosis of each plant's appearance through an extended season is rather dramatic and visually captivating.  I will start out New Year's Day 2007 (and a couple days before), where the ground is completely frozen, there's a bit of snow, the grandiflorum cultivar has gone to bed, but evergreen E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum 'Thunderbolt' has shiny rounded leaves drenched blackish-purple revealing a network of green veins on each leaf, and semi-evergreen E. x versicolor 'Versicolor' turns a rich burnished red-leather color.

From here, the photos will progress through spring, into summer, and then back into fall and winter again.  A couple other eppies will be seen along the journey.  This timeline series will be in 3 installments.

We start with a few winter photos, then move on to the early Epimedium season at the end of March.  Epimedium x versicolor 'Versicolor' is particularly floriferous and beautiful, thus featured.

Epimedium timeline threesome - Photos 11-20:  E. x versicolor 'Versicolor', E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum 'Thunderbolt', E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Chocolate Lace'.

These three species are planted side by side along a garden path.  The metamorphosis of each plant's appearance through an extended season is rather dramatic and visually captivating.  The star is E. x versicolor 'Versicolor' with soft pink and yellow blooms atop a shield of intensely colored red spring foliage highlighting a network of luminous green veins.  The glorious foliage starts to overtake the flowers.

The evergreen foliage of E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum 'Thunderbolt' had been cut off, as it must to better appreciate the spikes of bright yellow verbascum-like flowers.  The soft juvenile spring foliage quickly surpasses and semi-conceals the blooms.

E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Chocolate Lace' is a study of understatement, with fine chocolate suffused leaves accentuating green veins, and pale yellow flowers partly hidden below the canopy of emerging leaves.

By early to mid May, these Epimediums transform into beautiful foliar accents, most of the flowers gone or hidden by the foliage, and starting to set seed, yet indispensable for their season-long foliar value.

Epimedium timeline threesome - Photos 21-30:  E. x versicolor 'Versicolor', E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum 'Thunderbolt', E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Chocolate Lace'.

These three species are planted side by side along a garden path.  The metamorphosis of each plant's appearance through an extended season is rather dramatic and visually captivating. 

By June, the famous "second flush" of foliar growth is happening on many epimediums. With E. pinnatum ssp. colchicim 'Thunderbolt', the spring foliage has settled in to a shiny deep green color, and new leaves are much lighter green, for a nice effect. With E. x versicolor 'Versicolor', the second leaf flush is a medley of intensely variegated red-tinged green-veined foliage to fresh light green foliage against shiny darker green foliage, very special!

In photo #24, we see the fall foliar patch of E. koreanum in yellow, an aggressive spreader. In the upper right is E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Chocolate Lace' still green in leaf on October 22, 2009.  Just below it is E. x versicolor 'Versicolor' with foliage appearing near black, and evergreen E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum 'Thunderbolt' below it.

In photo #25, we see the same eppie threesome, but further back, showing a large clump of E. x rubrum in fall foliar color,  a pale reddish-tan color.  Also, notice that E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Chocolate Lace' has foliage turned yellow just a week later.

In photos #26-28, we see all three "eppies", but it is E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Chocolate Lace' that turns a really bright yellow by mid November.

The last two photos, #29-30 show the initial two evergreen epimediums in their December color. These are truly plants of full seasonal interest.

No one thinks of Epimediums as suitable for sunny locations, but they can be superb in the sun as well.  Perhaps part of the issue, there are much fewer number of plants willing to grow in dry shade where Epimedium excels, who needs yet another plant willing to grow in the sun.  I want to explore this more in the next few years because some species and cultivars have richly colored foliage that would otherwise just show up as green when grown in shade.  I've never had seedlings appear in the drier sunny locations, only in more moist sahded locales.

My favorite example is with E. x warleyense, which not only excels unfazed in a full sun position, it grows happily in full sun (although spreading somewhat exuberantly), and shows a long season on a rich red to orangish leaf coloring and venation lasting well into the summer.  When this eppie is grown in shade, apart from the short season of orange flowers, the foliage is green and unremarkable.

Here are some photos:

The question gets asked to suggest low Epimediums for the rock garden, sort of depends on the scale of the garden I suppose, but even though some species and cultivars are rather low, many have a second flush of foliage after flowering that can more than double the apparent size of the plant.  But here are some suggestions:

E. x setosum - delicate clumping sort, several clones, adorable leaves & delicate white flowers.
(photo uploaded)
E. x setosum 'Nanum'- 5" tall, second flush to 10" tall.
E. grandiflorum 'Nanum' - 3-5" in bloom, 10" after second flush (choice)
E. grandiflorum var. coelestre - Japanese, from "high alpine heights", 9", greenish yellow flowers
E. grandiflorum var. coelestre 'Alpine Beauty'- 6" tall "tight bun", light yellow
E. grandiflorum var. higoense (including cultivars 'Bandit', 'Saturn', 'Saturn'), all low growing
E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Nanum'- 6" light yellow, 12-16" second foliar flush
E. elachyphyllum - 6" tall, 2" rhizomes, simple single leaflets, evergreen.
...also various smaller cultivars such as E. x youngianum 'Liliputian'.  (photo uploaded)

Watch out for some of the other low growers that romp around and spread aggressively, including E. alpinum 'Shrimp Girl', pauciflorum, rhizomatosum, unless they get introduced to wilder parts of the garden, or placed in a planting specifically designed to account for their spread.

Regarding naming hybrids in any hybridization effort, I hope not to do this:
http://www.plantsnouveau.com/2009/05/18/epimedium-purple-pixie/
(scroll down to the overall plant view)

...that is, introduce a plant as something special and unique, when in fact it looks like many other grandiflorums that already exist.  To my eyes, this 'Purple Pixie' doesn't look very different than the type form of E. grandiflorum (photo 1) or "var. violaceum" (photo 2) which has showy brownish-reddish-purple spring foliage.  I'm sure 'Purple Pixie' is a nice enough plant (almost all eppies are), but how many more very similar cultivars do we need, when there is potential for so much more.

Epimedium pubigerum is an excellent species, and quite distinct. What I like about it is the foliage is completely evergreen here in New England (USDA Zone 5), which says a lot in this tough climate.  And the small white flowers (pinkish in some forms) held aloft above the foliage, have a definite charm.  A quick search on photos for this species in my library yields some less-than-satisfactory shots, but you'll get the general impression.

In the first photo, on the left is E. pubigerum with modest displays of white flowers.  Looking closely, some of the previous year's evergreen foliage is still present in the lower right (I'm not always as timely as I should be in cutting out the previous year's growth).  In the upper left is Epimedium grandiflorum f. flavescens 'La Rocaille', the original plant bought in 1973 or 1974!

In the second photo, we see the "epimediumesque" second flush of foliage, which lends a second season to Epimedium viewing, where the newer foliage takes on dramatically different leaf coloration than the maturing spring foliage.  This is basically a June phenomenon in my area.

The third photo shows a classic situation, with the previous year's evergreen growth at the base (darker green) yet still in good condition after a harsh winter, a fresh flush of lively light green slightly red-flushed new season's growth, and the lovely modest sprays of white flowers.  There are winters here and there (the relatively snowless types) where the evergreen leaves suffer badly, but in most years they survive just fine.

The forth and final photo shows the same plant back in 2006, where I did indeed cut off the old foliage in late winter/early spring, so no dark green old foliage is present.  I actually think it looks best when there is contrast between the new foliage and older foliage.

In summary, this is a rock-solid species, slowly spreading, extremely hardy, quietly beautiful, and recommended.  It is also quite drought resistant, as I find most eppies are.

Today we go down from the mountains were we have been the last week. At home I can take a closer look at your excellent pictures. At the cabin I have to use my cellphone to get access to Internet and that is a bit slow. You have edited a book, Mark!
I have lots of trees on my property so I don't get too much sun. My eppies normally have not that rich leaf color as yours. And I have not all those cultivars either! So now I have a problem, do I cut more trees? Or have I to plant in shade. But for sure I have to try and get more of those fabulous cultivars!

Hoy wrote:

Today we go down from the mountains were we have been the last week. At home I can take a closer look at your excellent pictures. At the cabin I have to use my cellphone to get access to Internet and that is a bit slow. You have edited a book, Mark!
I have lots of trees on my property so I don't get too much sun. My eppies normally have not that rich leaf color as yours. And I have not all those cultivars either! So now I have a problem, do I cut more trees? Or have I to plant in shade. But for sure I have to try and get more of those fabulous cultivars!

This is basically a "transfer" from information I posted to SRGC, but wanted to post here with a North American context, and then add to it all, now that NARGS Forum is up and running.  Epimediums are a fantastic solution to the often bemoaned problem of having to much shade to grow "normal" garden plants and perennials.  Regarding leaf coloring, many will color as richly in sun or shade, but there are a few cases, such as E. x warleyense that I highlighted, that will grow and flower just fine in shade, but will only show strong leaf coloration when grown in brighter light and sunny conditions.

Epimedium Hybrid - Posting 1a

Hello Epimedium lovers, I thought I would put together a couple posts to illustrate a hybrid that occured between Epimedium brevicornu and E. membranaceum.  This part of my post will primarily show E. brevicornu, one of the very best eppies in my opinion.  What I like about this species, is the perky upright growth, with sprays of small white and yellow flowers clearly displayed above the foliage.  It also blooms for an exceptionally long time, being among the first to bloom, but also one of the last.  It is a clumper, so no spreading habit to worry about.  And it has lovely red-mottled foliage in spring.

I start with a photo in 2007 showing the upright profile, followed by a series of views taken in 2008 & 2009 as it pushed into bloom.  The next to last photo is an overhead shot, showing Saruma henryi in bloom, just getting a glimpse of E. brevicornu to the right of a boulder, and in the lower right, the foliage and emerging buds of E. membranaceum.

E. membranaceum is on my personal top 10 list; it starts flowering late, has enormous spidery bright yellow flowers with white-pink-spotted sepals.  A low grower (and another clumper), the species is remarkable because it is an ever-bloomer, with low ascending branched stems and sprays of golden spiders, blooms all summer long and into the fall.  As such, it is an excellent candidate for hybridization.  While E. brevicornu started blooming long before E. membranaceum, there is a brief overlap of bloom time; a photo depicts this overlap.  Notice the hirsute stems and seed pods on E. brevicornu in the last photo.

I will follow up later with Posting 1b, with photos of E. membranaceum and the resulting hybrid that flowered for the first time in 2009.

Epimedium Hybrid - Posting 1b

Installment 2 of a 3-part message:

Here are some views of E. membranaceum.  See my previous post where I talk about the attributes of this ever-blooming species.

In the first view there is Saruma henryi again (yellow flowers) on the left, Trillium catesbaei, Epimedium membranaceum at centerstage, and just behind it is E. brevicornu mostly finished but still some small white flowers coming and those fuzzy flower stems.  A worm's-eye view of Trillium catesbaei and E. membranaceum in the second photo.  Photo 3 shows a typical inflorescence of E. membranaceum (notice one inflorescence of E. brevicornu in the upper right), and the 4th photo is a detail view showing the sepals... white, lightly spotted with red or pink dots.  In the 5th photo, nothing very different about this photo, but take a look at the date in the photo title, this eppie is still blooming on October 26th!

