Epimediums
You can find all our available Epimediums on this page, or you can use the categories at the beginning to refine you choice to botanically similar species or hybrids of that species. Each Taxon category should contain all subcategories and hybrids of that taxon.
Epimediums are a rare thing; they are both exquisitely beautiful and highly tolerant in regard to growing conditions. In British gardens they grow well in all but the wettest and most alkaline soils, with many being very tolerant of dry conditions where they can provide superb ground cover; the Epimedium x perralchicum varieties excel particularly as do forms of Epimedium x versicolor. The one constant is that they all require a degree of shade. Whilst many do cope well with dry shade, more moisture and humus in the soil is beneficial.
In order to best view the flowers, and in many cases to get the best from the beautifully marked new leaves it can be beneficial to cut away all of the old leaves in early Spring just as the flower spikes break the surface. In this way you get the best from the evergreen foliage and the best from the flowers.
The common name ‘barrenwort’ comes from a belief that the root could prevent women becoming pregnant. This may be of some comfort when you consider other common names, such as horny goat weed, which stems from the legend of a Chinese goat herder noticing increased sexual activity in his animals after eating Epimedium. The dried leaves of Epimedium grandiflorum are used as a tonic in China called Fang-chang tsao (translated as ‘give up stick’) on account of its tonic effect on the elderly.
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Potsize - 1L
Very well named as the flowers are of just that mix of pale yellow with a tinge of green that characterises that most noxious of elements. However, there the similarity ends as the rest of this plant is lovely. The flowers come in a dense, arching spike with each berberis like flower hanging most gracefully. Towards the end of flowering the outer petals will sometimes stain pink. The effect is quite showy and refined. E.flavum x E.ogisuiLinks
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Jean O'Neill has flowers in one of those colours that is quite unique. The flowers are generous in proportions and production, with each being topped by off white sepals, under which curve petals which shade from dunked rich tea biscuit brown to flesh coloured at their curved tips. Young leaves are suffused with a rich tan and they colour a lovely pinky-red in Autumn, still with the darker red speckles. Raised at Spinners by Peter Chapell from Epimedium davidii seed. Possibly a cross with Epimedium acuminatumLinks
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Flowers appear richly coloured in heavy sprays. The sepals are small and lilac, under which curve much larger petal 'claws', deep purple in the centre fading to near white at the curved tips. New leaves are a fresh apple green, staining orangey red towards the margins and then splashed in rich burgundy. Altogether a most attractive cultivar. Raised by Wendy Perry of Bosvigo Garden, Truro from seed of Epimedium acuminatum, with a form of Epimedium grandiflorum as the other parent.Links
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A lot like E.leptorrhizum's larger cousin with flowers in a very similar colour. Each flower is 4cm across with soft pink inner sepals above strongly curved white petals which can develop a purple stain at the mouth. They are a little larger than those of E.leptorrhizum, to my eyes a slightly bluer pink and have a more pronounced colour difference between the petals and inner sepals. They are one of the earliest Epimediums into flower. Leaves emerge with a subtle rusty blotching. Originally collected under the name E.leptorrhizum, but differing in the much shorter runners. Series C - DolichoceraeLinks
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The flowers of this species are typical of the series, being a wide spidery cross in an almost translucent pale lemon yellow. The leaves however are something to behold, being large with three arrow shaped leaflets, apple green with a gorgeous variable overlay of maroon blotching. Two botanical details separate this species from the others in its series. The first is that the sepals are not closely pressed to the petals, but instead arch back to give the flower a little more character. The second, which you can be excused for missing, is that the pollen is green rather than yellow. This feature does however give the species its name. Subgenus Epimedium, Section i, C Series - DolichoceraeLinks
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Collected by the great Japanese Epimedium expert Mikinori Ogisu you know that this is going to be something good. And so it is. The new leaves are just the most lovely shades of crimson, providing the perfect foil for the bright lemon yellow flowers. It doesn't sound special when written down, but there is just something about the way that the leaves glow that is so right. The way the petals curve inwards can give the flowers the appearance of so many spiders dangling from the arching stems, but that is to deny their undoubted beauty. The flowers are a strong lemony yellow which look absolutely great against the broad foliage. Winter leaves can colour pale ochre with dark pink veins. From Hubei and Guizhou provinces, China. Named by Professor Stearn. Series C - DolichoceraeLinks
