Thanks to epimedium guru Darrell Probst for helping us get our offerings off the ground and correctly identified. Thanks to Darrell, Plant Delights Nursery now has one of the best collections of Epimedium for sale anywhere. Epimedium species will never be traffic stoppers like roses, but these woodland shade perennials are the unsung workhorses that tie the shade garden together.
Read More About Epimedium
Epimediums are easy-to-grow perennial wildflowers. They are tenacious flowering shade plants that provide a welcome first breath of spring with their airy flowers, then a solid backdrop of attractive foliage for the remainder of the growing season. Epimedium plants can be used either as woodland garden specimens or groundcovers for small shady areas. As an added bonus, epimediums are deer-resistant.
We are thrilled to be able to offer some of the exceedingly rare Epimedium species that were only recently discovered and named from remote regions of Asia, along with some fabulous hybrids like Epimedium youngianum and Epimedium 'Frohnleiten'. Epimedium flowers are small (largest in Epimedium grandiflorum) but profuse and colorful with colors ranging from white to yellow (Epimedium sulphureum), pink/red (Epimedium rubrum) and bi-colored (Epimedium epsteinii and Epimedium accuminatum). Newly emerging epimedium foliage often has purple or brown tones or patterns which complement the flowers.
Around the world, men buy epimedium to use as an herbal supplement under the name, "horny goat weed". Guess what it is purported to do! Try pairing Epimedium in your garden with other plants with silly animal names like Bergenia (Pigsqueak), Chelone (Turtlehead), Acanthus (Bear's Breech), Cimicifuga (Bugbane) and Silene (Catchfly) to create a botanical menagerie of fun.
When you are ready to buy epimedium for your shade garden (or the man in your life), check out our epimedium for sale below.
Since 1988, Plant Delights Nursery has been the choice of serious gardeners and plant collectors looking for the best and rarest perennial plants. We are pleased to have received the Perennial Plant Association Retail Award in 2011, the American Horticulture Society Commercial Award in 2002, and to have been selected as one of the Best Mail Order Plant Sources - Garden Design Magazine 2010. Welcome to our family of plant lovers!
Epimedium sp. 'The Giant' is an extraordinarily rare, still unnamed species, first discovered in 2001 by epimedium guru, Darrell Probst, near Chongquing, China. Epimedium 'The Giant' was subsequently introduced by Probst in 2007 for $500 each. We were fortunate to have been able to purchase one of the few plants sold, and are now thrilled to have enough to share. For us, Epimedium 'The Giant' has grown into a 1' tall x 30" wide clump of evergreen foliage, topped in spring with a tangle of wispy 3'-4' tall stalks, some holding up to several hundred large, spider-like, light yellow flowers, each highlighted by an amber tinged cup. Epimedium 'The Giant' is the only indeterminate flowering epimedium, meaning a single floral stalk continues to produce new flowering branches for up to three months. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Epimedium 'Splish Splash' is an amazing 2013 Plant Delights introduction from a 2007 seedling that forms a vigorous 18" tall x 3' wide clump of amazing, heavily splashed green and reddish-bronze leaves. In mid-spring the dazzling clumps are topped by 18" tall well-branched sprays of small white flowers...quite a show with or without the flowers. When the weather warms, the older leaves eventually change to solid green. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This fantastic, but unconventional fairy wing is an unusual form of the rare Epimedium stellulatum, collected in Shaanxi Province in 1996 by NACPEC (North American China Plant Exploration Consortium). The evergreen clumps are composed of un-epimedium-like, long, spiny green leaves and topped in spring with dozens of airy, 18" scapes of small white flowers that glisten like tiny stars. We are pleased to be able to share this choice fairy wing with the gardening public. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka: E. PDN 05-018) This 2012 Plant Delights Nursery introduction probably has Epimedium platypetalum in its background. Epimedium 'Sunny and Share' is a spreading (not wildly) plant that forms a 14" tall x 4' wide thick evergreen patch in 5 years. The small green leaves are nicely flecked with bronze and the foliage is topped, starting in early April, with an incredible number of short flower spikes laden with small yellow bells. This is one of the longest flowering epimediums we grow, often producing flowers into midsummer...pretty darn amazing! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Epimedium 'Strawberry Blush' is a 2004 Darrell Probst introduction...another excellent selection of the wonderful Epimedium x versicolor group. The slowly-expanding patch can reach 2-3' wide in 5 years. The copper-maroon new foliage develops a central green pattern before eventually turning all green. From late March through late April, Epimedium x versicolor 'Strawberry Blush' is topped with short spikes of simply stunning flowers...large pale pink sepals, bright red spurs, and a contrasting yellow cup. These are so beautiful, they could be grown just for the deer-resistant foliage...the flowers are a real bonus! