Epimedium 2013

Epimediums on YouTube (includes 'Pink Champagne'), nice music too:
"Most popular Epimedium hybrids cultivars and species for gardens, Elfenblume."

I must learn how to make videos like that.

On a separate note, one sometimes wonders how plants get misnamed in the nursery trade. Well, it's not difficult for mistakes to happen, then that mistake gets "propagated" on a major scale, and once the mistake is widespread, it is self-perpetuating. The link below is to a perennials wholesale nursery, with a single Epimedium listed as 'Fire Dragon', however the plant shown and the accompanying description clearly show E. x versicolor 'Versicolor'. I wrote to them telling of their mistake, although if past experience prevails, no corrective action will be taken.

This is NOT 'Fire Dragon', it is E. x versicolor 'Versicolor'
http://www.cliffordsgardens.com/Epimedium/Epimedium-Fire-Dragon-p-242.html

Here is Epimedium 'Fire Dragon':
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-by21A1W80ts/Te6lZKtyJEI/AAAAAAAACYI/TPJXuapmfP...

Greetings copperbeech, welcome to NARGS Forum; the minute I saw the pending registration request as "copperbeach" I thought to myself this is likely to be a valid registration request (we receive hundreds of requests each day, 99% of which are automatically rejected by a anti-forum-spam plugin and lookup procedure).

To choose only a couple of epimediums, that will be tough, or at least for me it would be a great challenge to narrow down the selection. You can't do better than with the two you mention, Amber Queen and Pink Champagne, both are excellent.  May I also suggest from the Lost Horizons list of 88 Epimedium, E. stellulatum. This one slowly builds into a beautiful mound of evergreen leaves, the freshly unfolding leaves splashed fiery red-orange, changing to mottled green and red, and airy sprays of delicate little white flowers. It has season long beautiful leathery leaves that turn burnished crimson and gold in fall and winter... a year round plant.

Epimedium stellulatum in spring 2012:

Epimedium stellulatum foliage, early December 2012 on the left, January 2013 on the right, still looking vibrant:
 

I envy your plot of new garden bed ready for planting (oh, to have open ground), keep us posted later in the season on what you plant.

The available forms of Epimedium stellulatum represent different wild collections of the species. The original species introduction was the one collected by Roy Lancaster in the Wudang Mountains of China, and given the name E. stellulatum 'Wudang Star'.  It has leaves that are wider than normal. I have a plant of this selection on order for spring 2013 delivery. Rick has shown some good photos of it earlier in this topic; and if its hardy in Rick's Michigan climate, it should be hardy for you.
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=1254.msg21745#msg21745

The plants I showed came from Garden Vision Nursery, representing the typical species. Last year I finally purchased the one named "Long Leaf Form" (note: it's not a cultivar name, just a description in quotes). As the description suggests, this selection has longer leaves, that are narrower and more spiny-edged than the type. That said, I think they're all somewhat similar and equally desirable in the garden.

Regarding "open ground", I actually have lots of space left, but digging up new beds in my yard involves a lot of sweat equity, hard digging with a large pry bar and pick-axe to break up terrible rocky clay soil and decomposing ledge; seems that I always have way more plants that need planting than I have open beds for.

Just placed another order, this time with EdelweissPerennials.com in Oregon. They have a really good plant offering, and easy to use & navigate website, purchasing online was simple.  Most importantly, their prices are reasonable, bought a couple epimedium at half the cost than other sources.  Check out their silver-leaved forms of Cyclamen coum and hederifolium too  :o
http://www.edelweissperennials.com/PlantGroup.aspx?plant=Epimedium

Here are the Epimediums I ordered:

Epimedium wushanense 'Caramel'  (I realize it's not the true wushanense, but I want E. 'Caramel'
E. chlorandrum
E. 'Starlet'
E. 'Yokihi'
E. x youngianum 'Beni-Goromo'

Cost with shipping was just under $100, once again coming in at that magic mailorder $20 per Epimedium cost.

In the Facebook "Epimedium Group" there was discussion about the proper name of Epimedium 'Yokihi', because sometimes it is found as 'Yohiki' (the "k" and "h" reversed), so which is correct?  Apparently it is 'Yokihi'.

When I googled Yokihi, the first thing that comes up is the famous story of Yang Kwei-fei (Yang Guifei). Not knowing the breeder's intent, we don't know the true inspiration behind the name 'Yokihi', but it does seem certain that this is the intended spelling. Its a very beautiful Epimedium, good to learn about its parentage.