In the final installment, I will show photos of one selected hybrid, and compare the hybrid's flowers photographically with E. brevicornu.

Epimedium Hybrid - Posting 1c

Installment 3 of a 3-part message:

In the following series of photos, I'm holding a couple individual flowers of my E. brevicornu x membranaceum hybrid in each photo up against an inflorescence of E. brevicornu, for comparison.  As you'll see, the hybrid has larger flowers overall, the yellow cup is about 5x as big, the yellow spurs are vestigial in E. brevicornu but long and prominent in the hybrid.  In the hybrid, the general shape of the flower and other characteristics, more closely resemble E. brevicornu, thus my belief this cross represents E. brevicornu x membranaceum, not the other way around.

In the 5th photo, we see flowers of both the hybrid and E. brevicornu from the back, to reveal the sepals.  Notice the hybrid has picked up the red spotting from E. membranaceum (two flowers on the left are the hybrid).  Also to note, the hybrid has hirsute flower stems, but not quite as fuzzy as E. brevicornu.  In photo 6, again we see the back of the flowers and the spotted sepals, but we also see some of the foliage which is rounded, minutely spinulose, red-spotted when emerging, thus mimicking E. brevicornu.

In photos 7 & 8, we see views of the young inflorescence of this hybrid in May 2009.  Proving to me that E. membranaceum is involved, is that the flower stems are semi-indeterminate and keep spouting new flowers way past normal Epimedium flowering season; this young seedling flowered non-stop from May to August. The everblooming tendencies of E. membranaceum can be passed along to offspring!!! WooHOO!

I had a few other seedlings of the same cross, not nearly as good.  Many more seedlings are cropping up, but will be a year or more before I see what they look like.  What fun! I hope this detailed summary of Epimedium hybridization (even if the bees did it in this case) sparks the imagination of what is possible in this fantastic genus, now that the gene pool has been so enriched by numerous new species and hybrids becoming available.

Here are a 3 more hybrid seedling views taken spring 2009.  The first is a nice white with yellow center, I shall be watching this one too.  The last two photos show very nice epimediums, but they're not much different or special.  No matter, I plan an entire enbankment of growing unnamed eppie seedlings, it'll be beautiful regardless whether they're named cultivars or anonymous seedlings... it's all part of the fun.

Epimediums are literally jumping out of the ground, after nearly a week of rain followed by warm sunshine, and temperatures up to 25 C.  This morning I took these photos of the hairy, muscular, frond-like uncoiling shoots of E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'La Rocaille'.  And from 2 days ago, on 04-02-2010, fuzzy mass of shoots and buds on E. x versicolor 'Versicolor', and red-tinted shoots on E. grandiflorum 'Red Queen'.

At home! Here's one of my Epimediums taken today. As usual I have forgotten the name of the cultivar, it is yellow-flowered though.

Hoy wrote:

At home! Here's one of my Epimediums taken today. As usual I have forgotten the name of the cultivar, it is yellow-flowered though.

Looks like E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum.  The other possibility is E. x perralchicum (E. perralderianum x pinnatum ssp. colchicum), a widely available plant.  If the new spring foliage is reddish bronze with green veining, then it could be another popularly grown selection, E. x perralchicum 'Frohnleiten'.  All have spikes of yellow flowers.

McDonough wrote:

Looks like E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum.  The other possibility is E. x perralchicum (E. perralderianum x pinnatum ssp. colchicum), a widely available plant.  If the new spring foliage is reddish bronze with green veining, then it could be another popularly grown selection, E. x perralchicum 'Frohnleiten'.  All have spikes of yellow flowers.

Thanks. When you mention the names I recognize E x perralchium, think I have different selections of that cross.
I have tried Saruma too, but that plant was the slug's favorite.

More Epimedium spring foliage and stems emerging:

1.  E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Chocolate Lace' - dark emerging shoots
2.  E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'La Rocaille' - forrest of shoots
3.  E. x versicolor 'Versicolor' - budding, a few first flowers open, the very first "eppie" to bloom.
4.  E. grandiflorum var. violaceum - emerging growth catching afternoon sun.

McDonough wrote:

Garden Vision Epimediums can dispatch internationally, although it is very expensive to do so.  There are European-based nurseries with good collections of Epimedium that might be able to ship at less cost.

OK, thanks.
Shipping from USA is not necessarily more expensive than from the Continent or GB. I bought from Heronswood Nursery in Washington a couple of times when owned by Dan Hinkley.
I'll be at the lookout!

Flowering now and putting on a display more impressive than imagined, is a rare variegated form of Epimedium sempervirens.  It doesn't have a cultivar name yet, it is just referenced as E. sempervirens "Variegated #1".  This form was purchased in Japan by Darrell Probst in 1997, who says it "cost a small fortune".

What a stunner it is, even more compelling than my photos which fail to adequately capture the intensity and nuance of color of the brilliant new foliage embracing creamy white flowers, all hovering above dark leathery winter-evergreen leaves.  To quote Darrell, the variegation of new foliage is supposed to turn "a swirling collage of white, pink, and light green" which last well into summer.

Photos 3-4 show the plant at younger emergence, with deep red leaf tones.  In Photo 5, just two days later, the leaves are starting to expand, they are infused with mottled red and pink coloration  :o :o  In photos 1-3 notice how the aerial flower and new foliage effect is set off by a low brace of shiny evergreen foliage; looks great in the garden.

I wonder what it'll look like today :D

What a sight! I am jealous.
The other plants there, are they Corydalis nobilis and Dicentra cucullaria?
I have also seen some kind of groundcover wood sorrel (Oxalis) in some of your pictures. (Or is it weed ;).) I grow pink and white Oxalis acetosella and O. oregana in my woodland.

Hoy wrote:

What a sight! I am jealous.
The other plants there, are they Corydalis nobilis and Dicentra cucullaria?
I have also seen some kind of groundcover wood sorrel (Oxalis) in some of your pictures. (Or is it weed ;).) I grow pink and white Oxalis acetosella and O. oregana in my woodland.

Yes on both the Corydalis and Dicentra.  The Oxalis is a lovely little weedy thing, but since it only roots in 1-2 cm of soil, it is really no risk to anything, the green trifoliate leaves always look fresh, but the long season of perky little flowers make it special for me.  Now, what species is it... I'm not sure.  It might be O. acetosella or montana :P  I spent a lot of time on this one, as I've had plants in the past under both species names, but if you look them up (particularly montana) they are typically whitish to light pink and with deeper pink veins.  Mine are solid color, bright rosy pink.  Oxalis montana, which describes the North American plant, used to be considered a subspecies of acetosella.

Soon I'll start a new thread elsewhere on this forum, with some diagnostic detail photos and links, and maybe we can pinpoint an identity.

While I am pretty much content with how my Epimediums perform,  the eye candy you display, Mark, is no match.  What a glorious garden!

RickR wrote:

While I am pretty much content with how my Epimediums perform,  the eye candy you display, Mark, is no match.  What a glorious garden!

To be honest, lot of it is "trompe l'oeil", where a camera lens and selective shots and careful cropping make things look bigger and better than they are.  But it helps to have lots of Epimediums, with so many varieties, and a great spring season as this has been, and the Epimediums are leaping out of the ground... they can't help looking so beautiful. Been having a great time the last couple days studing Epimedium hybrid seedlings into their 3rd year, and there are some GOOD ONES.  I've taken a load of photos the last few days but haven't had time to cull through them and start posting some varieties I haven't covered yet... was hoping to do that tonight, but got a last minute IT consultation gig in Boston tomorrow morning, my first work in 6 months since unemployed, so it'll have to wait for the weekend.  Hope I'm not too rusty on IT/CAD stuff, I've been fooling around for 6 months on plant forums instead of keeping my IT skills honed, but one needs to have priorites ;D

The Epimedium season is suddenly upon us with wild abandon here in Northeastern USA, fully 3 weeks ahead of normal due to a series of weather contitions; an unusually mild spring, a few periods of record rainfall (with flooding), fueled by extended periods of warm and mild dry sunshine, including a couple days of record heat.  The Epimediums are jumping out of the ground! 

1 - 3  E. epsteinii, an evergreen species named as recently as 1994, It is slow to become established, but once happy it makes a striking specimen, with leathery dark green evergreen foliage mixed with orange-bronze new foliage, and discreet panicles of substantial flowers of exceptionally broad white sepals, contrasting with the dark purple cup and petals.  This is a plant that needs to be planted high on an enbankment to best appreciate the beautiful down-faced blooms.

4.  E. fangii - this photo shows a bit of dark green oval evergreen foliage mixed with a small emerging leaflet of rich mottled red... more to come.  This plant is one that Darrell Probst introduced as a hardy growable form from Mt. Emei China, of an otherwise tempermental not-so-hardy species from previous introductions. This one is a "spreader" with long annual rhizomes, so site it accordingly.  It has large yellow flowers.  Quickly becoming one of my favorites.

5 - 7  E. fargesii, a Chinese species that is hard to capture photographically. Long slender spine-edged evergreen leaflets and slender tallish panicles with down-turned delicate white flowers, like little slender white "shooting stars" with reflexed sepals and small grape purple centers.  Enchanting.

8 - 9  E. stellulatum, another Chinese evergreen species.  Photo 8 shows the basal evergreen spine-edged foliage, a nice base to light filmy panicles of starry white flowers with yellow centers, with a haze of spring cauline leaves that are variably marbled red, bronze and green.  In my photos, the flowers are just starting to open. A good one to be sure!

10.  E. leptorrhizum, a Chinese species that is very low and spreading up to 8" annually on long stolons.  As it is, I have not sited it well, must replant it where it is free to create a spreading groundcover without invading neighbors.  The spidery light pink blooms are extra large held close to the textured olive bronze-tinged foliage.

It is Epimedium madness time here, all busting into bloom.  I share a miscellany of Epimedium images that caught my fancy in the bright sunlight yesterday (and sunny and warm again today... more epimedium photo shoots!).

1  -  colorful epimedium leaves catching afternoon sunlight in the garden
2  -  E. grandiflorum 'Lavender Lady' overlooking maidenhair fern fronds and pulmonaria.
3  -  view of young epimedium foliage, top center is the giant E. grandiflorum 'Red Queen'
4  -  epimedium foliage, E. x versicolor 'Versicolor' at centerstage with red, green-veined leaves, and
        E. grandiforum f. flavescens 'Chocolate Lace' on the left.
5  -  splash of orange in my Allium garden, Epimedium x warleyense flowering prolifically.
6-9 - E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum flowering.  Evergreen foliage cut off to see the floral show. 
        The young leaves are inrolled showing off their fuzzy backsides.
10  - Bed of mixed hybrid seedlings, those with wonderful coffee and caramel toned leaves are hybrids between
        E. grandiforum f. flavescens 'La Rocaille' x E. grandiforum 'Dark Beauty'

Mark, I recently read an article of Tony Avent, Plant Delight Nursery, in The Plantsman. He mention 54 species named and lots of cultivars, do you know how many you have? It's a pity that it seems to be difficult to obtain many of the cultivars in Europe, though.

