Epimedium - A Splendid Woodland Perennial for Early Spring Flowers

Welcome to Plant Delights Nursery at Juniper Level Botanic Gardens. We are a private research and display botanic garden located near Raleigh, North Carolina (USDA Hardiness Zone 7b). Our retail mail order division allows us to make the best plants from our trials available to gardeners around the world, some of which were developed here, some from our plant explorations, and others from breeders around the world. Between 1988 and 2010, Plant Delights Nursery introduced over 500 new plants to US horticulture. In 2002, we were honored to be recognized by the American Horticulture Society for our lifetime of work in commercial horticulture. This image gallery is but a sampling of the great plants available for gardeners around the world. We do not carry all plants pictured at any one time, but since our mission is to educate and inspire, we hope these images and the linked articles below will expand your garden horizons and interest. You will find an array of other interesting information and fascinating plants throughout our website...thank you for taking time to visit. Epimedium (Fairy Wings) - Great Shade Perennials for the Early Spring Woodland Garden

Plantsman Magazine
by Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery Inc.
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, NC 27603
919.772.4794


Epimedium x omeiense 'Razzleberry'
Epimediums are known by several common names such as fairy wings, bishop's hat, and my personal favorite, horny goat weed. In Asian cultures, epimediums are used as herbal medicines to stimulate androgen hormones and therefore enhance sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, and to provide energy. This use was reportedly discovered after a farmer noticed goats which grazed on epimediums became much more sexually active. It is with mixed feelings that one passes bushels of dried epimedium roots in a roadside market on the way to a high peak in Asia ... I'm sure they provided much enjoyment for the indulging parties, but at great expense to the preservation of many of these species.

It was 40+ years into my gardening life before I got involved with epimediums, partially because I found the conflicting information made them more confusing as a group. It was only with the assistance of epimedium guru, Darrell Probst, that I was finally able to wrap my arms snugly around this group that we have since embraced. Epimediums are members of the barberry family which includes such other familiar garden plants as mahonia (lumped by some into berberis), berberis, podophyllum (mayapple), and vancouveria.

In the late Professor William Stearn's first epimedium monograph in 1938 (updated just before his death in 2001), only 21 species were known. Even as late as the early 1990s only a handful of these known species were represented in cultivation by living specimens. As we would soon discover, far less than half of the epimedium species had even been discovered or named.

Few genera of plants have seen such a dramatic increase in new species, primarily thanks to the work of Mikinori Ogisu of Japan and Darrell Probst of Massachusetts. Most of the epimedium species discovered and introduced in the 1990s were due to the work of the tireless, Ogisu. His discoveries include Epimedium campanulatum (1996), Epimedium chlorandrum (1997), Epimedium dolichostemon (1993), Epimedium flavum (1995), Epimedium fangii (1995), Epimedium franchetii (1996), Epimedium ilicifolium (1998), Epimedium latisepalum (1993), Epimedium ogisui (1993), Epimedium mikinorii (1998), Epimedium rhizomatosum (1998), and previously named species that were not in cultivation such as Epimedium brevicornu, Epimedium ecalcaratum (1991), Epimedium fargesii, Epimedium lishihchenii (1997), Epimedium pauciflorum, and Epimedium platypetalum. Probst's introductions include Epimedium brachyrrhizum (1997), Epimedium dewuense (2003), Epimedium epsteinii (1997), Epimedium myrianthum (1998), and the previously described Epimedium sutchuenense which he introduced to cultivation. Many yet to be published species from his work are in the pipeline.

As of 2008, our collection had swelled to 49 of the currently named 54 species, along with most of the distinct hybrids. Epimediums are quite the promiscuous bunch, with bees creating both garden hybrids and well as natural hybrids in the wild. While most epimediums make great garden plants, there are a few that offer little for gardeners, and these will not be discussed here. For the purpose of this article, I'm grouping my descriptions based on the plant morphology ... plant characteristics that are easily observable, especially flowers.

Epimediums spread via a woody rhizome, located just below the soil surface. Just like bamboos, there are fast spreaders (leptomorphs), and slow spreaders that appear to form a tight clump (pachymorphs). In the garden and nursery, epimediums can be divided, which is best done after flowering has finished. One of the most important tricks I learned from Darrell Probst is to always leave two-thirds of the foliage on the newly divided plants to encourage them to form new roots. The tight clumping pachymorphs will be the most challenging to divide, hence the higher price these usually demand. If you decide to try dividing them, get a pair of bonsai scissors. Roots on divisions should be cut back to 4-5" long. Epimediums can be grown from seed, but you'll need to have a keen eye since the seed usually mature about 45 days after pollination (Probst). I tried for years to gather seed, which must be sown fresh, with no luck and now I just allow the seed to fall into a well prepared seed bed, where it will germinate the following spring. If you're lucky enough to gather the seed, they will require 60 days below 40 degrees F for germination. We have been able to flower about 10% of one year old seedlings with the rest flowering the second year. Since most epimediums are self-sterile, a lot of your offspring will be hybrids, creating a myriad of possibilities where many different species are grown nearby.

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