NARGS forumist Saori, also on the Facebook Epimedium page, gave some information on this lovely cross, hope it's okay to quote her information "I've heard that Yokihi was bred by a nursery in Niigata and it is a cross between Epimedium membranaceum and Epimedium x rubrum".  

When I look at the plant photo link below, the foliage does indeed look very much like E. membranaceum.

couple of good photos of this unique hybrid:
E. 'Yokihi' - whole plant view:
http://www.losthorizons.ca/~losthor/images/Epimedium/e_yokihi2.jpg
...dramatic black-background closeup views:
http://www.asianflora.com/Horticulture/epimedium-yohiki.htm

I've seen this listed as high as $35 for a plant, bought it at EdelweissPerennials.com (see message above) for $15, can't wait!  For those in the New England area and you just can't wait, it is available from Garden Vision Epimedium nursery this year, at $30.

Hi Gerrit, I haven't heard of that cross, but it does indeed look beautiful, and distinctive; thanks for bringing it to our attention. It goes to show us, that the world of Epimedium hybridization is wide open, with so many possibilities, our gardens will be all the richer with such diversity.

By the way, my third box of mail-order Epimedium arrived today, all carefully packed; generous size plants, some in full bloom like this E. platypetalum. The order included 9 Epimedium, shipped from Collector's Nursery in Washington State, the plants arrived in awesome condition.  I planted some of them tonight after work, the plant size generous enough to divide several of them!

We have experienced a slow but perfect spring season, Magnolias are glorious and didn't get whacked by surprise frosts, and Epimedium are surging forward with great speed; can't keep my eyes off of them.  Many are breaking into bloom, but tghis post just features two.

Epimedium brachyrrhizum hybrid, from a self-sown seedling, looking very much like E. brachyrrhizum, but with pristine flowers and much better floral presentation.

The next batch of photos are all of an Epimedium hybrid of mine, nicknamed by Wim Boens as 'Mark's Star'.  I do plan on introducing this one, but still not settled on what the name will be, although I've grown accustomed to 'Mark's Star'  ;)

RickR wrote:

Mark's Star is really exceptional in so many ways: color blends, floriferousness, flowers lofty above the foliage, etc.
It seems dwarf, too (?)

And Mandrin Star ain't too shabby either. (He says in Minnesota speak.)

Thanks Rick.  Yes, 'Mark's Star' is dwarf too, truly a rock garden sized thing, thanks for your comments.  I do really like how the flowers are well about the foliage, something I'm aiming for in my hybridization.

Gerrit, what can you tell us of 'Mandrin Star'?  The name comes up both as 'Mandrin Star', but many more hits on 'Mandarin Star', which makes sense.  I can't find hardly any information on it, please tell us where it is from.  Only a couple pictures found on google, in those the flowers look like E. stellulatum or E. pubescens, but your photo shows a much more substantial flower with strong outer sepals.

Well, the 'Mandarin Star' form is very nice, looks like it has considerably larger flowers than normal.  I do think it should be called 'Mandarin Star' versus 'Mandrin Star', as 'Mandarin' is a Chinese dialect and would make sense for a Chinese species. To re-emphasize the point 'Mandarin Star' is actually a hybrid and not a species selection, notice the size of the yellow petals and cup, way bigger than typical stellulatum. :)

Both 'Wudang Star' and 'Long Leaf Form' are new to my garden, so I shall get a chance to compare them on my own plants, and to the good photos you post showing them.

gerrit wrote:

The person who named it, might have his reason to choose for Mandrin. It sounds better than Ma-da-rin.
I will never change Mark's Star in Marc's Star for instance.

I understand, but then again sometimes there are obvious "typos", naming mistakes.  I would bet money that the plant is named 'Mandarin Star', as 'Mandarin' is such a hugely prominent part of Chinese culture, whereas the word "Mandrin" basically comes up odd references.  You are correct to be conservative on this matter, but maybe ask Koen van Poucke to verify the "Mandrin" versus "Mandarin" question. 

Gerrit, I see what you mean on E. stellulatum 'Yukiko', it is big and bold compared to others, should make an impressive specimen in time.  I have not heard of that stellulatum form before.

On your newly added cultivars, Freya looks nice, we're not likely to see it here in the US, although there are others with that general appearance (dwarf grandiflorum type, with the "white star" coloration on the back of the sepals); the one called 'Starlet' from Collector's Nursery has that form.

'Red Maximum' has striking flower form and color.  Do you know who selected and named that one?