Hoy wrote:

Mark, I recently read an article of Tony Avent, Plant Delight Nursery, in The Plantsman. He mention 54 species named and lots of cultivars, do you know how many you have? It's a pity that it seems to be difficult to obtain many of the cultivars in Europe, though.

Trond, many more species in China have been discovered, and await publication.  Darrell Probst, of Epimedium fame, spoke at the NARGS Eastern Winter Study Weekend at Devens, Massachusetts in March 2010, and gave a riveting presentation on his efforts and travels in China, in search of Epimedium.  There are dozens of new epimediums that need to be published, but apparently Chinese botanists are slow to do so, their efforts more governed by medicinal properties in plants than for the science of taxonomy itself, so Darrell is pushing for botanical institutions in other countries to "pick up the slack" and continue publishing.  There may be closer to 100 species, and they're finding new ones all the time.  Then, there are numerous "forms" of certain species, and of course, numerous hybrids.

I grow approximately 180 different species and cultivars.  But now I'm wondering why there aren't a million hybrids, as they are all so willing to hybridize.  I had heard that most epimedium are self sterile, and need other plants/species around, and then they freely hybridize.  In 2005, I started getting many seedlings around parent plants; they're such cute seedlings I couldn't throw them away, so I decided to pot them up and eventually plant them out, labeling the seedlings as to what parent plant they were found near.  Well, I am just dazzled by the results.  So I include a photo of Epimedium grandiflorum 'Dark Beauty', one of the most dramatic cultivars with foliage that emerges near black-red, then goes through a gorgeous transformation through all shades of reddish brown, coffee, and caramel leaf colors.  I follow with 4 photos of mixed hybrid seedlings, many being hybrids with 'Dark Beauty', inheriting the same dramatic spring foliage color.

Today the flowers started opening on 'Dark Beauty', so I spent a couple hours this morning hand pollinating and making intentional crosses... such fun! I'm selecting specific parents that possess desirable qualities, then dabbing pollen.  While epimedium flowers are small, they're actually fairly easy to work with to make crosses, some species/cultivars having more abundant easy-to-access pollen than others.

Amazing! I am dumb. (And I know what to do in the future...)

Do you use tin foil to protect your crosses? 

I tried a few attempts at J. dubia x J. diphylla, and was afraid the foil might be too heavy, see how the rain beats the flowers down so easily.  Fortunately, there were no problems.  For as big as the anthers were on J. diphylla, I expected a lot more available pollen.  Grains were quite scant.

RickR wrote:

Do you use tin foil to protect your crosses? 

I tried a few attempts at J. dubia x J. diphylla, and was afraid the foil might be too heavy, see how the rain beats the flowers down so easily.  Fortunately, there were no problems.  For as big as the anthers were on J. diphylla, I expected a lot more available pollen.  Grains were quite scant.

No, I didn't use foil or any protection :o :o :o  This was the first time I actually tried hand-to-hand Epimedium hybridization, and they're actually easy... some species have the stigma way ahead of the stamens and anthers, so brushing them with abundant pollen of another species/cultivar is quite evident.  Same was true of Jeffersonia.  The crosses I'm attempting are not so rigorously executed, I just want to try and "mix it up a bit".  What I'm seeing from bee-polinated hybrids, they look rather intermediate from the nearby species/cultivars.  Darrell Probst suggests planting one species you are interested in, with another species or cultivar, and the bees will do the crossing for you.  Of course, he does lots of controlled manual crosses, but I hope to do the something similar, on a smaller scale.

The Epimediums just keep on coming...

1 - 3  E. x 'Domino' - one one the finest new (2004) intoductions by Darrell Probst.  Of Asiatic parentage, the plant is elegantly clothed in slender pointed leaves, finely soft-spined and tinged with purplish-red as the foliage emerges. The slender panicles of flowers are well presented above the foliage.  Spidery ivory white flowers shading to a deep brooding pink center, set off by dark stems and pedicels, and dark purple outer sepals giving the buds the appearance of shiny black grapes.  The flowers remind me of birds in flight.

4 - 6  E. x 'Sunshowers' - introduced by Darrell Probst in 2008, a cultivar created by a friend of Darrell's.  A cute small growing plant with red-speckled foliage, and spires of plump soft yellow flowers.  Viewed from above gives a slightly different effect, showing the white, finely pink-spotted sepals.

7 -  E. sempervirens 'Violet Queen' -  sheer flower power in this one, a fantastic plant for the masses of large violet flowers and brilliant spring foliage that appears after the flowers.

8 - 10  E. grandiflorum 'Purple Prince' - without doubt one of the darkest purple flowered forms of grandiforum.  Depending on the light, the flowers can look nearly black-purple.  Flowers are well interspersed and visible among the well formed canopy of foliage.

Epimedium foliar color is playing a major role in the garden this spring:

1-5  Epimedium garden seedling with brilliant red and yellow mottled spring foliage.. Yowsa!  This is a hybrid between E. brevicornu with...? ... maybe E. membranaceum or E. stellulatum, probably the former.  Starry white flowers with larger yellow cup... flowering has just started.

6.  E. x sasaki - natural hybrids in Japan between E. sempervirens and x setosum.  Several variants are offered by Garden Vision Nursery, this one (Cc.950183) is my favorite, with blunt, rounded sheild like leaves that are pinkish-red tinged in spring.

7.  E. sempervirens 'Violet Queen' - this cultivar has about the most intensely colored new foliage appearing as the flowers go over, than any other epimedium cultivar... brilliant red with green veining.

8.  E. x youngianum 'Little Shield' - a 2004 introduction by Darrell Probst.  This has quicken risen to one of my top 20 epimedium, making a mat much wider than tall, densley clothed in purplish-brown textured shield-shaped leaves; the perky pure white flowers just clearly the foliage.  A refined beauty.

9.  E. wushanense "Spiny-leaved Forms" - another Darrell Probst introduction from Japan.  While the foliage is evergreen, I cut the foliage off this year to see the fresh young foliage better and to work with the flowers (hybridization) more easily.  The new leaves are long and narrow and spiny-edged, of a unique burnished brownish green color, and remarkably glossy.

10. E. stellulatum - a wonderful Chinese species, one of several that create clouds of small white flowers with tiny yellow centers.  But is is the new cauline leaves that are spine-edged and heavily mottled with red, that gradually expand in size, to become the true show of this species.

Why not "the Epimedium man"?

Hoy wrote:

Why not "the Epimedium man"?

Well, I've been dubbed the Onion man decades ago, it has been more recent that I have gone wild with epimediums.  Besides, the horticultural world correctly considers Darrell Probst the defacto Epimedium man, I just dabble with "eppies". :D

Thinking about hybridizing epimediums, I pulled some images together. There is so much potential in certain species and cultivars, that it fires the imagination. Seeing what some of the hybrids look like compared to theior parents, gives clues and ideas about what to strive for.  Here are a few that I'm working with.

1-4  E. grandiflorum 'Red Queen' - the granddaddy of grandiflorums, a giant plant that grows much larger than reported.  Just went out and measured it, currently 30" tall x 44" wide (75 x 110 cm), yowsa!  The dense foliar sheath lifts its skirt high enough to see the bounty of rosy-red flowers which last for weeks.

5    E. davidii "Wolong Selections" - variable forms found and introduced by Darrell Probst, from Wolong, China.  Mine is a young plant; has attractive small spiny-edged foliage, and good-sized bright flowers, much pollen dabbing going on here.

6    E. x 'Domino' - another view of this fantastic introduction by Darrell Probst, with the previous mentioned E. davidii off to the left. Gorgeous plant form and flowers, with significant flower power, flowers produced *above* the foliage, seems like an excellent starting point.

7-8  E. brevicornu - has already revealed itself to be a willing parent, imparting boldly colored foliage and good form.  While the flowers are tiny, they are so abundant and clearly presented *above* the foliage, that it makes a grand show in the garden, among the earliest to flower and continuing for up to 2 months!  Established plants make large bold clumps.  Also shown here is a young plant with a smaller bounty of flowers... again, lots of pollen dabbing going on.

9-10  View of Epimedium bed full of hybrid seedlings flowers (3 year old bed).  In the center of the photo 9 is a small yellow and white flowered hybrid between E. brevicornu x E. membranaceum. In photo 10, there's a E. davidii hybrid, with rather small hot pink and yellow flowers.  This year, many of these hybrids are being planted out to see what they look like as established clumps.

Many will be familiar with the tried and true E. x versicolor 'Sulphureum', or the somewhat less common 'Neosulphureum', both indispensible for the woodland garden.  But there are a couple more recent versicolor cultivars, 'Strawberry Blush' introduced by Darrell Probst in 2004, and 'Cherry Tart', a hybrid seedling found a garden in Virginia and introduced by Darrell in 1999.  Also featured in this post is a recent E. x youngianum cultivar named 'Royal Flush', yet another Darrell Probst introduction (2004).

1.  E. x versicolor 'Strawberry Blush' -  The first photo shows how the flowers are displayed in a nodding disposition, which is too bad because it is the front face of the flowers that reveal their charm.  The sepal color is described as "antique pink", and appear pinkish in a color photograph in the Garden Vision Epimediums catalog.  However, as I've grown it, the back of the ample sepals are a pale bisque yellow color with only a faint pink tinge.

2.  Lifting up the flowers shows the sepals to be veined pink on the inside, sporting a large yellow cup and pink spurs, delightful, if only the flowers would hold themselves up.

3-4 Two low-angle views where the bright yellow cups can be seen.  In both photos, the lilac flowers are E. x youngianum 'Royal Flush'.

5  Another view of both epimediums from above, showing the late-to-expand leaves on 'Strawberry Blush' which are bronze-toned. This cultivar is a strong grower.

6-7 E. x versicolor 'Cherry Tart' - the better of the two versicolor cultivars, with more upright panicles of striking pink flowers, individual flowers held in tilted semi-nodding disposition, revealing hot pink spurs and a cup that shades to a bright yellow rim.  The inside of the sepals are finely veined with deeper pink.  So far, seems to be a slower grower than 'Strawberry Blush'.

8  E. x youngianum 'Royal Flush' - sizzling HOT spring foliage color!

9  E. x youngianum 'Royal Flush' (top) showing the dark copper foliage and classic form lilac bloom, with E. grandiflorum 'White Queen' in front.

10  E. x youngianum 'Royal Flush' - profile file.  I consider this to be among the finest of youngianum types, making a large full mound of beautiful heart-shaped leaves, with elegant flowers well presented just above the foliage.  It is reminscent of E. grandiforum var. violaceum 'Bronze Maiden', which can be seen in the upper left corner.

