Epimedium - various threads gathered together here

[Ragged Robin]

You have really inspired me with your fantastic photos of Epimedium in your woodland Mark, they are glorious ground cover under your trees and along pathways. Your woodland is obviously quite a mix from the leaves the ground and I wonder if your soil is quite acidic ?

E. x versicolor 'Neosulphureum', one looking up at the flowers clearing showing the short spurs

love this shot 

[annew]

Epimediums seem to be a favourite food for them, but they only kill the ones in pots, in the ground they are tolerated. This can be a problem to other plants if the weevils move onto them from the epimedium 'base station'.

[TheOnionMan]

Epimediums seem to be a favourite food for them, but they only kill the ones in pots, in the ground they are tolerated. This can be a problem to other plants if the weevils move onto them from the epimedium 'base station'.

I only tried growing Epimediums in pots one year, and lost most over the winter, whereas they almost never die when planted in the ground.  I see from a couple google links on vine weevils, they like a whole range of plants, and I grow many (most) of what is in the following link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_vine_weevil#cite_note-0), so maybe there's enough for them to munch on in general, with no one group of plants becoming devastated.  I only have a few rhodies in my yard, but do notice the leaf edges getting nibbled at, but again, never have seen much evidence of them bothering Epimedium in the 21 years at my current location.

[TheOnionMan]

You have really inspired me with your fantastic photos of Epimedium in your woodland Mark, they are glorious ground cover under your trees and along pathways. Your woodland is obviously quite a mix from the leaves the ground and I wonder if your soil is quite acidic ?

E. x versicolor 'Neosulphureum', one looking up at the flowers clearing showing the short spurs

love this shot     

Thanks Robin.  In a way, many of my garden views could be considered Trompe D'Oeil, because if one goes about carefully selecting views, carefully framing and cropping the shots, it can give the appearance of much more extensive gardens than what is really there.  But it has been one of my goals to photograph plants through the seasons (not just when in flower), and to show entire plants as we typically see them, to get a idea about how they'll look in the landscape.  In some cases, as with E. x versicolor 'Neosulphureum', I tried to get a worm's-eye view looking up at the flowers, as the floral characteristics are diagnostic to tell the difference between it and E. x versicolor 'Sulphureum'.  And yes, the soil here is acidic.

[TheOnionMan]

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.

[Regelian]

Mark,

I had just ordered Black Sea for Spring and now sea I made the right choice.  I currently only grow three Epimediums in the garden, as other varieties are rarely offered at garden centres.  I plan to visit the old Ahrends nursery this Spring and see if I can find any other varieties.  At this time, I have found no one offering the chinese species on the continent, but they are certainly here, just not yet public.

These foto essays are simply wonderful.  Thanks!

[TheOnionMan]

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.

[Ragged Robin]

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

A portrait of Epimedium x 'Black Sea' :

I love this effect and the acid green of the new leaves with the yellow flowers high above...

Epimedium grandiflorum 'Lavender Lady .......'Gorgeous spring foliage and showy flowers

What a contrast in how the flowers present themselves like a skirt around the lavender edged leaves....

Both wonderful in their Spring show, Mark, your descriptions and comments make them even more enticing  

[Lesley Cox]

While the delicate, pendant stems of flowers on many vars are delightful, I'm wondering if anyone is hybridizing specifically for more upright forms, using those plants which have tall, stiff stems?

[TheOnionMan]

While the delicate, pendant stems of flowers on many vars are delightful, I'm wondering if anyone is hybridizing specifically for more upright forms, using those plants which have tall, stiff stems?

That's a good point Lesley.  I'm going to start dabbling with some hand-made crosses (versus just letting the bees do it) in 2010, and I have ear-marked varieties such as 'Black Sea', several of the x versicolor varieties, E. brevicornu and several asiatic species, all having flowers well presented above the foliage.  Of course the ones to watch, are some of those like D.Probst's E. sp. nov 'The Giant' with tall upright, indeterminate flower stalks that can keep on growing, branching and flowering for a very long time.

[TheOnionMan]

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.

[TheOnionMan]

More E. semperivens (apparently, not so popular, although I like them).

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 3rd photo, a more general view of an enbankment with several E. sempervirens cultivars, 'Aurora' in the center, E. sempervirens 'Vega' in the lower right with very shiny pointed leaflets, and E. x setosum in the upper right (x setosum is a hybrid between E. diphyllum and E. sempervirens).

[fleurbleue]

Very lovely foliage this one as well 

[TheOnionMan]

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.

[maggiepie]

Mark, this is an absolute beauty, I think I have to have it!!

PS, your avatar cracks me up, even before you added the headwear