On E. koreanum 'Harold Epstein', do be careful where you plant it; it is an aggressive runner with long underground stolons. I had an area with mixed epimediums and other plants, eventually decided it would be easier to move all other plants out, and just allow 'Harold Epstein' to fill the area.  At Garden Vision nursery (the original one), this epi fills about 20' x 20'.  It is beautiful, but just be aware of its spreading tendencies.  

It should be noted for NARGS Forum readers, E. koreanum was recognized only recently (2002) by Stearn as a species separate from grandiflorum, although one is likely to see the combination E. grandiflorum ssp. koreanum, but most plants under that name are actually yellow-flowered forms of E. grandiforum, known as E. grandiflorum f. flavescens. Unlike grandiflorum, E. koreanum spreads by rhizomes, 6-12" a year, and has few-flowered inflorescence or relatively huge individual blooms.

Here are a few photos of E. koreanum 'Harold Epstein' taken over the last week or so.  It is distinctive when emerging and flowering, as each growth point is like a sturdy flag pole, or street light, with the big soft yellow flowers popping off from the side of the pole, with a "flag" of young expanding leaves above.  The leaves get very large in time.

E. koreanum 'Harold Epstein'

A few photos of Epimedium 'Sunshowers', a unique and beautiful epi originating from Far Reaches farm in Washington State; I got mine from Garden Vision a few years back.  Compact and floriferous, with specked foliage, and soft yet luminous yellow flowers and broad white sepals. It has a unique appearance on account of the nearly orbicular shape of the central cup on each floret.

E. 'Sunshowers'

Wow Gerrit, you got three stunning epimediums for almost nothing, the first one is exceptional!

Regarding the nomenclature confusion around E. grandiflorum f. flavescens; according to William T. Stearn in his The Genus Epimedium published in 2002, E. grandiflorum f. flavescens is a recognized yellow-flowered phase of E. grandiflorum from Japan. However the name E. grandiflorum  ssp. koreanum is also seen a lot, to describe similar yellow-flowered plants from Korea, however that name was retired in 2002 when Stearn published the Korean plants as its own species E. koreanum, putting grandiflorum ssp. koreanum into synonymy.

In horticulture the two species are typically confused, both showing up under the old (now invalid) name of E. "grandiflorum ssp. koreanum".  Most plants in cultivation under the name E. grandiflorum ssp. koreanum or even E. koreanum, are in fact E. grandiflorum f. flavescens.  So the two correct names are:

E. grandiflorum f. flavescens - a yellow flowered phase of typical grandiflorum, clump-forming non-running growth. Native to Japan.

E. koreanum (syn. grandiflorum ssp. koreanum), also yellow-flowered, but with running rhizomes extending 6-12" annually, native to N. Korea (where the "Type" was described, but also found in China)

In growth, it's not too hard to tell the plant apart, even without checking for the existence of long rhizomes in E. koreanum.  Epimedium koreanum doesn't make a tight multi-stemmed clump as is typical for E. grandiflorum, but appears as a colony of spaced-out vertical stems.  The photo below shows a form of E. koreanum that Garden Vision sells (their plants of several clones from N. Korea and some from China).  The naked stems stand nearly 2' tall, with a few yellow flowers under the canopy of unfurling leaves.  I planted mine in a rough woodsy spot where it can run.

I should've mentioned for Rick, and others in colder climates, E. koreanum is supposed to be very hardy and rated to as low as Zone 3.  Might be one to try, bearing in mind, its running-spreading growth.

I hate it when this happens; while I typically plant out individual Epimedium seedlings, I must have planted two seedlings together by mistake. Half of the clump (left side) has nice heart-shaped leaves and good leaf color, but small, uninteresting partially concealed white flowers, whereas the right side of the clump has bold clusters of pink-sepalled flowers with strong rosy-red cups.  I'm going to dig this clump up while in flower, wash off all soil, and attempt to separate them out, the white one to be discarded.

Oh, Gerrit, just noticed your photo additions to the message above.  It's good that grandiflorum 'Circe' has "jumped the pond" and made it to Europe, one of the very best deep-color grandiflorums, mine is just coming into bloom too.  I agree that Epimedium campanulatum is a "must have", I see buds on my two smallish plants... I had a rather large plant that died back to a smaller size plant a couple years ago, and my second plant is a flowering-size seedling that looks identical.  I am now of the opinion that E. lishihchenii is not entirely hardy here, I have lost the plant several times, the replacement I planted out last May is one of the few casualties over this past winter.  Even among a flat of E. lishihchenii seedlings, many did not return, which is too bad as its a beautiful species both for flower and foliage.