A miscellany of epimediums today:

1.  E. fangii - hardy form.  A rhizomatous spreading species, so I will be moving this one to a place where it can spread. Bronzy spring foliage, yellow flowers with sepals shading to white.

2.  E. fargesii - evergreen basal foliage and tan-bronze new foliage, reflexed white start flowers with small purple petals.

3.  Epimedium hybrid with 'Dark Beauty', showing gold spring leaf coloring.

4.  E. sempervirens 'Mars'- erect red stems and dense clusters of rose-red flowers, which (unfortunately) quickly become concealed under a "shield" of shiny green red-edged leaves.  Makes a tall bold clump.

5.  E. sempervirens 'Mars'- looking "under the skirt :o" to see the flowers, and lots of cute eppie babies below.

6-7. E. x 'Amanogawa'- hybrid of E. acuminatum x dolichostemon, spring mottled foliage, and lovely upright panicles of reflexed white flowers accented with a dark center, brownish-orange cup shading  to yellow spurs.

8.  E. grandiflorum var. higoense 'Bandit' - deservedly popular, having small leaflets edged in brown-purple, and abundant white flowers.

9.  E. grandiflorum 'Sirius' (originally offered as 'Epstein's Salmon') - a pretty plant with soft foliage and pastel pink flowers shading to a salmon pink at the base of the sepals, a fairly unique color.

10. E. sempervirens 'Candy Hearts' - WOW for the foliage display, almost looks like waxed plastic.  Even in summer after the leaves turn shiny green, there is always new foliage sprouting forth in hot pink and red candy colors.  Fairly good flowers of palest lilac, but this one is grown for the foliage.  Fantastic.

Absolutely amazing, Mark! What a pleasure it would be to tour your garden!

Just for contrast, here's the most advanced of my epimediums... E. x versicolor 'Sulphureum'.   ;D

Skulski wrote:

Absolutely amazing, Mark! What a pleasure it would be to tour your garden!

Just for contrast, here's the most advanced of my epimediums... E. x versicolor 'Sulphureum'.   ;D

This is about the size mine have too!

Well Lori and Trond, you get to enjoy these plants well after they're done here.  Yesterday it was 82 F (28 C) and today it was a ridiculous 95 F (35 C), way hotter than normal, and everything is going over so quickly.  By the way, I have taken some close-up photos of E. x versicolor 'Sulphureum' that help distinguish it from the paler yellow 'Neosulphureum', I will post these soon.

Wow, my Epimedium pubigerum 'Orangekönigin' is already nearly done!  A very short lived bloom for an epimedium, and it was not even close to the first to bloom in my garden.  I have ones that started weeks before Orangekönigan, and are still going strong.

By the way, is Orangekönigin really just a pubigerum selection?

Epimedium 'Orangekönigin'

RickR wrote:

Wow, my Epimedium pubigerum 'Orangekönigin' is already nearly done!  A very short lived bloom for an epimedium, and it was not even close to the first to bloom in my garden.  I have ones that started weeks before Orangekönigin, and are still going strong.

By the way, is Orangekönigan really just a pubigerum selection?

Epimedium 'Orangekönigin'

Heya Rick, glad you posted this, as it is one I've been using for some hybridization efforts, as there are only a couple orange-flowered Epimedium cultivars.    I'm afraid this is not E. pubigerum... I grow 5 forms of pubigerum and it is a very different thing, typically with tiny creamy white flowers, but a couple forms have pink-flushed flowers. 

Your plant is E. x warleyense 'Orangekönigin'.  Epimedium x warleyense is a cross between E. alpinum x pinnatum ssp. colchicum.  E. x warleyense is reputedly sterile, and that certainly seems to be true, but as with many plants reported as sterile, there are times or conditions under which pollen is produced, and I've been attempting to use it when I find it.  While E. x warleyense 'Orangekönigan' is from the same cross, the pollen seems much more abundant and possibly fertile, so I have my hopes in using this to start exploring more orange-color Epimediums.

E. x warleyense is one of the first to start for me, and is still going strong 6 weeks later, possibly because the flowers are mostly sterile thus no rush to create seed pods.  It can make quite an orange splash in the garden.  E. x warleyense 'Orangekönigan' has never made much of an impact here, a couple spikes of bloom each year... that's it.  However, I do like the flower color... so unique, so using it for hybridization.

I post a photo showing the hybrid E. x warleyense growing in full sun, with a haze of orange flowers visible if the winter-battered evergreen foliage is cut off in late winter. The foliage appearing after the flowers takes on deep burnished orange colors (will be green in shade) and is visually stunning, a reason to consider giving Epimedium much more sun that one typically considers.

By the way - shouldn't it be 'Orangekönigin' = - queen, not -königan?

Hoy wrote:

By the way - shouldn't it be 'Orangekönigin' = - queen, not -königan?

Thanks Trond, you are correct, I made the corrections.

Many Epimedium are now finishing up their floral show, while a smaller number of later flowering species and cultivars continue.  I have a large backlog of photos, which I'll share in batches as time permits.

1-2  Two photos of my woodland/epimedium garden expansion... bye-bye sod.

3-4  Two more photos of E. x 'Amanogawa'; better closeup showing the flowers with unique color cups and spurs.

5-6  Epimedium ilicifolium - this is a particularly hardy form, a low growing species with narrow spiny holly-like leaves, intersting brown mottled in earlier spring, and just coming now are large spidery yellow and green flowers in horizontally spreading sprays. A neat growing species.

7-10  Epimedium hybrid with davidii, one of my own seedlings that is really cute, with small but chunky bright yellow flowers and deep pink sepals.  The plant shown is 3 years old, it'll be interesting to see how it looks when bulked up.  Very fertile, I shall be using it as breeding material.

Thanks for the corrections and editing.  Especially since these threads are potentially seen all over the world, it is important that we are as exacting as we can be.

Today I visited Garden Vision Nursery in charming Hubbardston, Massachusetts, USA, on one of their six "open nursery days" over two long weekends in May, an annual event.  If you live close enough for a drive out to central Massachusetts to visit, there are still 5 days left in 2010 to visit (and buy plants if you'd like), May 8-9, and May 14-16, 10am-4pm each of those days.  This one-of-a-kind nursery has the most comprehensive offering of Epimedium species and cultivars in the world, with numerous introductions by Epi-Jedi Master Darrell Probst.  If interested in more information or a catalog with 8 full color pages, contact Karen Perkins, Owner/Proprietor of the nursery, at [email protected]. 

It was a perfect dry, sunny, mild (not hot) day, and the epimediums were in full force.  It's getting late, and I'll be posting more photos, but let me leave you with this teaser photo showing one of numerous hybrid seedlings under trial at Garden Vision Epimediums... yum yum eat em up.

I am sorry, it is not close enough for me!

Continuing series - Part 1: Garden Vision Epimediums nursery in Hubbardston, Massachusetts, USA - Darrell Probst Epi-Jedi Master, Karen Perkins Owner/Proprietor/Horticulturalist.

Garden Vision Epimediums is not a retail nursery in the typical sense, it is a private naturalistic horticultural laboratory carved out of acres of rough and tumble forested hillside in Central Massachusetts, with areas cleared for sunlight and nursery beds. Walking down from a small shaded gravel parking lot to the nursery beds, one gets a sense of traversing frontier logging roads leading deep into the woods.  On the roadside cuts with high and steep enbankments, there can be found occasional choice woodland plants and Epimediums, improbably poked into the bare-earth enbankment walls. Eventually one reaches a gently sloped area, with rows upon rows of high mounded plantings with masses of Epimediums.

The day I visited was during one of two annual Open Nursery Weekends, where visitors can pick up their orders, browse tables of Epimediums and other woodlanders for sale, and the best part, meander through the nursery beds packed full of Epimedium species and cultivars, and hybrid trial beds.

A bit about my photographs. I took several hundred photos, but had to cope with brilliant sunlight, not my preferred lighting condition to capture the delicate beauty of epimediums, as well as strong winds challenging my efforts to get focused images.  I was travelling with a friend, and was scheduled to visit another garden in central Massachusetts that day, time was limited, so I just shot photos using my daughter's entry-level Nikon Coolpix camera as best I could under the conditions. I may go back on an overcast or partly cloudy day and do another photoshoot. 

1-3  Of the most frequent epimediums in the nursery is Epimedium sp. nov.  On a 6' (2 meter) high nearly vertical bare-earth enbankment approaching the nursery beds, I spotted an Epimedium with enormous flowers. Another E. sp. nov!  Comparing the flowers to the size of my fingers, I put the width of a single flower at 5-6 cm across!  It is an evergreen species, with finely spine-edged heart-shaped leaves, the new foliage bright red mottled, and gorgeous big spider flowers of pastel pinkish white sepals, and purple petals shading to an orange-rimmed cup. Wow!

4-5  The other most commonly found epimediums among the nursery rows, is "Epimedium hybrid under trial".  Shown is a nice one with lightly mottled brown-tinged foliage and sprays of plump sugar pink flowers. The strong light was not conducive to good photos, but you will get the idea.

6-9  E. sp. nov 'Simple Beauty' - this is an unnamed new species (awaiting publication) that Darrell discovered in China, a simple leaved form of a new undescribed species that normally has three leaflets.  The most striking aspect of this species is the high sheen on the leaves, the leaves so glossy they look like they're wet, or have been oiled and polished.  Apparently it is a very good parent in hybridization efforts to pass along the shiny leaf characteristic.  The flowers are large chartreuse yellow spiders with incurved spurs. A 2010 introduction, it is available for sale under the category of "Rarities for Breeders and Collectors" for $200.  According to Darrell the simple-leaved form was very rare, with only a few plants found.

10  Walking among rows upon rows of epimedium cultivars, many of which I grow, it is not uncommon to come across something new... my eye caught a patch of beautiful coppery-red leaves delicately suspended and glowing in the sunshine, labelled E. sempervirens 'Japonica Magnifica'.

To be continued...

One of the harder to find Epimedium varieties is E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Nanum'.  It is slower to emerge than other flavescens types, with the initial flush of foliage showing very small leaflets of an unusual and attractive tan-coffee color, red stems and dropping clusters of light yellow buds (photo 1).  It is growing beside the much larger E. grandiflorum v. flavescens 'La Rocaille' on the right.

In a weeks time, the leaves more fully expand, yet still much smaller than other flavescens forms, turning a lively bright green, and showing delicate light yellow flowers at the periphery of the leaf canopy (photo 2).  Beside it you can see the much larger 'La Rocaille' which maintains the burnished coppery red tones on the leaves.

Photo 3 is a close-up of the flowers and fine leaflets.

Continuing series - Part 2: Garden Vision Epimediums nursery in Hubbardston, Massachusetts, USA - Darrell Probst Epi-Jedi Master, Karen Perkins Owner/Proprietor/Horticulturalist. 

1-2  Many beds of epimedium at the nursery are labelled "Epimedium hybrids under trial".  One that caught my attention, although evidently one not considered as good enough (because it hasn't been "flagged") was this one with frilled pink and white sepals, and broad and chunky yellow cup and spurs.

