Epimedium - various threads gathered together here

[johnw]

The reason I planted my Vancouveria hexandra way down in my dry woods under Sugar Maples, is for that reason, it is known to spread too aggresively, so I didn't want to take any chances.  I

Funny, we had this Vancouveria spreading like mad in a peaty bed. One year in early Spring we had to re-dig and refesh the bed. We lifted and carefully replanted the V. roots and they never showed again, not a single shoot.

johnw

[gote]

I got this unnamed Epimedium many years ago and it barely survived. However, this year it flowers for the first time. The flowers are huge - spurs nearly 4 cm. Not a good pic but perhaps someone can identfy it for me.
Cheers Göte

[TheOnionMan]

I got this unnamed Epimedium many years ago and it barely survived. However, this year it flowers for the first time. The flowers are huge - spurs nearly 4 cm. Not a good pic but perhaps someone can identfy it for me.
Cheers Göte

It looks sort of like one I showed pictures of earlier, of an unidentified new species growing at Garden Vision Epimediums; http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4769.msg151646#msg151646

It also looks similar to some of the lighter color E. acuminatum forms and hybrids.  Can you show a photo of a couple flowers lifted up to see the cup?

[gote]

I got this unnamed Epimedium many years ago and it barely survived. However, this year it flowers for the first time. The flowers are huge - spurs nearly 4 cm. Not a good pic but perhaps someone can identfy it for me.
Cheers Göte

It looks sort of like one I showed pictures of earlier, of an unidentified new species growing at Garden Vision Epimediums; http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4769.msg151646#msg151646

It also looks similar to some of the lighter color E. acuminatum forms and hybrids.  Can you show a photo of a couple flowers lifted up to see the cup?

It is much larger than acuminatum (flower is). I will try to get a closeup later but today the concentration of mosquitos is about 4 per gallon of air where it grows. The heavy snow cover this year saved not only a lot of herbaceous plants but also a lot of obnoxious critters.
Göte
 

[TheOnionMan]

It is much larger than acuminatum (flower is). I will try to get a closeup later but today the concentration of mosquitos is about 4 per gallon of air where it grows. The heavy snow cover this year saved not only a lot of herbaceous plants but also a lot of obnoxious critters.
Göte
 

I hear you on the mosquitos... with record breaking rains (100-year flooding) in March, followed by good warm (to hot) weather almost all spring, means that the gnats were outrageous (also called may flies) earlier on, but they are mostly over now, the mosquitoes are terrible in wooded spots, around leafy vegetation, or anywhere near dusk, but the most infuriating are are deer flies (small, incredibly fast biting flies related to horse flies).  They zero-in on you, and then buzz violently and incessantly around your head, following one around the yard, frequently trying to land someplace on you and bite.  By the way, if I'm invited to a garden party, I'm the designated mosquito magnet and everyone else can enjoy themselves mosquito-free

[arisaema]

Too bad about your E. brachyrrhizum, one of the very best species, but it is also one of the most available so maybe you can find a closer source. However, your E. sagittatum does have beautifully mottled new foliage, even if the flowers are minute.

China is ironically the closest, cheapest and easiest source I have, being outside the EU means you're cut of from ordering from pretty much every European nursery - and Norway is stuck in the dark ages when it comes to horticulture.

[WimB]

I have a determination question too.
I received these pics from a friend today. They show the new leaf and two (very unclear) shots of the flower. My guess would be E. acuminatum. What do you reckon?

[TheOnionMan]

I have a determination question too.
I received these pics from a friend today. They show the new leaf and two (very unclear) shots of the flower. My guess would be E. acuminatum. What do you reckon?

Hard to tell for sure; it does look like E. acuminatum, yet the spurs are very long and more outward reaching, rather than incurved compared to the form I'm familiar with, shown previously at:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4769.msg151634#msg151634. 

But then again, from looking at John Jearrard's Epimedium pages, it seems that the species is variable, and some have incurved spurs and others have more outward splayed spurs that look like your friend's plant.  The foliage certainly is handsomely colored.
http://www.johnjearrard.co.uk/plants/epimedium/epimedium.html

[gote]

I have a determination question too.
I received these pics from a friend today. They show the new leaf and two (very unclear) shots of the flower. My guess would be E. acuminatum. What do you reckon?

Looks like acuminatum to mee. The pic is from a plant bought from Peters and originally collected by Roy Lancaster so it should be correct.
My leaves (the ones on the side) look the same except that mine are all green.
Göte

[WimB]

Thanks for confirming my ident, Mark & Göte.

I was in doubt because of the colouration of the leaves but there seems to be a lot af variation within the species indeed.

[TheOnionMan]

Still much to do in "late epimedium season", even after most of the seed has been harvested and sown.  I've been observing some species and hybrid seedlings, and questions and objectives come to mind.  First, there's the everbloomer, E. membranaceum, each day presents 2-3 dozen flowers, large, graceful, bright yellow spider flowers (and much more seed coming).  This will flower until frost. 