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum' spreads much faster (4-6"per year) and is slightly taller than its sister Epimedium 'Neosulphureum'. Epimedium 'Sulphureum' will quickly form a dense mass of foliage even in the worst conditions...a superb choice for a small, impenetrable woodland groundcover. In early spring, the bright red flower stalks emerge topped with light yellow flowers (mid-March in NC). Within a few more days, the green foliage with dramatic red mottling also emerges, creating a nice foil for the scapes of pale yellow flowers. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Epimedium 'Orangekonigin' is a relatively recent hybrid (Epimedium alpinum x Epimedium pinnatum ssp. colchicum) from master plantsman, Ernst Pagels of Germany, that is a much slower spreader than straight Epimedium x warleyense. The flowers of Epimedium 'Orangekonigin' are also a lighter shade of orange as they top the clumps in late March and early April. From zone 7 southward, expect the deer-resistant foliage to remain evergreen. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Epimedium wushanense is one of the rarest species we've ever offered. This is the real Epimedium wushanense, not the other misidentified new species that is offered as Epimedium 'Carmel'. From a very small population in the Wushan Mountains in eastern Sichuan's Three Gorges area comes this fabulous clumper, previously introduced only in small quantities by epimedium guru, Darrell Probst, in 2004. The 10" long x 3" wide, dark green, spiny leaves, often flushed in spring with pink or bronze, are the background for the 2' long, densely packed, arching flower spikes holding up to 100 flowers each. Each 1.5" wide flower has a white back and contrasting yellow cup. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka: E. wushanense Spiny Leaves CC014633) This amazing selection of the rare Chinese Epimedium wushanense was introduced in 2006 by Darrell Probst for $150, but without a cultivar name...listed only as spiny leaf form. We find it so exceptional that we've added the clonal name, Epimedium 'Sandy Claws'. This gem is a dwarf spreading selection of the rare normally clumping Epimedium wushanense that forms a 1' tall x 4' wide patch in 5 years. The spiny-edged foliage emerges a luscious chocolate in spring when it is topped by short, thickly-packed panicles of large creamy yellow flowers held just above the foliage. We've grown lots of epimediums, but have never seen anything else like this. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Epimedium x youngianum 'Baby Doll Pink', a seedling from the garden of the late Harold Epstein, makes a darling little gem to 9" tall. In the woodland garden, the flowers appear in early spring at only 3" tall on this deciduous clumper. Each cluster of "baby-doll pink" flowers hangs like tiny bells above the woodland floor, with each new developing cluster of flowers topping the last until the plant tops out at 9" in height. The new leaflets emerge with an attractive pinkish cast...a great specimen plant. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Epimedium x youngianum 'Fairy Dust' is a 2004 Darrell Probst hybrid that forms a tight 7" tall x 15" wide clump topped, starting in late March, with 10" flower spikes. Each flower is composed of a white cup, small white inner spurs, and larger mauvy-lavender sepals. The foliage of Epimedium x youngianum 'Fairy Dust' emerges a lovely light chocolate...very cute! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Epimedium x youngianum 'Grape Fizz' is a 2004 Darrell Probst hybrid that forms a compact 5" tall x 2' wide mound of foliage that emerges bronze in early spring and is topped, starting in late March (NC), with 7" tall spikes of lovely mauvy-lavender flowers...so very cute! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Epimedium 'Royal Flush', a 2004 Darrell Probst introduction, is one of our favorite Epimedium x youngianum hybrids. Epimedium 'Royal Flush' emerges with purple-bronze tinted leaves that are adorned with short spikes of light lavender flowers in mid-spring. As the weather warms, the older foliage eventually turns to green, although the color holds longer than other Epimedium x youngianums we've grown. Epimedium 'Royal Flush' has proven to be a very strong grower that remains a 2' wide, tight, semi-evergreen, deer-resistant clump. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka: Epimedium ogisui type specimen) Epimedium ogisui is a recently named species to honor its discoverer, Japan's Mikinori Ogisu. Epimedium ogisui is a fast-spreading groundcover species with oval green leaves that emerge with a nice purple mottling. Epimedium ogisui is topped in spring with short spikes of pure white flowers. If you've got a large area of moist, but well-drained soil to cover, Epimedium ogisui is for you. This offering is vegetatively propagated from the original type locality specimen at 3,000' elevation in Lushan Xian, Sichuan where it was discovered. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
We are pleased to re-introduce this wonderful 2002 Heronswood introduction for those who missed it the first time around. Epimedium 'Myriad Years' is Dan Hinkley's clonal collection from limestone cliffs in Sichuan, China. Dan's 2002 catalog stated, "It has proven to be the most spectacular that I currently cultivate." The 1' tall, glossy evergreen clump has new foliage that emerges with a pink flush and is topped in late spring with 20" arching spikes of large, spider-like, bicolor flowers...dark purple spurs backed by mauvy pink sepals. Epimedium 'Myriad Years' is a slowly-spreading fairy wing that makes a 3' wide patch in 5 years. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
.jpg "Epimedium wushanense (Wushan Fairy Wings)")
.jpg "Epimedium x youngianum 'Fairy Dust' (Fairy Dust Fairy Wings)")