3-8  More "Epimedium hybrids under trial", this grouping all looked akin to Darrell's newest hybrids 'Domino' and 'Pink Champagne'... the colors were delicious.  Unfortunately, many of the photos came out poorly (blurred) due to gusty winds, so I cannot show the complete range of colors seen.  Some of the paler cream and yellow ones were exquisite, but you'll get an idea about the color possibilities.

9-10 Among the more dramatic Epimedium hybrids are those where Darrell's E. sp. nov 'Spine Tingler' is the parent, forming amazing compact mounds of extra narrow spine-edged, wavy-margined, glossy leaves, burnished and shaded with copper and red tones.  It would be worth growing for the foliage alone, but the large yellow spiderflowers are good too.

To be continued.

Fantastic leaves on the 'Spine Tingler' hybrids!

Here is my Epimedium simplicifolium a bit rugged after having my Maple tree removed. I am always on the lookout for the other two known species with single leaflets. I was finally able to get this one to cross with my Species E. wushanense and set seed. I cant wait to see if it worked out to be a good cross. 

A nice one, E. simplicifolium is relatively new and rare in cultivation. It was listed in the Garden Vision Epimediums 2009 catalog for $125, but not listed in 2010.  A bit pricey for me.  Good luck with your hybrid seed... as you know most Epimedium are self sterile so if you get seed, they will be hybrids, that's the exciting part.  I know E. elachyphyllum is another of the simple-leaf species, what is the second one?

Well I can tell you that I didn't pay $125.00 (I have good friends and we share). I got mine two years ago as a 1 gal plant but it is slow to establish. as of the other species of Epi. with one leaflet I dindnt know of E. elachyphyllum so that means 4 have only one the other three are E. baojinense, E. glandulosopilosum, E. zhushanese.

I didn't know epimediums are self infertile.  Do you know if this is true for all species of the genus?  (That is, at least what is known so far.)  For instance, Lilium spp. are generally self infertile, but there are several exceptions.

Yes it is as is known thus far; however, sometimes there are several seedling in a single clump that could lead people to believe this not to be true. I am sure that there are some exceptions. Podophyllum are the exact same you need two plants to get seeds.

In the 2010 Garden Vision Nursery, there was a a new offering named Epimedium sp. nov. 'Smidgeon' described as "the tiniest of all Epimedium in our collections at only 4-5" in height. And as yet, unnamed species. It starts its flowering when only 2" tall.  The only self-fertile species of Epimedium that we have come across to date, it is related to E, platypetalum, but is clump forming."

I've had my doubts too, as I will get seed set on species, like E. rhizomatosum, with scattered flowers in July for example, but the only other Epimedium blooming (membranaceum, hybrids of it, and occasional few out-of-season flowers) would be about 300' away on the other side of the house.  However, I do think the bees are just doing their job, cross-pollinating flowers even if relatively far away.

James wrote:

Yes it is as is known thus far; however, sometimes there are several seedling in a single clump that could lead people to believe this not to be true. I am sure that there are some exceptions. Podophyllum are the exact same you need two plants to get seeds.

Thanks, Mark, and

Hah!  That explains it:  I had two nice plump Podophyllum hexandrum fruits, both with only one seed each, and one was non-viable.  I have a few widely dispersed plants in the garden, and I am not even sure they bloomed simultaneously.

Observing a large batch of 3 year old Epimedium seedlings, I'm having some interesting results.  The most important realization came this summer with prolonged heat and drought that devastated the foliage on many (most) Epimedium grandiflorum and youngianum cultivars, with almost all foliage toasted to a crisp, those hybrid plants that had evergreen species in their lineage, such as sempervirens and pubigerum, laughed at the drought and looked as deep green and fresh as they did in spring.

I'm particularly excited by a batch of seedlings from E. youngianum 'Liliputian', one of the smallest varieties with white flowers, which crossed with some nearby evergreen species; either pubigerum, sempervirens 'Candy Hearts', or x sasakii (itself, a natural dyphyllum x sempervirens cross).  The resulting plants are all very dark green, evergreen, compact, and drought-tolerant.  One plant is particularly small, a real dwarf with concise leaves and tiny evergreen leaflets smaller than a fingernail.

1    Epimedium - evergreen 'Liliputian' hybrids in front row
2    E. selected dwarf evergreen 'Liliputian' hybrid, showing the brace of tiny evergreen leaves at the base, basal leaves only about 1" tall
      (it is my belief that the evergreen parent is E. pubigerum)
3    E. membranaceum x rhizomatosum cross, not great, but flowered all summer long, even in the drought.  Here, flowering in September.
4    E. membranaceum - 2 year old hybrid seedling, can't wait until spring!

Following the spring display of Epimedium flowers, and the few summer-blooming types, I've been carefully reviewing the foliage on Epimedium species and cultivars, after all, much of the year it is their foliage that's the main attraction. Also, I review them with a new eye as I launch into an ambitious Epimedium hybridization program, looking for best characteristics, paying special attention to those that are truly drought-resistant (many get stressed under prolonged drought).  Most interesting this time of year, is the fall color "signature" of many epimedium.  Studying the autumn color (as well as the remarkable spring foliar colors), gives clues about various traits and species lineages, the signature fall colors often showing in hybrid progeny.  What follows are some random thoughts of Epimedium that I like:

1.  E. ilicifolium - the narrowish spiny-edged leaves make a concise dwarf clumping plant.  No fall color per se, but evergreen and small, with yellow flowers, this is a plant I shall be working with based on its growth habit.

2.  E. brachyrrhizum - I'm showing a young plant here, I have some gorgeous large clumps, one of the VERY BEST species in every aspect.  Evergreen leaves, it sometimes throws new growth of plum red; a great clumper, not a runner.  Excellent potential for hybridization.

3.  E. sempervirens 'Secret Arrow' - sempervirens is a key species in a hybridization program, absolutely drought-tolerant, not blinking an eye during this summer's record-breaking drought.  Hybrids involving sempervirens are equally drought-tolerant.  This particular selection introduced in 2000 by Garden Vision Epimediums is fantastic during all seasons, a low-growing clumper, but the fall color is outstanding.

4.  Darrell Probst introduced 9-10 different forms of E. grandiflorum f. flavescens, which he numbered to keep them separate; all are nice, all are distinct.  This is E. grandiflorum f. flavescens #5, which takes on a unique caramel color in fall, highlighted by brown veins.

5.  E. grandiflorum 'Tancho' - fall color reminds me of Lays Potato Chips, heart-shaped leaves are a very pale yellow with thin brown edging and veins.

6.  E. x youngianum 'Hagoromo' - hot pink fall color on this small one, and the delicate white and lavender flowers are slender and utterly unique.

7.  E. x youngianum 'Tamabotan' - a kaleidascope of dark purple foliage colors in spring and into summer, but the fall color is a diaphanous light pink color.  A number of other Epimedium take on such autumn colors.

8.  E. lishihchenii - one of the best species, heavy textured evergreen foliage is low and spreading, and very long season (into summer) of large spidery yellow flowers.  In autumn, the shiny rugose red-flushed leathery leaves are outstanding.

9.  E. x 'Black Sea'- a truly unique cultivar in every respect, in autumn and winter the evergreen foliage turns an unusual red-black shiny foliage.  In this photo, the color is just starting, by December it is near black.

10.  Epimedium x setosum - evergreen hybrids between E. diphyllum and E. sempervirens, this is by far one of my favorites. Clump forming plants covered with minute pure white flowers in spring, in fall taking on orange red foliage colors with green veining.

I have not thought of Epiphyllums as fall color plants but I look at your picture with envy!  I would plant Epiphyllums all over if I had access to other than the common plants. Have to try seeds I presume.

Edit:
I have been busy bringing my Epiphyllums and other cacti indoors! I know the difference between Epiphyllum and Epimedium! (Even if you don't believe it!)

Hoy wrote:

Edit:
I have been busy bringing my Epiphyllums and other cacti indoors! I know the difference between Epiphyllum and Epimedium! (Even if you don't believe it!)

We believe you Trond, it's fun to see how our minds work and play tricks, particularly as we get older ;D

I had a large batch of self-sown seedlings on E. sempervirens 'Mars', most I potted up, but left a few (3) where they sprouted.  It's hard to resist those perky little self-sown Epimedium seedlings. You can catch a bit of the rust-orange fall foliage color on Mars to the right.  Each seedling has taken on different fall colors, little hearts of promise.

Promising dainties!
Your soil still looks dry, Mark. Here it is so soggy I can almost not walk on the lawn. It's like a bog.

Hoy wrote:

Promising dainties!
Your soil still looks dry, Mark. Here it is so soggy I can almost not walk on the lawn. It's like a bog.

What you're seeing is the well-decayed bark mulch that I top dress with.  The soil itself is actually fairly heavy rocky clay soil; no need to amend the soil much for Epimedium, they're not overly particular about soil.

McDonough wrote:

...it's fun to see how our minds work and play tricks, particularly as we get older ;D

Well I don't know about how "fun" it is, but it happens to us all.  I am embarrassed to say that I sent Coryphantha vivipara seed to the NARGS seed ex labeled Cryptantha!  Fortunately, our super duper intake manager, Laura S., knew better.  We are so lucky to have her!

Every autumn I struggle with the same dilemma, whether to shear back Epimedium foliage in the autumn or wait until spring.

The mounds of foliage have such presence this time of year, some still dark green while many plants are already dormant, other epimediums lasting well into autumn and early winter with persistent and brightly colored foliage.  It typically goes like this; I plan on shearing the foliage after most leaves are killed off with the onset the really cold weather, but as it so often works out, a heavy snow arrives and the weather turns frigid, burying the plants in snowy ice-pack, so now I have to wait until spring.  But in spring, the "eppies" can start sprouting so early, it becomes *very labor intensive* to careful snip off all of the dead or battered foliage and twiggy remains of stems, without damaging new growth and inadvertently cutting off flower stems. With several hundred maturing eppies in the garden, the spring cleanup can be a nightmare if the old foliage isn't removed in time.

It's November, and foliage mounds of Epimedium still make a visual impact... what should I do, what should I do?  If I were smart about it, I would shear off all foliage very soon!

1-2  Colorful Epimedium foliage in the autumn garden.
3    Epimedium brevicornu with yellow foliage.
4    Epimedirum sempervirens 'White Purity' with leathery red fall leaves. I leave the foliage on
      most sempervirens forms, some overwinter quite well.
5    Epimedium x versisolor 'Versicolor' - one that is "semi-evergreen", I usuall leave the foliage on
      and snip off old foliage in late winter.
6    Epimedium grandiflorum var. coelestre 'Alpine Beauty' - colorful!
7    Epimedium planting near my deck stairs.

Mighty fine assortment, Mark.  Especially the multicolored ones.  Not many people would think of planting perennials for fall color.

Very decorative, Mark. My few Epimediums are far more anonymous.