Rick, you've done well with E. lishihchenii, I love the heavy textured foliage on this one.  I keep losing mine, and was coming to the conclusion it's not reliably hardy here! My replacement plant bought and planted out last spring, died over winter.  I wonder if there are different clones, some more hardy than others, or perhaps, mine were in too dry a spot.  I have a few seedlings coming along, one is in bloom, but even with the seedlings, about half of them died over winter.

Gerrit, a Rick says, really fine photos, getting the small narrow flowers of E. fargesii in focus is no easy task, such plants are devilishly difficult to photograph well.  I don't have Pink Constellation, just the regular species.

I've tried and tried to photograph an allied species, E. qingchengshanense over the last couple of bright sunny days, all photos were poor, so last night I photographed in low light, and finally got photos of the flowers in focus, but I don't like the low-light photos, but it'll have to do.

E. qingchengshanense, from Qing Cheng Shan, China.

Close-up of the flowers, comparing E. qingchengshanense with the similar E. fargesii flowers, the former having a better developed cup and yellow pollen as opposed to green.

Gerrit, do you have a new camera? Your photos are showing some excellent detail. Seeing the E. x omeiense 'Stormcloud', I'm struck by two things, the first being the striking color (the obvious one), and the curious "hump-back" sepals, so distinctive!  I have only recently (last year) added E. x omeiense 'Akane' to my garden; the other named forms are on my list.  :)

Aaron, I only added E. dolichostemon to my garden a couple weeks ago from a mail order nursery, it would be great to include a flower from that species (next year), to show the differences in these three allied species.

The season gets ahead of me so quickly, that I miss posting because the images are no longer timely.  But, I'm going to try and offer up some Epimedium images for you all.

Epimedium x youngianum-type hybrid that I nicknamed 'Bipolar' because most of the flowers have only 2 sepals like a propeller, although a few flower will have 3 or the normal 4 sepals. Floriferous, light pink, compact, a really nice little hybrid.

Epimedium x 'Black Sea', with light yellowish orange flowers on upright stems, beautiful near black autumn foliage.

Epimedium brevicornu, a younger plant than my big mature clump, airy sprays of white and yellow flowers in abundance.

Epimedium ilicifolium, in a state showing last year's base of evergreen foliage, and then the new orangish foliage and yellow buds forming.

Epimedium hybrid ([stellulatum x membranceum] x open-pollinated), second year seedling already flowering, with flurries of faint pink ascending sepals (they look white in the photo) and light yellow cups.

Epimedium pubigerum hybrid - three views of this lucky find, with very nice textured foliage, and sprays of light yellow flowers on shorter stems than normal, a 3-year seedling plant that I'm keeping an eye on.

E. x versicolor 'Cupreum', the foliage color is outlandish, such a deep orange-rust color with green veining, and coppery yellow & pink flowers.

One of my many hybrid seedlings involving E. grandiflorum 'Dark Beauty', with amazing deep reddish-coffee color foliage, worth growing just for the foliage alone.  The average mauve-ish blooms are mostly concealed by foliage (but, oh that foliage), but will probably hold off naming anything until I get one with foliage like this and great flowers too.

Gerrit, fine photo of E. ilicifolium. I have about 4 flats of seedlings coming along, very interested in seeing what the results might be, but first bloom will not be until at least another year.

After two days of much needed rain, I walked the garden briefly this morning before work, and snapped this photo of a hybrid epimedium in the foreground, selected on account of its floriferous habit and large pink and white flowers; not anything to get named, just to be enjoyed in my garden.

Epimedium 'Yokihi; is a real beauty, I received one a few weeks ago from a mail order nursery. Please note the spelling; on the Facebook Epimedium page there was discussion whether it is correctly 'Yokiho' or 'Yohiko', it can be found both ways, although it was verified that it is correctly E. 'Yokiho':
http://www.asianflora.com/Horticulture/epimedium-yohiki.htm

Your comment about E. macrosepalum being a "runner" caught my attention, as I haven't even considered it might be a runner, whenever I saw it at Garden Vision it's always been single plants (probably young plants that hadn't started running).  Today I was at Garden Vision and Karen Perkins has it noted right on the sign for this species, that it run. So, that means I will be relocating mine to spot where it can run freely. The flowers are totally hidden under the foliage, bur the sepals are indeed over-sized.