Full of eastern promıse

Thanks to dozens of new varieties from China and Japan, 2017 could well be the year of the epimedium

Some plants, like peonies and dahlias, are so flamboyant they make an immediate impression. Others, though, have gentle charms that take longer to sneak up on you – such as epimediums.

Many gardeners know them as reliable if unexciting perennials, some of the few flowering plants that will thrive and spread in dry shade. Epimediums have pretty heart-shaped leaves and rather insignificant sprays of flowers that appear from April onwards. While they’re useful, especially for planting under trees, until now they haven’t been the sort to make your heart beat faster.

These days, however, epimediums are soaring in popularity thanks to the dozens of new varieties with origins in China and Japan. With more and more nurseries stocking them, 2017 could be their year. Nurseries send epimediums out over the winter, so now’s a good time to place your order.

Writer Sally Gregson, who also runs a nursery in Somerset, is the author of a recent book on epimediums, and says all types have a lot to recommend them. She admits, however, that it is the Chinese varieties, which are the showiest of all, that really excite her and vividly recalls seeing them for the first time. ‘The flowers resembled hang-gliding spiders, suspended above brightly splashed young leaves. I found them irresistible,’ she says. ‘I’ve been collecting them ever since. ‘They need light shade, rich soil and plenty of moisture and they look fantastic combined with plants like Dicen

tra spectabilis – or bleeding heart –

and the blue Corydalis flexuosa.’

New varieties are being introduced all the time, but some of the ones to seek out are ‘Amber Queen’, with very tall marmalade- coloured blooms produced over a long period;

E. ogisui, which has pure-white flowers and leaves that go purple and bronze in spring, and ‘Spine Tingler’, whose lemon-yellow flowers are held over narrow, spiny leaves.

The Japanese varieties also need light shade and some moisture, but prefer acid soil. Their blooms range from pink, violet and purple to pure white. Among the best are E. gran- dif lorum ‘Akebono’, wit h long spurred petals that a re a deep rose- pink at the centre, and E. x youngianum ‘Merlin’, whose flowers are a delightful combination of pink, deep purple and white.

The European varieties have smaller blooms and are less showy, but have the bonus of being excellent plants for dry shade. Of these, Sally recommends E. x versicolor ‘Neosulphureum’, with evergreen leaves and clouds of primrose-yellow flowers, and E. x perralchicum ‘Frohnleiten’, which has bronze-red leaves and golden-yellow flowers.

The Plant Lover’s Guide To Epimediums by Sally Gregson, Timber Press, £17.99. For Sally’s nursery, visit cottageplants.co.uk.

Epimedium ‘Amber Queen’ and (inset) E. ‘Akebono’

Right: Epimedium x youngianum ‘Merlin’