Approaching mid November, some epimediums are still showing colorful fall foliage.

1.  E. lishihchenii is coloring up fantastic this year.  I showed this earlier, where the leathery veined leaves are red-hued, but the color now is most impressive.  I see this as a species to play a primary role in hybridization efforts.  I used many of the spidery yellow flowers to cross with other pollen parents, but next year I need to focus in on hybrids with this plant.  The full sheath of highly colored evergreen leaves are about 6" tall by about 24" across, never dropping a leaf during our intense drought this past summer.

2.  Two E. grandiflorum cultivars, 'Purple Prince' on the left, 'Princess Susan' on the right.

3.  The common E. x rubrum turns burnished leather brown-red colors in the fall and early winter.

4.  E. grandiflorum cultivar, dark chocolate colored leaves, distinctive.

5.  Two evergreen E. sempervirens cultivars, 'Aurora' on the left is still green, 'Vega' on the right.

6.  E. x 'Enchantress', a hybrid between E. dolichostemon and E. leptorrhizum.  It is a large clump but shed about 90% of its leaves during this summer's record drought, so only a few evergreen leaves remain.  Too bad, because they are a deep blackish-purple color in fall.  Today I moved the plant to a more moisture-retentive spot.

7.  A view of three 3-year old Epimedium hybrid seedlings, the one in the center is taking on a unique blackish color to the leaves, don't know from what parent this comes from.

8.  One of 9-10 E. x youngianum 'Liliputian' hybrids (which crossed with one of several possible evergreen species), with small evergreen leaflets and diverse leaf petioles.  The previous black-leaf hybrid seedling can be seen in the upper right.

I have decided in some parts of the garden this year, I will finally be proactive and shear some of my Epimediums in the fall (now) rather than in spring, which if I wait too long in the spring, means tons more cleanup work than doing it in the fall, see this separate posting:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=274.msg4809#msg4809

I'm a sucker for Epimedium seedlings, they're so cute.  The initial leaf is not necessarily indicative of what the plant will look like, even spiny narrow-leaf types will have a roughly heart shaped first leaf.  The photo shows a flat of E. sempervirens 'Mars' seedlings, about 20 of them or so, but just a few in this view.  On the left, we're seeing a seedling with second or third leaflets, also showing some fall color, but I'm intrigued by the lobes on the upper-most leaflet.  This is the fun part, imagining what the hybrid plants will look like, will they be anything new and special.  Some seedlings flower the second year from seed, but it requires a minimum of 3 years to know what the plant character will be like.

Some recent nights well below freezing mark the end of "Epimedium fall color fantasy" for many eppie varieties, but not all, some of the more evergreen sorts go into what I call the "slow burn", with rich foliar color lasting well into winter.

1.    E. grandiflorum 'Nanum' has the most unusual autumn foliage scheme, an inner center of yellow but outer leaves a deep dark chocolate brown color.

2-3. E. lishihchenii, an evergreen species, is a candidate for "best fall color on an evergreen species"; a rich burnished red color on shiny evergreen leaves, with deep red veining.  Looks great all winter and into spring, this is probably the most dependable winter-evergreen species for New England.

4.    E. x 'Domino' - you'll see a hit of color on a few leaves, but basically one of many Chinese species and hybrids involving Chinese species that tend to be winter evergreen, thus still having a strong presence  in the late autumn and early winter garden.

5.    E. diphyllum 'Variegatum' - a great all around plant, colorful red/honey/coffee spring color foliage, foliage stippled with white in later spring and summer, and a slow burn of mahogany leather red in autumn.

6.    E. x versicolor 'Versicolor' - tries to be fully evergreen but best regarded as semi-evergreen, rich red coloring starts early in fall and lasts well into winter.  A beauty.

7.    E. x youngianum 'Otome'- one of the very best youngianum types for all seasons, beloved for the very rounded deeply netted leaves that have an evergreen substance to them year round; I'm convinced that this "youngianum" has sempervirens blood in it, accounting for the shiny nearly evergreen leaves.  Beautiful leather leaf colors.

I have no Epimediums with such colors. All (that's 4-5) mine are still green despite cold and sunny weather the last days.

After viewing some photo galleries showing Epimedium sutchuenense (of possibly questionable identity) I thought I'd post a couple photos taken this spring.  My plant came from Darrell Probst, who writes about this species in the Garden Vision Epimediums nursery catalog "Finally the REAL E. sutchuenense, from the mountains of Shaanxi and northwest Hubei Provinces", and "superficially resembling E. leptorrhizum, with large, lavender mauve flowers and long, thin 8-12" rhizomes", "two leaves on every flower stem, each with three medium-sized leaflets".

Taking a cue from Darrell's description of the long annual rhizomes, this is not a plant for close company but more suitable to a large woodland area where it can spread, I have planted it in a wilder portion of my woodland accordingly.

McDonough wrote:

After viewing some photo galleries showing Epimedium sutchuenense (of possibly questionable identity) I thought I'd post a couple photos taken this spring.  My plant came from Darrell Probst, who writes about this species in the Garden Vision Epimediums nursery catalog "Finally the REAL E. sutchuenense, from the mountains of Shaanxi and northwest Hubei Provinces", and "superficially resembling E. leptorrhizum, with large, lavender mauve flowers and long, thin 8-12" rhizomes", "two leaves on every flower stem, each with three medium-sized leaflets".

Taking a cue from Darrell's description of the long annual rhizomes, this is not a plant for close company but more suitable to a large woodland area where it can spread, I have planted it in a wilder portion of my woodland accordingly.

This is a plant for me! But I am afraid of slugs. Twice have I tried E. leptorrhizum and both times it ended its spring life as a slug delicacy.

Mark, your collection is excellent. Though I grow many of the same plants from the same source, the extent of coloration in the autumn foliage is not as pronounced here.

Joseph wrote:

Mark, your collection is excellent. Though I grow many of the same plants from the same source, the extent of coloration in the autumn foliage is not as pronounced here.

The fall color thing is, I think, rather dependent on microclimates and conditions. I have some varieties that I divided and planted in several spots around the yard, but in some spots the fall color is much more pronounced than in other spots.  Also, the "forgiving" autumn seasons that we've been having in recent years, the right balance between cold nights, even some freezing, and warmer daytime temps, can greatly impact the color.  This year, after an terrible drought, the worst I have seen in decades, the fall color on Epimediums has been outstanding.  It is purely coincidental with this message that today, the last day of November, after lots of freezing nights to the low 20s F, I went around and took lots of photos; many Epimediums I have cut back the foliage, but for many others the color is still excellent and prominent.  What follows may be an overdose of such photos showing Epimedium color.

On this last day of November 30th, 2010, there are still many Epimedium varieties showing color.  This year I have cut many of the more overtly deciduous species back, easing the spring cleanup, but I leave the many semi-evergreen and full evergreen types, as their presence is so colorful and prominent.  The following 3-part series is not only an exhibition of the fall colors on these fine plants, but also serves as a photographic record of what these plants look like in their fall garb.  So often Epimedium photos are just mere closeups of a few flowers, I believe it is far more important to impart an impression of the whole plant as it may inhabit one's garden.

1.  E. sempervirens 'Vega' - one of the very best sempervirens types with glossy foliage and clumping habit, this photo shows recently divided plants showing strong red coloration to the foliage.  This one will play a role in my hybridization efforts.

2.  A view of various sempervirens hybrids, the one in the foreground having blackish fall foliage.

3.  E. sempervirens 'Secret Arrow', perhaps the best and longest last fall color of sempervirens types.

4.  E. sempervirens "Variegated No.1" - I posted on the amazing hot red, pink and white spring color of this eppie; the fall foliage is more somber, a dark brownish purple color.

5.  E. sempervirens 'White Purity' on the left (strong red oliage color) and 'Asiatic Hybrid' above and on the right, taking on more muted purplish-red foliage tones.

6.  Three E. sempervirens forms, a violet-flowered form with red fall color on the left, 'Aurora' in the center staying green, and what Garden Vision a "typical form" of E. sempervirens", with red fall color, in the lower right.

7-8 A patch of E. pauciflorum on a steep woodland slope.

9.  My selected hybrid seedling of E. x youngianum 'Liliputian' crossed with an evergreen species (likely E. pubigerum or E. sempervirens 'Candy Hearts').  This is the smallest Epimedium of all, so I have a careful watch on this little gem, only recently at this late point in the season is it showing some dark foliage.

10. E. diphyllum 'Variegatum', with lustrous leathery coppery red foliage, with a pinkish-flowered form of evergreen E. pubigerum behind it.

Mine are still green but frozen hard as crystal. I don't dare touch them. I am afraid they will shatter!

Part 2,

11    E. membranaceum x brevicornu No.2 - fine golden fall color, good clumping habit akin to E. brevicornu

12    E. membranaceum x brevicornu No.3 - wider more open growth than No.2 similar to membranaceum

13-15 E. membranaceum hybrid seedlings, various 2-year hybrid seedlings   

16    E. brachyrrhizum - beautiful dense mounds of shiny, rugose dark evergreen leaves, sometimes colored. There's hardly a better clumping species than this one, and totally drought-resistant too.

17    E. stellulatum - makes a wide, low clump of spine-edged evergreen leaves.  The late fall and winter foliage continues to deepen in russet color, highlighting strong venation. Superb drought-resistant species.

18    E. fargesii - 2-year hybrid seedling - the parent plant grows near some choice eppie species and cultivars, this is the part of gardening that I love, the prolonged anticipation of a plant's first flowering.

19    E. grandiflorum 'Orion' - very late to color, but worth the wait, a beautiful orange color.

20    E. x 'Black Sea' - reported as a hybrid between E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum and pubigerum, this is one the finest eppies ever.  The foliage is always excellent, but thee fall & winter color almost doesn't look real, like shiny leather in coffee-red tones that will deepen over time to near black.  Drought-resistant plant.

Part 3,

21    E. x versicolor 'Versicolor' - rich red semi-evergreen foliage, and the ever-widening mat of E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum 'Thunderbolt' with superb evergreen foliage, deepening to near black in winter, highlighted by green venation.

22    E. x youngianum 'Otome'- one of the very best youngianum types, this one surely with some sempervirens in its genetic makeup.  Beautiful rounded, deeply veined evergreen leaves that take on various leaf colors throughout the year, build into a superb upright clump.  Epimedium x sasakii 'Melody' just behind it, another evergreen one.

23    E. x youngianum 'Grape Fizz' - a 2004 introduction by Darrell Probst, a terrific small plant with sprightly flowers that can appear all summer, taking on russet red leaf colors in fall.

24    E. fangii - not a particularly showy plant in flower, nor fall color, but an interesting species nonetheless, with stout, leathery, 3-part leaves.  Spreads by long rhizomes, so needs to be placed carefully. Possibly useful for hybridization for the plant habit, leaf disposition, and yellow flower color.

