How to grow epimedium

This beautiful and valued foliage plant grows happily in dry shade, but will carpet the ground faster in a rich, damp leaf mould. These rhizomatous perennials offer colourful, many-flowered sprays of spider-like blooms, typically held above foliage in spring.

Cut down the previous year’s foliage to appreciate the emerging flowers which may well remain hidden under old leaves, leading you to believe that they haven’t flowered. Make sure to do this at the beginning of February however to avoid shearing off any delicate flower stems that emerge well in advance of the new leaves. The flowers of a handful of varieties, such as E. ‘Spine Tingler’, can be damaged by frost, so perhaps in a frost prone garden, leave foliage on for longer to protect emerging flowers, carefully snipping off old leaves to reveal the blooms as the weather warms.

Flowers vary in size, but all feature long, curved spurs in contrasting colours, with most appearing in March, April, and some into May.

Both deciduous and evergreen options are available, with foliage that is vibrant in autumn and even more so in spring. There are about 30 species, many from China, with excellent hybrids available.

Goes well with:

• Ajuga
• Brunnera
• Digitalis
• Ferns
• Galium

Wildlife credentials with Dr Chris Gibson

A valuable early season forage for bumblebees. The different forms of epimedium are very prone to hybridization as the bees are not fussy about which ones they visit. If you grow more than one type, the bees may therefore deliver you not only minor variants but potentially a brand new garden worthy form. The leaves are useful ground cover for invertebrates and amphibians, especially the forms that retain their leaves through the winter. Little seems to eat them, probably a result of the chemicals they contain, some of which are being investigated for their medicinal properties.

Some of our favourites:

Epimedium ‘Buff Beauty’- A hybrid from Wildside Nursery, Devon. Large creamy-yellow flowers with a touch of pink. Evergreen. Flowers April and May. Height and spread: 30cm x 30cm

Epimedium x rubrum 'Galadriel'- Improved form of Epimedium x rubrum. The flowers are larger and more red, tending to lack the central yellow of the type. The foliage is more robust and better coloured in the spring. Height and spread: 30cm x 30cm

Epimedium grandiflorum subsp. koreanum- Sprays of creamy-white columbine-like flowers with long spurs which dangle among clumps of emerging leaf stems. Leaves light green, tinted bronze in spring. Decidious. Height and spread: 30cm x 30cm

Epimedium x perralchicum 'Fröhnleiten'- This excellent plant forms neat clumps of evergreen foliage beautifully marbled with warm reds and bronze in spring, and colours again in autumn. Sprays of bright yellow flowers are held above the foliage. Caught in spring sunshine, the foliage positively glows. Height and spread: 40cm x 60cm

Epimedium grandiflorum 'Freya MK11'- A seedling of Epimedium 'Freya' raised at Marchants Nursery (which they feel is even better!) Height and spread: 20cm x 30cm