Epimedium listing: including Epimedium 2010

[Olga Bondareva]

Your 'Merlin' does not look like the right color. Just enjoy both of your misnamed eppies for the pretty plants that they are

You are right but plants with name are much better. 

Stunning pictures Olga, everyone a gem.

Thank you Lesley!
Still no name for that plant. Think it's no need to name it quickly.

Mark thank you for masterclass of Epimedium sowing.

[Olga Bondareva]

Epimedium platypetalum


Epimedium acuminatum




Epimedium... Epimedium... oh my memory...


May be E. acuminatum pale form (from China)

[TheOnionMan]

Olga, some very nice epimedium flower portraits... I think I like Epimedium "Oh My Memory" best, maybe that should be the name of the cream-white pinnatum colchicum   Perhaps that one is E. latisepalum, just a guess... (white flowered, the plant going around as latisepalum with white and yellow flowers appears to be wushanense).

[TheOnionMan]

Today is a miscellany of items.  I fell behind with the super-advanced season this year, the earliest season by 2 weeks ever, followed by endless warm days and some very hot days to 35 C.

1-3  An epimedium relative, the small American genus Vancouveria provides a few little woodland plants similar to epimedium, all 3 species with the fun name "insideout flower" based on the unusual flower shape.  The most common one encountered, the one I grow, is V. hexandra.  The plant is great for dry shade, in fact, mine was planted 20 years ago in a woodland area of my property where my water hoses do not reach, growing under huge and thirsty sugar maples, and in those 20 years has spread to about 3 meters x 3 meters, growing 8-10" (20-25 cm) tall.  The flowers are cute, white parachute affairs held above trim foliage.

Here is more info on this small genus Vancouveria.  I really want to acquire V. chrysantha, not sure why the other two species are so hard to come by.  Are these grown in the UK or Europe?  Has anyone every tried hybridizing Vancouveria with Epimedium?

Vancouveria hexandra - white insideout flower
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?mode=symbol&keywordquery=VAHE
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0210+0547

Vancouveria chrysantha - Siskiyou insideout flower
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0106+1163
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0605+1171
...foliage and pods
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=1351+3163+4290+0084

Vancouveria planipetala
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Vancouveria+planipetala
(A couple images in the gallery surely represent V. hexandra and not planipetala).

4-5  Two photos of Epimedium x youngianum 'Freckles' foliage... the after-bloom foliage shows the strong and irregular speckling to erratic leaf-mottling... some leaves almost entirely red or brownish red.  What I find interesting, is that hybrid seedlings from this plant almost always show the strong leaf mottling and spotting.  I had a self-sown seedling between this cultivar and E. grandiflorum 'Princess Susan' appear, just like a "Freckles" but with the clear white-sepalled pink-petalled flowers so well known from the cultivar 'Princess Susan'.

6    The clear white and pink flowers of E. grandiflorum 'Princess Susan', with a few yellow and white flowers of E. brevicornu x membranaceum in the corner.

7-10  E. campanulatum is one of the species that lacks prominent spurs, the flowers are tiny yellow thimble-bells produced in abundance.  I like this plant very much, it is so different than most, looking like a more decumbent version of the upright E. platypetalum that Olga showed.  This species (campanulatum) has me thinking... how true is it that most (almost all) Epimedium species are said to be self-sterile and require a 2nd species to be present for seed to be produced.  I wonder.  E. campanulatum has been flowering non-stop for 6 weeks, just coming to an end now, but sets a huge quantity of seed even though few other Epimedium blooms are available for cross-pollination.  In the photos, you'll see a plant that is finishing up flowering; it has nearly 50 stems, each stem has about 40-50 flowers produced over a long period, and I swear every single flower makes a pod... so there are about 2000 pods on one plant; each pod has 4 seeds in it, that's 8000 seeds!  I wonder if this species is self-fertile, I wonder the same about E. x setosum which also makes tons of seed even though most other Epimedium around it are done flowering.

[johnw]

Mark - Here's is Vancouveria planipetalum here. Wonderful glossy foliage that would be interesting if captured in an Epimedium cross.

I'm surprised no one has attempted such an obvious cross.  You'd better get cracking.

johnw

[Maggi Young]

There are Plantfinder listings for V. hexandra, chrysantha and planipetala  suppliers in the UK.

I think John's right.... time for you to get cross pollinating, McMark!

[johnw]

Mark - I'll watch out for seed but do remind me when you think they might be ready as I have no experience collecting Vancouveria seed.

I can't recall seeing V. chrysantha being offered in western Canada. Surely one of the west coast Amercian nurseries must sell them all.  The Oregon Hardy Plant Society website might be a good place to start.

We had one hot day here a week ago today - +29.5C but it has been cool and blustery ever since.  Last Thursday I was in PEI and it was dark, gusty and 8c.

johnw

[TheOnionMan]

Mark - I'll watch out for seed but do remind me when you think they might be ready as I have no experience collecting Vancouveria seed.