25    E. grandiflorum f. flavescens - No.2 - Darrell Probst numbers his various collections of forma flavescens, this one show some dessicated leaves on top from our summer drought, but was more tolerant of drought than most other flavescens forms.  Also unique in growth; very large, with bold textured leaves, yellow in autumn.

26    Epimedium hybrid seedling - 2 year, showing some interesting fall color and venation.

27    Epimedium hybrid seedling - 3 year, unflowered so far, keeping an eye on this one as it is among the most dwarf of my eppies so far, evergreen, with red leaves in spring, and deep bronze foliar color in autumn.

28    Epimedium hybrid seedling - 3 year, probably a seedling from youngianum 'Otome', with shiny veined leaves, great clumping habit, and attractive autumn color.

29    E. grandiflorum 'Bicolor Giant' - relatively new to my garden, has good red fall foliage.

30    E. pubescens "Shaanxi Forms" - introduced by Darrell Probst, a hardy selection of this slightly more tender species. Very low, wide clump of neat foliage, much smaller than E. stellulatum that can be seen just above.  perky white flowers above the foliage.

Ver nice. That's an impressive clump of 'Thunderbolt'. I look forward to seeing more of your seedlings as they mature; as you've implied before, Mark, we've only seen the tip of the iceberg with these wonderful and variable plants!

A few photos from spring '09, mostly of 'no-name' seedlings.

Seedlings from 'Caramel'. The best of them are extremely floriferous (500+ on still-maturing plants) with upright flower stalks. Some flower stalks are lax and bend though, which is personally not my preference.

Some variation. Notice that one has green anthers, which is fairly uncommon (e.g. E. chlorandrum and a couple of others).

An exciting and seemingly vigorous seedling from E. davidii.

Some seedlings from E. dolichostemon.

E. x youngianum 'Yenomoto' and an open-pollinated seedling from it (notice the blush of pink that is not present in the seed-parent).

Some self-sown seedlings that will likely bloom in '11  (if they haven't already; I missed the spring '10 season being abroad)

When I look at your photos, Mark and Joseph, I am very sorry that I haven't yet been able to increase my collection! As I have told before, it is likely slugs to blame for that. They devour the shoots in spring. And, of course, the difficulty in obtaining other species than the common ones here.

Joseph wrote:

A few photos from spring '09, mostly of 'no-name' seedlings.

Seedlings from 'Caramel'. The best of them are extremely floriferous (500+ on still-maturing plants) with upright flower stalks. Some flower stalks are lax and bend though, which is personally not my preference.

Some tantalizing stuff there Joseph!  I don't yet have 'Caramel', but must get a piece sometime, along with 'Amber Queen' which is a real beauty: http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Plants/Epimedium-Amber-Queen-PP-171...
Walking the rows upon rows at Garden Vision Epimediums nursery, there are entire rows of plants with these giant spider blooms in all sorts of caramel, tan, pink, and rose colors, simply wonderful.  Wow, 500 bloom on one plant!  You second hybrid plant from dolichostemon looks similar to the named hybrid 'Amanogawa' (acuminatum x dolichostemon), white flowers with yellowish-brown spurs and cup, which I showed earlier in this thread:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=178.msg1973#msg1973

After spending so much on these plants over the years, now that I have a couple hundred varieties, I'm thinking to myself, why keep buying them, why not start hybridizing my own plants and grow them from seed.   They're all charming, even those that don't get named, they are still beautiful plants in the garden.

This year I planted out about 250 self-sown seedlings, labeling them as to what plant and area they were found under, fun to see what one gets.  I have many parallel cases like your pink-blushed youngianum 'Yenomoto' seedling, where the hybrid seedling closely resembles the parent, but with a subtle twist.  So, it pays to surround your desirable epimediums with "good neighbors".  I have floriferous grandiflorum forms 'Larchmont' and 'Pseudo-Larchmont' growing near E. grandi. f. flavescens 'La Rocaille', and one gets plants perfectly intermediate, grandiflorum-like plants with light pink and pale yellow flowers.  It was pure serendipity that I planted the tiny youngianum 'Liliputian' near a number of desirable epimedium species & cultivars, getting very dwarf and distinctive plants that are fully evergreen imparted from either E. sempervirens 'Candy Hearts', E. pubigerum, and E. x sasakii (natural hybrid of sempervirens and setosum).

Self-sown epimedium seedlings are the cutest little things, I don't have the heart to toss them out until I see what they produce in 2-3 years.  This spring I had a batch of about 150 3-year old seedlings bloom, I selected those I wanted to keep, and gave the rest away to our local Garden Club in town, the ladies were thrilled with these donations.  Also this past year, I potted up, then planted out about 200 more self-sown seedlings.  Spring of 2011, if I get even fair germination on my 50 flats of manually made crosses, I should have more epimediums than I know what to do with.

Trond: I have never seen a slug munching on any "eppies" here, although we don't have much of a problem with them here, but they do exist, particularly in the more woodsy areas where the epimediums are planted.  I have friends in Seattle Washington area, Pacific Northwest USA, wher giant slugs reign supreme, but they do grow epimediums there too.  You might need some regime of slug bait application to mitigate their damage.

Mark, I'm sure a visit to Garden Vision would blow my mind. I'd like to visit, and I'm very glad it's still around. I didn't receive a catalogue this year that I recall. Do they still publish one? In the past they have generally sent it out automatically.

I don't have 'Amber Queen' either, but it's what I think of every time I see my seedlings bloom. I did see a whole bed of them at a botanical garden in Korea, though. They looked smaller and weaker than mine, but I can't judge based on that because, though blooming size, they were obviously recent additions. Incidently, there was also a bed of E x 'Pink Champagne', so I was able to see that one in the flesh before taking the plunge. Do you have it (I assume so)? I like plants like it and 'Domino', which hold the flowers high above the foliage. I have noticed that the color of the flowers are not as intense as I had expected. That goes with the territory though . . .

It sounds like your "eppy" program is off and running. It's all still quite new to me.

Yes, Garden Vision Epimediums still publishes a catalog, I did get one for 2010, but it was the first one in a decade where I did not order because of being unemployed :-\.  I was however graced by the generous gift of 'Pink Champagne' and sp. nova "The Giant".  Since Garden Vision Epimediums is now run by Darrell's ex, Karen Perkins,  try emailing her to be sure you get the list this year: [email protected].

I was googling Epimedium wushanense 'Caramel' tonight, and came across a somewhat unsettling nursery-offering from Heronswood.  They are selling seedling-grown plants from E. wushanense 'Caramel', which will obviously be 100% hybrids and not the true Caramel; fair game I suppose, but the plant offering is listed simply as Epimedium [Caramel], an odd cryptic way to list the offering.  What does it mean?  To be sure, almost every customer who would purchase such an offering will label their plant Epimedium 'Caramel' or Epimedium Caramel, and it'll totally create confusion with the true E. wushanense 'Caramel'; they should know better than such a carelessly labeled offering... how disappointing.  If anyone currently grows the true 'Caramel', start calling it as such; E. wushanense 'Caramel' (true vegetatively propagated plant). Tsk tsk Heronswood.

Heronswood - Epimedium [Caramel]
http://www.heronswood.com/shop/03464

McDonough wrote:

Trond: I have never seen a slug munching on any "eppies" here, although we don't have much of a problem with them here, but they do exist, particularly in the more woodsy areas where the epimediums are planted.  I have friends in Seattle Washington area, Pacific Northwest USA, wher giant slugs reign supreme, but they do grow epimediums there too.  You might need some regime of slug bait application to mitigate their damage.

With bigger plants it is no problem but small, newly planted ones are vulnerable in the spring when the new shoots emerge especially if the spring is slow and the slugs are numerous. The very cold winter last year decimated the slug population a lot and the extreme cold this November with no snow-cover may kill off some of the greedyguts. (I hope the few Epimediums I have survive.)
When I acquire new plants either by buying or seeding I will be very careful where to plant them and use slug bait.

The look of all your different plants makes me wish for growing more!

Mark, that is an unfortunate reality, and one that is all too common in the trade. And that is an old listing too; they no longer offer those seedlings, which is also unfortunate, and I think they should remove the page (the link has been removed from the catalogue, but you can obviously still reach the page 'through the back door' as you have). The 'former Heronswood' was one of the only sources of seedlings, though, and I wish others would offer them. Perhaps they don't because people like names, and even if you did make it clear (e.g. 'These are seedlings FROM H. wushansense Ogisu 92009, NOT the real thing!'), many consumers would take the liberty of retaining the name anyway, presumably to avoid the complexity of the explanation to fellow friends and gardeners. Either way it's not ideal, and it is certainly unacceptable for anyone who distributes plants, whether commercially or as a hobby. I'm afraid it's probably inevitable though. The upside is that even though this practice can lead to disappointment, it can also lead to pleasant surprises. Given the option, I would always prefer a seedling to a named clone, assuming the two are of equal horticultural merit. To me, plants are no different from pets; it's nice knowing that you have something unique with which to develop a relationship. On the other hand, if you paid $140,000 for a clone of the 9/11 rescue dog, you might want it to be the real thing!  ;D

This Heronswood isn't the same as the old Heronswood. I don't think they would do anything like this with Dan Hinkley at the wheel. I did buy plants from them in the old days.

Hoy wrote:

This Heronswood isn't the same as the old Heronswood. I don't think they would do anything like this with Dan Hinkley at the wheel. I did buy plants from them in the old days.

Exactly. Once it change hands, the integrity is gone.

Joseph wrote:

Mark, that is an unfortunate reality, and one that is all too common in the trade. And that is an old listing too; they no longer offer those seedlings, which is also unfortunate, and I think they should remove the page (the link has been removed from the catalogue, but you can obviously still reach the page 'through the back door' as you have). The 'former Heronswood' was one of the only sources of seedlings, though, and I wish others would offer them. Perhaps they don't because people like names, and even if you did make it clear (e.g. 'These are seedlings FROM H. wushansense Ogisu 92009, NOT the real thing!'), many consumers would take the liberty of retaining the name anyway, presumably to avoid the complexity of the explanation to fellow friends and gardeners. Either way it's not ideal

It's an interesting point, or concept... offering seedling grown plants, maybe at a much cheaper price.  The way this should be handled is to isolate a few different selected epimediums and plant them close together, then grow on seedlings from this "blend", and sell any resulting OP (Open Pollinated) hybrid progeny under a new and distinct "umbrella" name, like Epimedium "Sunset Color Blend", or E. "Spring Fantasy Blend", or other nursery name that clearly indicates a variable group of hybrids.  Even this concept can go astray, Washfield Nursery in England sold various mixed Epimedium seedlings of Asian parentage under the "catch-all" name of "Asiatic Hybrid".  Years later, various nurseries get one plant named as 'Asiatic Hybrid', propagate it and offer it for sale.  Everyone is confused, because this nursery's 'Asiatic Hybrid' doesn't at all match that nursery's 'Asiatic Hybrid', everyone is growing completely different plants under one name, a singular name (would have been better to name it 'Asiatic Hybrids', or better yet, something like "Selected Asiatic Hybrids", something short and more description, that people would probably still mimic exactly, but is self explanatory).  Now forever and ever, people will wonder why their 'Asiatic Hybrid' has pink flowers, while someone else's has yellow flowers.  Mitigating the confusion would not be that hard if some thought and consideration went into a proper name for such entities.

