Epimedium 2013

gerrit wrote:

Mark, I think you underrate the influence of the sun. You are too much focused on your own situation in New England. And Maggi, sorry, but the Scotch are not familiar with the product 'sun'.
Let me explain a common situation in Western Europe, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Northern France, zone 7b, maritime climate. We are in the middle of June. After a Long period of cool weather, the wind is in from Africa, last night I couldn't sleep, Joni Mitchell sings. Temperatures raise suddenly to 30-33 degrees C. The sun shines from 4 am until 10 pm. The inclination is almost vertical. The purple coloured Acer palmatum dissectum burns within a few hours. The other herbaceous plants bow their heads, but will survive. Not the Epimediums. So a spot in the shade is an obligation.

I don't think I underrate the influence of the sun. But you are correct in that I'm focused on New England, of course because that's where I live and garden, so the notes I offer will have the most meaning for people in the same general area, or areas that might have some equivalency.  We've had a very long and cool spring too, but I imagine that it'll be soon enough we'll get the full affront of HEAT, with our notorious heat-wave days that can last for weeks with temps reaching near 98-100 F (~37 C). 

I did have the opportunity to garden in a drastically different climate, 3000 miles away in the Pacific Northwest, near Seattle Washington. I was struck by how different the climate was, 3 full USDA zones milder, yet plants were very much "softened" by the mild climate and abundant rain, then when a day that came along in summer that reached 84 F (29 C), an average day in New England, in this Seattle garden everything melted, drooped, and burned.  A total eye-opener.  So I do understand the difference.

My main point is, Epimediums realize their full potential in terms of best growth, best flowering and foliage coloration, with sufficient light. They will survive, prosper, and flower well enough, even in deep shade... amazing plants.

Gerrit, we're on such a similar track, I had gone out in the rain this morning and photographed E. grandiflorum 'Yellow Princess'! Mine has only just started flowering, it's a known late blooming, being a high mountain form of grandiflorum.

I had bought E. "wushanense" 'Caramel' mail order this spring, and it came as a nice sizable plant that has been flowering ever since it arrived.  The unique color blooms are generous with pollen, so I've been picking off blooms daily and using the pollen on other epis ;D

Notice that I put the name "wushanense" in double quotes, as it is generally regarded that this plant is of hybrid origin and does not represent the species E. wushanense, I've heard this from the horse's mouth so to speak.  
(Update: upon further research I was incorrect thinking this was a hybrid, apparently 'Caramel' represents a wild selection in China, but the identify as wushanense was put into question when Darrell Probst returned to China and collected from the "type" location, the true E. wushanense has very compact dense clusters of bloom.  So the question about what species 'Caramel' represents remains a mystery, unless someone has discovered the truth).

Now I can't wait until next year when these plants get bigger, along with the two plants of 'Amber Queen' that I bought.

Gerrit, I made a correction and offered updated information on the 'Caramel' epimedium in my post above, in a different color.  Here's a couple links that talk about this plant not being wushanense, both represent some communication with Darrell Probst.  Next time I see Darrell, I'll ask about what species he thinks this 'Caramel' selection belongs to.

http://www.plantdelights.com/Epimedium-wushanense-Wushan-Fairy-Wings/pro...

(scroll down 6 message to a post by Geoforce, also notice our friend Tony Willis in this following discussion thread):
http://www.gardenbuddies.com/forum/messages/64189/1233900.html

By the way Gerrit, nice photo of 'Caramel', shows off the color well.

Epimedium seed pods are forming en masse!

View of my E. pubigerum hybrid, has lovely textured foliage and bright red leaf petioles.  Very few of the flowers formed seed pods, although there are a couple.

Gerrit, I should add more comment about your 4 photos above of acuminatum & ilicifolium; again, very nice portraits of those plants. I can see how your planting on a small raised wall shows the flowers off to excellent effect.  Your ilicifolium looks like it has brighter yellow flowers than mine, which are a decidedly pale yellow.

Lori, it seems like your repertoire of hardy Epimediums in Alberta is increasing!  Yes, Harold Epstein should be written as E. grandiflorum f. flavescens 'Harold Epstein'.  Is the selection of available Epimedium increasing in Canada, did you get your plants mail order?  I'm really interested in knowing how hardy Epimedium species/cultivars will be in colder climates, colder than my USDA Zone 5.  'Queen Esta' is a nice one too, great for spring foliage color.

Gerrit, 'Spine Tingler' is a wonderful plant, yet another one to add to my list of Epimedium to purchase.

Lis, your fiendishly spreading yellow Epimedium might be E. koreanum, does it have very large light-to-mid-green leaflets? Another yellow spreader (but much better behaved) is E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum or hybrids with it (E. x perralchicum 'Frohnleiten' or 'Wisley'). One thing I like about the Garden Vision Epimedium catalog by Karen Perkins, is that it identifies all Epimedium species and cultivars as to whether they are "clumpers" or "runners".  

I love your catch phrase for Epimedium, "foliage with style", couldn't be more true.

Congratulations Ron on your first Epimedium flowering, there's no turning back now ;D  It looks correct as 'Merlin', distinctive on account of the rounded inflated look to the cup. It's one of a couple dozen epimedium that I lost in our severe drought several years ago, need to replace this one.

Oh, that was eerie, here I am up late in California, traveling for work, just typed in my ID to Rick's Chen Yi white epimedium, hit Post, and it said another message was just posted, and when I look at your message Gerrit, we say pretty much the same thing!

Here's what I had written:
===================

RickR wrote:

This one came from Chen Yi many years ago.  For several years it barely survived, but it is now finally taking hold.  She labeled it as E. platypetalum.  New foliage is sometimes mottled, but quickly fades.  The plant is very small, like Niveum, but the flowers are larger.  Any ID ideas?

The Chen Yi white epimedium is a close fit for E. pauciflorum, definitely not the yellow-flowered spurless E. platypetalum.  If it truly is E. pauciflorum, be aware that is a spreading species.

Epimedium x rubrum was my first Epimedium too, and a good one it is.

Wow Gerrit, that's a unique one. The "Cc" number indicates it is from Garden Vision, but I don't think it was ever offered in their catalog.  How big is the flower, measuring from spur-tip across to the opposite spur-tip?

David, the "OG" number indicates an original collection by Japanese botanist Mikinori Ogisu, for which two species are commemorative names honoring this individual, Epimedium ogisui and E. mikinorii. In total he introduced 15 species of Epimedium.  Of those he introduced, one is E. ecalcaratum (note spelling), collected in Western Sichuan as number OG 93082. This information from Stearn's The Genus Epimedium.

Can't really see the flower detail in your photos, to tell if there are vestigial spur bumps or "shoulders" to the petals, but since it has the OG number, one can probably assume it is correct.