I can't recall seeing V. chrysantha being offered in western Canada. Surely one of the west coast Amercian nurseries must sell them all.  The Oregon Hardy Plant Society website might be a good place to start.

We had one hot day here a week ago today - +29.5C but it has been cool and blustery ever since.  Last Thursday I was in PEI and it was dark, gusty and 8c.

johnw

John, I wasn't aware just how nice the foliage is on V. planipetalum, thanks for showing us this.

Just checked my large swath of Vancouveria hexandra, not one seed capsule to be found.  I can see that some rudimentary pods start forming then quickly shed, because they're not fertile; I suspect more than one clone is required for viable seed to be made.  John, in the link I posted of V. chrysantha, there's one photo showing foliage and pods... they are much like Epimedium pods, little stubby pods which are best picked *before* they actually dehisce and start dropping seed... the seeds will probably look something like epimedium seed, just like tiny fleshy green lima beans.  Not sure how they'd transport, but I suppose they could be packed in just barely moist vermiculite in a small plastic "zip lock" bag... I just sent off some fresh Jeffersonia dubia seed that way.

But, I also took a look, and there are North American sources for all three species... yay!

Going to be yet another very warm (hot?) breezy day.

[TheOnionMan]

There are Plantfinder listings for V. hexandra, chrysantha and planipetala  suppliers in the UK.

I think John's right.... time for you to get cross pollinating, McMark!

As I type this, my hands are stained with pollen, both Epimedium and Vancouveria!

Never really thought of attempting to cross Vancouveria hexandra with Epimedium; I think Darrell Probst has tried it but t didn't work.  I went ahead and did some pollen dabbing just for the fun of it.  My thoughts, looking at the Vancouveria, even if it could cross with epimedium, is "so what", it has tiny white flowers... but I suppose the late flowering habit, total drought resistance, and possibly the curious flower shape if it could be passed along to progeny, might have merit.  And then again, we try such things, just... because

[TheOnionMan]

Up close, the little parachute shaped flowers of Vancouveria are cute.  I wonder, if Vancouveria and Epimedium could be crossed, what the flower shape would be like?  Some other late season Epimedium thoughts today:

1    Vancouveria hexandra - close-up of flowers

2    Epimedium fangii -  I was excited by this one at first, but the light yellow flowers are sort of a "let down", being thin textured and not well presented.  I like it better for the leathery 3-part foliage, the new foliage in bright red and bronze tones.  I think it'll be a useful one for hybridizing with.  I also have to move this plant where it can spread, the rhizomes are very long (up to 12" or 30 cm).

3    Epimedium brevicornu x membranaceum (#2) - I mentioned that only one of these crosses is everblooming like its parent membranaceum.  I take that back, as more of the now 3-year-old plants are showing the same tendency, with lots of new flower stems forming at this late season.

4-8 Epimedium elongatum - this is a new species in my garden, from Darrell Probst introduction.  It is native to high elevations (9,000 - 12,000 feet) in Sichuan Prov., China.  What is unique about this species, is its late flowering, mine just coming into flower; Darrell reports that it flowers in June for him, and July in the wild.  It is a delightful upright airy species, with crisp small leaflets, and perky yellow flowers with small dark red outer sepals.

[Olga Bondareva]

I think I like Epimedium "Oh My Memory" best... that one is E. latisepalum

 
Yes, it is. I like it's liaves - long, hard and thorned.

[Olga Bondareva]

Pink Champagne




Epimedium davidii

[TheOnionMan]

'Pink Champagne' is such a beautiful cultivar.  Olga, in your second photo, the out-of-focus leafy background is PERFECT, the bits of light looking just like champagne bubbles   My 'Pink Champagne' is new to the garden this year, so just a little thing, but knowing it comes from similar parentage as 'Domino', I have every expectation that it becomes a sensation in the garden.  Speaking of 'Domino', it has done this whole 2nd-tier leafing-out thing, with a secondary show of blooms, the flowers near white in their second flush.  The second-flush stems reach 2' (60 cm) or more.

Do you know what form of E. davidii you have.  Of course, it is the classic yellow Epimedium... Garden Vision Epimediums sells about 5-6 forms of this, and I can say from experience some are much better growers than others.  My favorite form is one called E. davidii "Wolong Selections". Perusing the nursery rows Garden Vision Epimedium, there is a bed full of E. davidii that is a relative giant compared to most forms, with abundant more lush mottled foliage... I don't think that one has been offered yet.

One photo of E. 'Pink Champagne' among the nursery rows at Garden Vision Epimedium.

[Lesley Cox]

That's a jolly useful map in your first link there Mark. It gave me a totally new perspective on where some states actually are. I always thought Ohio was somewhere west of the middle, for instance. And I've at last got all those little states in the east sorted out (not to mention Nova Scotia, New Brunswick etc). Of course I could always look at an atlas, but I don't unless there's a real need.

[arisaema]

Vancouveria hexandra is a nasty weed here, I've spent years trying to eradicate it.

E. sagittatum below, a huge disappointment, it was bought from China as E. brachyrrhizum