Epimedium - various threads gathered together here

[Heinz Meyer]

great pictures, beautiful Epimedium

[maggiepie]

I am going to look very hard for a few more eppies this year.
You have a marvellous collection McMark. 

[Lesley Cox]

These are all really delightful. So far as I know, the only x Youngianum we have in NZ is the old 'Niveum.'

[TheOnionMan]

These are all really delightful. So far as I know, the only x Youngianum we have in NZ is the old 'Niveum.'

Well, 'Niveum' is an oldie but a goodie, surely a tried and true one.  I grew this for many years in full sun, where in spite of it's small size and apparent delicacy, it survived without difficulty and always put on a good show of blooms.  It is still a favorite here.

I grow 40 youngianums, and while most are unquestionably attractive, long lived plants, a few are "collector's interest only", as they have strange and not so attractive flowers, sometimes hidden below the foliage. Cultivars in this catagory include 'Fukurasuzume' (drab whitish pinkish-tinged flowers hanging below the leaves), 'Kozakura' (small bell-shaped flowers, white tinged lavender), and 'Sudama' (small cherry flowers never open, they stay pinched closed at the end).  I would show photos, except they're so unphotogenic that I don't have any photos of these guys.

[Jane]

Fantastic pictures, roll on spring!

[TheOnionMan]

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 is a rampant spreader, 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.

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 32 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.

[Ragged Robin]

Mark, thanks for posting such a wonderful view of your woodland with Epimedium, leaves and flowers showing off in their clumps.  Planting on a slope is definitely a good view for shy flowering plants so one can appreciate the detail from below. 

[fleurbleue]

Mark, could you later explain to us the differences between E. pallidum et E. x versicolor neosulphureum. I have the two ones in my garden and I don't make a distinction between them  Or one species has a wrong name 
Thanks for all Mark 

[TheOnionMan]

Mark, could you later explain to us the differences between E. pallidum et E. x versicolor neosulphureum. I have the two ones in my garden and I don't make a distinction between them  Or one species has a wrong name 
Thanks for all Mark 

Nicole, from what I can tell, there is no such species name E. pallidum.  There does seem to be something going around as E. grandiflorum 'Pallidum', however what this dubious item is, who really knows, as it doesn't seem to be reliably described.  I found a few nursery listings for E. grandiflorum 'Pallidum', with poor little images that don't show much detail, but in at least two of such finds, the spring foliage shown in the images was heavily suffused red showing green leaf veins (looking much like E. x versicolor).  Whatever "pallidum" is, it certainly seems confused in the nursery trade, without much said about it. 

Here is a description from 2007 Lost Horizons catalog  (Ontario, Canada):  "Epimedium pallidum $10.00 - One can never have too many Epimediums in the shady garden. A new offering from Holland not listed in any reference we can find, so all we know is that it has
attractive yellow flowers that stick out from the green foliage. A long bloomer--up to six weeks."

There was a thread about E. "pallidum" back in the Epimedium 2009 SRGC pages:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3374.msg87326#msg87326

I also do not think this mysterious "pallidum" is E. x versicolor 'Neosulphureum'. On the "Epimedium 2009" SRCG page, there are some excellent photos of E. x versicolor 'Sulphureum', clearly showing the yellow flower color (deeper yellow than 'Neosulphureum'), and the spurs 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, taller stems, and slightly red-tinged foliage in spring, and the aforementioned flower differences.

[TheOnionMan]

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.

[TheOnionMan]

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 (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 the 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.

[TheOnionMan]

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.

[TheOnionMan]

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.

[annew]

Mark your plants (and planting) are remarkable. I have to ask this: Do you have a problem with vine weevils?

[TheOnionMan]

Mark your plants (and planting) are remarkable. I have to ask this: Do you have a problem with vine weevils?

Thanks.  There are vine weevils here, but not to the point where they have become a major problem.  Do you have a problem with these critters and epimediums in the UK?