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In many ways similar to Epimedium wushanense, but a little smaller (despite being in a different series). The flowers have petals that curve downwards in a shade of pale translucent yellow, stronger towards the centre and on the very tip. They are carried in compound pyramidal inflorescences of up to 30 flowers. The leaves are fresh apple green, paler at first, eventually developing an overlay of red blotching. They are long and narrow with a quite spiky margin. Subgenus Epimedium, Section i, B Series - DavidianaeLinks
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The flowers of this variety are tiny, but more than made up for by the immense profusion in which they are produced creating a cloud of tiny butterflies. Each flower is starry and white, made up mostly of the sepal, with tiny brown incurved petals. The stamens are prominent and yellow so that the overall shape of each flower echoes a dodecatheon. The flowering stems are black, as are the buds which makes a good contrast. Unlike the flowers, the leaves are relatively large, and emerge in a fabulous bright green, heavily overlaid with deep burgundy-red. Subgenus Epimedium, Section i, D Series - BrachyceraeLinks
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Weihenstephan is a typical, but particularly stout form of E.perraldianum. The flowers are rich yellow formed of tiny brown tipped petals and broad rounded sepals. They face outward from upright spikes whilst the new leaves emerge pale yellow-green coloured with a mosaic of red. Shiny foliage forms weed smothering spreading mats.E. perraldianum grows naturally in mountain Oak and Cedar forests in Northern Algeria and North Africa. It is very similar to E.pinnatum subsp. Colchicum, differing mainly in numbers of leaflets and its notably spiny leaf margins. Subgenus RhizophyllumLinks
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Epimedium pubigerum. An evergreen species with more rounded leaves than most growing to 45cm. Flowers yellowish-white with the inner sepals sometimes pale pink. The flowers are relatively small and held high above the foliage. One of the parents of Epimedium x cantabrigiense. Introduced into Britain by Ellen Willmott from a garden in Geneva. Originally from the shores of the Black Sea across to West Georgia. Subgenus Epimedium, Section iv. EpimediumDiscount of 25p per plant for quantities of 3 or overLinks
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The flowers remind us of an upside down quoit board with the petals curving down at 90 degrees to the plane of the flower in a pale lemony yellow. The sepals are a small pale yellow crown. The flowers are borne on long pedicels, hanging below a long arching dark stem like so many spiders. The foliage is long and narrow, sparsely undulating with a spiny edge. When they first expand, the leaves are an ethereal pastel ochre, subtle, but absolutely lovely pale, shiny yellow-green with bronzed flush. They aren't the striking reds and blotched blacks of some of their cousins, but there is something simply enchanting about them. One of the larger varieties with leaves up to 15cm long and flower stalks that can carry up to 100 flowers. From Wushan county in Sichuan, China. Subgenus Epimedium, Section i, C Series - DolichoceraeLinks
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Epimedium x cantabrigiense. (Epimedium pubigerum x Epimedium alpinum) Easy to grow and highly attractive ground cover. 50cm; spreading. Leaves are an asset all year, opening with red netting, colouring rich russet in autumn and remaining all winter. A tall species with upright stems carrying many delicate orange flowers (red and yellow), which, whilst individually small, create an attractive cloud. Occurred as a natural cross in the wilderness garden of St John's College Cambridge during the Second World War, but was only named in 1979.Discount of 25p per plant for quantities of 3 or overLinks
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(E. grandiflorum x E. pinnatum subsp colchicum). Here's something a bit different. Instead of the usual yellow tones of versicolor, this variety has strayed deep into the pink. The sepals are quite broad, rich rosy pink, fading paler as they age. The petals, which are much smaller, nestle below with a spur of rich ruby changing to yellow at the mouth. It is a good grower with leaves of russetty brown over winter and as they emerge. Compared to the other versicolor types, the flowers give the general impression of being a bit rounder and neater.Links
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(E. grandiflorum x E. pinnatum subsp colchicum). This variety is very much along the same lines as its cousin Sulphureum, but a little paler and possibly more refined and even more like a diminutive Totnes Turbo. There is a little more contrast in the flower with paler inner sepals and slight ruddy shading to the tip of each petal. Foliage in Winter tends more towards the pinnatum parent and is largely evergreen. It is later in to flower than Sulphureum, so much so that they barely overlap. It has been in cultivation from before 1934, but has never achieved the popularity of Sulphureum. The young leaves are brownish.Links
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Epimedium x warleyense ( Ellen Willmott ). E. alpinum x E. pinnatum subsp. colchicum. The upright stems of delicate coppery orange flowers set this hybrid apart from most epimediums. They are held well up above the foliage in a warm orange haze. The leaves are apple green in a mildly spreading clump that is a little less dense than most species. Height 20-40cm in flower. Originally sent from Warley Place, the Garden of Ellen Willmot, to Professor Stearn as E.perraldianum when he was writing his monograph. Subsequently identified and named by Professor Stearn. for any good soil in partial shade. spring.Discount of 25p per plant for quantities of 3 or overLinks
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