Scientific name: Epimedium
Family: BERBERIDACEAE
Common names: “Bishop’s hat” “Barrenwort” “horny goat weed”
Plant Type: Evergreen & Herbaceous perennial
Conditions:
Zone: Tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions
Light: Full sun – full shade
Exposure: Sheltered
Soil: Humus rich soil
Moisture: Well drained, lusher growth with good moisture
Aesthetic:
Plant Size: Low groundcover
Leaf and Stem shape: Compact clump of compound leaves with 9 or more, ovate leaflets, bronze-tinged when young
Flower: Long-spurred, purple, pink, white or yellow, in open sprays
Pruning: Shear down leaves
Maintenance: Requires yearly maintenance, cut back old leaves in late winter before new shoots emerge in early spring
Landscape use: Groundcover under shrubs and trees, flower beds, winter interest
Propagate:
Pests & Disease: Can get weevils
Comments: Tolerates dry shade
Cultivars: Hundreds of different kinds, ~AGM winners:
Epimedium x rubrum –
Epimedium x youngianum ‘Niveum’ – Large white spurred flowers
E. grandiflorum – White, red or pink spurred flowers held above foliage
E. g. ‘Rose Queen’ –
E. g. ‘Nanum’ –
E. g. ‘White Queen’ –
E. pinnatum subsp. colchicum – Excellent winter foliage
Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’ – Bronze winter foliage, pale yellow spur
Other varieties: E. wushanense – Considered the Rolls Royce of species with “angel wing” like foliage