Colder temperatures have arrived, yet still no snow, with garden interest provided by evergreen Epimediums and a few late-deciduous types.

1   E. pubigerum Cc950215 - In my opinion, one of the very best all-around clumping species, although a largely overlooked one.  The neat crimped foliage looks great year round, is the most reliable evergreen of all species, and drought-resistant too. The small flowers are produced in open sprays on tallish stems that clear the foliage, not bowl-me-over beautiful but refined and attractive.  Flowers are basically white, but depending on the form grown, can be flushed with pink or red. The number indicates a Darrell Probst collection number; with four forms offered in the past, I have three of them.  From Turkey, in areas near the Black Sea.

2   E. x sasakii - another evergreen "species", a name used by Japanese botanists to describe natural hybrids between E. sempervirens and E. x setosum, but the name not generally recognized.  Since E. x setosum is itself a natural hybrid between E. diphyllum and E. sempervirens, E. x sasakii can be thought of as:
E. sempervirens x (diphyllum x sempervirens).  The sempervirens genes certainly show through, with small rounded evergreen leaves, but with an upright habit more like diphyllum.  Very slow growing clumper.  I grow a couple forms.

3   E. x sasaki 'Melody' - introduced by Darrell Probst in 2001, this is a hybrid that occurred in Harold Epstein's garden, between E. sempervirens (violet form) and E. x setosum.  It is a very good plant, slowly building into a mound of shiny semi-evergreen leaves, taking on dark leather red colors in fall. The spring foliage is flecked with red, and the violet flowers are a bit larger and more showy than other x sasakii types.

4   E. sempervirens 'Candy Hearts' - a fantasic plant, the spring foliage is unbelievable, looking like shiny plastic with bold red edges.  New leaves after flowering also show bold coloration.  Large, heavy foliage tends to flatten out in summer making beautiful low mounds, worth growing for the foliage alone. Absolutely winter evergreen and drought resistant. Palest lavender flowers are okay but not very exciting.  Excellent plant for hybridization efforts.

5   E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum - this evergreen species hardly needs any introduction, a familiar garden plant that slowly spreads into a dense wide mat. Reliably evergreen here, and drought resistant.  The yellow verbascum-like flowers are best appreciated however if the foliage is cut off in spring.  Late autumn and winter foliage takes on dark charcoal shades.

6   E. x youngianum 'Otome' - I keep showing this Japanese variety, but it is so fantastic, useful too for hybridization, and colorful so late into the season, that it's hard not to be fixated on it.  Semi-evergreen, and drought-resistant.

7   Not all grandiflorums are created equal, even with flowers of the same color scheme.  The small plant on the left, showing some red fall color, is E. grandiflorum 'Silver Queen'. The much larger E. grandiflorum 'White Queen' is on the right, taking on some dull brownish-red fall color.

8   E. x youngianum 'Royal Flush'- fantastic copper-red spring foliage, some good foliar color in late spring and summer too, and subtle burnished copper tones in autumn; semi-evergreen.  Attractive lavender flowers. Somewhat similar to the next one, #9.

9   E. grandiflorum var. violaceum 'Bronze Maiden' - in spring this goes through an incredible metamorphosis of leaf color, from chocolate to carneous red and flesh tones.  This plant had a rough time with our summer drought, so it looks a bit tatty, but still showing some burnished leaf color.

10  Two E. x versicolor selections (garden bred E. grandiflorum x pinnatum ssp. colchicum), the cultivar 'Versicolor' in the lower right with deep leather-red foliage, and Darrell Probst's 2004 'Cherry Tart' above it with leather-brown leaves.  Foliage is semi-evergreen, these being a couple of the very best eppies ever.

Mark, more nice foliage shots!

I can see the value of acquiring named forms for botanical gardens, who want to display them, and commercial horticulturalists, who want to profit from them, and scientists, who want to study them. But for my purposes as a hobbyist the names are trivial, so there's little practical value in being too concerned or rigorous about it.

And it makes sense to me that some open-pollinated seedlings would command lower prices, but I don't think that's always the case (I would take any open-pollinated E. wushanense seedling over a division of a plant like E. Sagittatum 'Warlord', for instance). Heronswood used to sell 'Wushanense hybrids' for a very fair price; a rare bargain. Also, careful hand-pollinations of choice parents in which the pollen parent and seed parent are completely protected from natural pollinators would seem to be much more valuable than either open-pollinated plants, plants that are hand-pollinated in the open garden, or vegetatively-propagated plants. I say that for several reasons: 1) it is more labor intensive; 2) pollinators fly, so proximity of plants in the garden is not a strong limiting factor; 3) hand-pollination in the open garden where there are many interfertile plants is not strong proof that a cross was successful, regardless of the phenotype of the offspring; 4) the breeder is releasing unique genetic material to the public. I suspect, but don't know, that among the reasons seedlings are not generally offered to the public is in part due to protectionist concerns of breeders.

SO . . . if you were to come up with a list of seedlings for distribution, you would have at least one avid customer and would be saving me some time!  ;)

On a side note, some people might be surprised that my hellebore collection does not contain a single named clone (in part because many happen to be sterile and thus are a breeding dead end). I find little satisfaction in owning a plant that hundreds or thousands of other people own. My goal is progress, so phenotype and parents that routinely produce high-quality offspring are all I care about. If that plant happens to have a cultivar name, then that's OK, but it's irrelevant to me. I think one of the great things about having a variety of enthusiasts with different goals and perspectives is that we will inevitably have different collections and thus contribute to the diversity of plants in cultivation. It would also possibly make it more interesting for visitors, who might be pleased to see plants that can't be seen anywhere else.

Joseph, I have much I want to respond to, but it's late, so I simply post the following URL, to a new post on the Epimedium 2010 thread on SRGC, where a new forumist posted approximately 50 photos of Epimedium hybrids, some are truly delicious.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4769.msg175090#msg175090

A proper response later :D

Now, that's my idea of fun!  :D

Warm Christmas colors on Epimedium lishihchenii and stellulatum on this sunny Christmas Eve, they look hot enough to melt snow :D

Merry Christmas Epimedium fans  :)

Thanks Mark! Nice to see when I sit here in a very cold and snow covered Oslo! The sun is just rising but nobody is up except me yet.
Happy gardening the years to come!

Mark,

Absolutely brilliant topic.  I can barely believe the range of Epimediums, I had no idea there were so many until reading this topic and seeing all your wonderful pictures.  I grow a few of them here as well (amybe 20 or so?), and wish I had more space to be able to grow more (don't we all!  ;D), but they aren't easy to find here in Australia, or at least in my part of Australia anyway.  I've also never seen any sort of seed set on any of mine, despite some of them being grown in pots in close proximity to each other.  Next spring I must get out and do some paintbrush work I think.

Thanks so much for such an inspiring topic.  8)

Hello everyone,

my first post and it's a question to start with.

Maybe I should introduce myself first.
In short ;)  I'm Wim Boens, I live in Belgium (a small country between the Netherlands, Germany and France) and I'm an archaeologist.
I've been gardening since I was 9 years old and in the last five years I became more interested in woodlanders and bulbs.

Today I received a form of Epimedium grandiflorum called E. grfl. f. flavescens #1. The person who gave it to me said she bought it some years ago from Heronswood.
I was wondering if anyone here might know if this plant has been given a cultivar name and what makes this clone (number 1) so special?

Thanks

Wim

WimB wrote:

Hello everyone,
Maybe I should introduce myself first.
In short ;)  I'm Wim Boens, I live in Belgium (a small country between the Netherlands, Germany and France) and I'm an archaeologist.
I've been gardening since I was 9 years old and in the last five years I became more interested in woodlanders and bulbs.

Today I received a form of Epimedium grandiflorum called E. grfl. f. flavescens #1. The person who gave it to me said she bought it some years ago from Heronswood.
I was wondering if anyone here might know if this plant has been given a cultivar name and what makes this clone (number 1) so special?

Wim

Hello Wim, we meet again ;)  Welcome to the NARGS Forum!

I suspect your E. grandiflorum f. flavescens #1 is a Darrel Probst designation.  In the Garden Vision Epimediums catalog he writes "We grow many distinct forms of f. flavescens, (probably differing from one another due to their origins in segregated wild populations). We give each "type" a number (unless we have location information), but not a cultivar name as there are probably thousands of similar clones in the original wild populations".  The Garden Vision Epimediums catalog has sold E. grandiflorum f. flavescens numbered forms 1 - 6 for a number of years, although form #1 was last offered in 2005 (maybe 2006, but I can't verify as I've seem to have lost my 2006 catalog).

E. grandiflorum f. flavescens #1 is described as: Side leaflets of this clone have at least one of the basal lobes squared with an extended point.  When well grown there can be as many as 3 points on some, producing several different types of medium-sized leaflets on the same plant. Handsomely bronzed in spring.  Large, pale yellow flowers bloom below the leaves. !2".

I have all 6 forms, as well as a few other named forms, but can't find a photo of #1 tonight.  I will try to find the plant this spring and post some photos.

McDonough wrote:

WimB wrote:

Hello everyone,
Maybe I should introduce myself first.
In short ;)  I'm Wim Boens, I live in Belgium (a small country between the Netherlands, Germany and France) and I'm an archaeologist.
I've been gardening since I was 9 years old and in the last five years I became more interested in woodlanders and bulbs.

Today I received a form of Epimedium grandiflorum called E. grfl. f. flavescens #1. The person who gave it to me said she bought it some years ago from Heronswood.
I was wondering if anyone here might know if this plant has been given a cultivar name and what makes this clone (number 1) so special?

Wim

Hello Wim, we meet again ;)  Welcome to the NARGS Forum!

I suspect your E. grandiflorum f. flavescens #1 is a Darrel Probst designation.  In the Garden Vision Epimediums catalog he writes "We grow many distinct forms of f. flavescens, (probably differing from one another due to their origins in segregated wild populations). We give each "type" a number (unless we have location information), but not a cultivar name as there are probably thousands of similar clones in the original wild populations".  The Garden Vision Epimediums catalog has sold E. grandiflorum f. flavescens numbered forms 1 - 6 for a number of years, although form #1 was last offered in 2005 (maybe 2006, but I can't verify as I've seem to have lost my 2006 catalog).

E. grandiflorum f. flavescens #1 is described as: Side leaflets of this clone have at least one of the basal lobes squared with an extended point.  When well grown there can be as many as 3 points on some, producing several different types of medium-sized leaflets on the same plant. Handsomely bronzed in spring.  Large, pale yellow flowers bloom below the leaves. !2".

I have all 6 forms, as well as a few other named forms, but can't find a photo of #1 tonight.  I will try to find the plant this spring and post some photos.

Thank you very much, Mark.