New this year for me, is E. elongatum, I showed this a few messages ago, but I'm taken with it's delicate yet substantial upright habit, smallish pie-crust-edge leaves, red stems, and long succession of small to medium yellow starry flowers with red outer sepals.  It begins blooming very late, a valued characteristic. I'm always looking for Epimedium pollen this late in the season, and every now and then a second floral flush occurs on some epimediums, such as it did on E. x 'Amanogawa' recently, and I literally become giddy stealing the flowers and dabbing pollen on these two yellow eppies.

Still potting up lots of self-sown eppie hybrid seedlings, labeling which mother plant they were found under, to be grown on for 2-3 years until they flower and develop sufficiently, to determine their worthiness.  I find it surprising that many of the named Epimedium cultivars long established in cultivation originated as a "chance seedling" in this person's garden or that person's nursery, when in fact, I get hundreds upon hundreds of seedlings showing up each year (haven't named any yet though ).


1   E. membranaceum - close-up view of a few fresh flowers on my "pollen parent" plant.

2   E. membranaceum flowers up against Saruma henryi, this is my larger OP (open pollinated) plant.

3   E. elongatum - in center, with E. membranaceum pollen parent plant behind it to the left.

4   Planting ring under Cornus kousa 'Milky Way', up to about 120 epimedium seedlings will go under here in 2010.  This spring I dug out about 150 3-year old eppie seedlings from this location to other spots in the garden, some were given away to a local Garden Club plant sale.

5-6 E. hybrid from youngianum 'Liliputian', 3-year old, one of the most dense, tightest seedlings showing strong speckling and occasional all red leaves in new foliage flush.

7-8 Eight flats of approximately 25 eppie seedlings each (2010 self-sown seedlings); about 200 plants.  There are still many more seedlings to gather up and evaluate.

9   E. x youngianum 'Freckles' x grandiflorum 'Princess_Susan' - a spontaneous seedling near where both these plants grow, had the bright clearly separated white and pink flowers of 'Princess Susan', but with the strong speckling of 'Freckles'.

10  E. davidii seedling, showing some nice leaf coloring.

[johnw]

Mark - I had no idea we had Vancouveria chrysantha so I will watch for seeds for you. Ken says it came through last winter with flying colours. The glandular-pilose scapes are hardly discernible in the photo.

johnw

[TheOnionMan]

Mark - I had no idea we had Vancouveria chrysantha so I will watch for seeds for you. Ken says it came through last winter with flying colours. The glandular-pilose scapes are hardly discernible in the photo.

johnw

That's fantastic John, just look at those little golden parachutes!   What a terrific little plant; the trim leaves and black stems are very good too, this plant has it all going on.

If your clone does manage to set some seed, I would indeed love to try them... I'm sure we can find something to swap.  Thanks for showing this seldom seen plant to the forum.

[TheOnionMan]

Epimedium membranaceum continues to bloom heavily, as it'll keep doing so until frost. And so, there continues to be seed produced.  With the late-blooming E. elongatum, and hybrid progeny from E. membranaceum (x brevicornu, x rhizomatosum), and the occasional late flower flush on other species/hybrids, there are enough eppie flowers around to continue the flow of seed production.

1    E. membranaceum flowers.  The long wiry, indeterminate branching and arching stems literally form a tangle.  With dozens of such arching stems, there might be anywhere from 20-50 big yellow spider flowers each day.  The plant shown is my pollen parent plant, every flower gets hand pollinated.  I have a much larger plant that serves as an open-pollinated (OP) plant.  Ooh, a few unusual secondary flushes of bloom on E. grandiflorum 'Princess Susan' today, let me get that pollen.

2    Every week I collect the maturing seed pods.  In this harvest, about 200 seeds.  The flat has 50+ seeds sown, the small stick serves as a divider showing to what point the flat is sown, or I might sow seed a different species on the other side.

3    The pods remind me of baggy caterpillars, each containing about 3-9 seeds.  These long capsules are a bit tricky to get the seed out without squishing them... it helps to have long enough finger nails, grab the pod in the center, lightly pinch finger nails just between the adjacent seeds inside (you can feel the seeds within, like little bumps), then twist in opposite directions, then gently squeeze the seeds out.

4    close-up of the seeds, they remind me of lima beans, in fact, they smell like peas or lima beans.

5    much of the harvest of this OP seed is being sent to someone; the seeds placed in 2"x3" ziplock bags.

6    seed packet ready to go, with a bit of barely moistened vermiculite packing.

[TheOnionMan]

Today I divided a large Epimedium membranaceum plant.  It was planted as a tiny young start 5 years ago in 2005.  I typically don't divide my Epimediums, even though I should, as I hate to disturb them, they don't need to be divided other than to get more plants, and dividing them is very difficult (to darned near impossible, one practically needs a power saw to cut through the tough dense rhizome mass!).  Ended up getting 3 large divisions, the photos showing two divisions replanted, and a third division potted to give to a friend.  Notice in the potted plant, that even at this late date, the ziggy-zaggy flower stems still have flowers and are loaded with buds (and seed pods).