{"id":1874,"date":"2016-05-09T05:21:44","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T13:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=1874"},"modified":"2016-05-09T05:21:44","modified_gmt":"2016-05-09T13:21:44","slug":"barrenwort-bounty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/barrenwort-bounty\/","title":{"rendered":"Barrenwort Bounty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, no matter what you do, plants just die.\u00a0 When it happens, you haul them out of the ground, consign them to the compost pile and ease on down the horticultural road.\u00a0 Other times, you think a plant is dead and it makes a phoenix-like resurrection.\u00a0 This happened to me two weeks ago.\u00a0 The phoenix in question was Epimedium pinnatum ssp. colchicum, otherwise known as a yellow-flowered barrenwort, bishop\u2019s cap or fairy wings.\u00a0 I bought it as part of a plant-purchasing frenzy one year ago and installed it in a new garden bed.\u00a0 It had already bloomed, but leafed out nicely over the growing season.\u00a0 The mild winter meant that the leaves hung on through the dark months.<\/p>\n

Then the grim reaper rode in on the wings of a late spring cold snap.\u00a0 The leaves turned brown and the plant appeared dead.\u00a0 I went out on one of the few clement days and clipped off the dessicated foliage.\u00a0 However, because of innate laziness and\/or optimism, I did not pluck the whole plant out of the ground.\u00a0 Two weeks later, a bumper crop of yellow blooms and new leaves appeared virtually overnight.\u00a0 I am rather proud of my gardening prowess, despite the fact that I had absolutely nothing to do with this timely resurrection.<\/p>\n

I first saw barrenwort in one of the garden beds at The Bishop\u2019s Garden, part of the larger Frederick Law Olmsted-designed landscape at the Washington, D.C. National Cathedral. \u00a0Given that one of the species\u2019 common names is \u201cbishop\u2019s cap\u201d, it is rather fitting that this particular plant has thrived in that particular garden. The barrenwort there, like mine, was a ground-covering plant, growing no more than twelve inches tall, with branched, wiry stems that produced sprays of small, four-petaled, orchid-like flowers.\u00a0 The ones I saw at the Cathedral Garden were pink, but the epimedium genus contains species that bear flowers in shades of yellow, purple, pink, white and near-red.<\/p>\n

Barrenwort has a mounding habit and even after the flowers depart in late spring, the leaves remain attractive.\u00a0 They are shaped like elongated hearts and, depending on the species and variety, can have reddish mottling, veination or a rosy cast.\u00a0 The plants spread themselves around by way of rhizomes, making them a vigorous but well-mannered ground cover.\u00a0 As I witnessed in my own garden, they are at least partially evergreen, depending on species and climate conditions.\u00a0 Perhaps best of all, they thrive in light to medium shade and can withstand a certain amount of drought.\u00a0 Mr. Antlers and his posse generally avoid barrenwort, though, as with all \u201cdeer resistant plants\u201d, there are no guarantees.<\/p>\n

Over the past couple of decades, gardeners have increased their collective appetite for easy-care, ground-covering plants, and the fortunes of the epimedium clan have soared. According to the Northwest Horticultural Society, over 300 species and varieties are currently in commerce and over 200 of them are fairly easy to find.\u00a0 \u201cEasy\u201d is a relative term, just like \u201cdear resistant\u201d, but the Internet works wonders for those in search of unusual cultivars.<\/p>\n

Yellow flowers are always points of light in beds, borders and containers, and one of the best yellow-flowered varieties is a German cultivar, \u2018Frohnleiten\u2019.\u00a0 The leaves are stunning\u2014dark red with bright green veins.\u00a0 If its publicists are even half right, it is a weed-stomping wonder.<\/p>\n

My next barrenwort purchase may well be the lovely \u2018Lilac Cascade\u2019, first introduced in 2001.\u00a0 It was the creation of Massachusetts hybridizer Darrell Probst, who is also well known for his lovely coreopsis cultivars, like pale yellow \u2018Moonbeam\u2019.\u00a0 Not surprisingly, \u2018Lilac Cascade\u2019 has soft lilac-colored flowers.\u00a0 The leaves are medium red, with darker red edges and bright chartreuse veins.\u00a0 It is billed as \u201csemi evergreen\u201d, so leaf persistence is climate dependent.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those who like larger flowers, should chose varieties of Epimedium grandiflorum, like the white-flowered \u2018Bandit\u2019 or the red-purple \u2018Red Queen\u2019.\u00a0 \u2018Bandit\u2019 also features small green leaves edged in dark red.<\/h4>\n

For something bright and dramatic, try Epimedium x warleyense \u2018Orange Queen\u2019, with vibrant golden orange flowers and bronze-tinted foliage.\u00a0 It is a semi-evergreen variety that originated in China and has made a splash on this side of the Pacific.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Installing swathes of barrenwort is the perfect way to create a tapestry-like effect in the shade garden.\u00a0 The plants can also cover ground at the feet of taller specimens like monkshood\u2014aconitum\u2014or Ostrich fern–Matteuccia struthiopteris.<\/h4>\n

Barrenwort clumps expand at a rate of four to six inches per year, so you can create a formidable array by starting with just a few plants.\u00a0 This is a good thing, since single plants\u2014especially of newish cultivars and hybrids\u2014tend to be a bit expensive. \u00a0The initial outlay can be a challenge, as gardeners\u2019 wallets tighten considerably in spring, due to the wide availability of every kind of plant.\u00a0 When you consider barrenwort, just remember that it is a great investment that will be fully amortized by the time you have divided the original plant a few times.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Provide barrenworts with well-enriched soil when you install them, and water regularly while they settle in.\u00a0 After that, they need little.\u00a0 A good trimming in later winter or earliest spring gets rid of the ratty old leaves, the better to showcase the spring flower display.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For something bright and dramatic, try Epimedium x warleyense \u2018Orange Queen\u2019, with vibrant golden orange flowers and bronze-tinted foliage.\u00a0 It is a semi-evergreen variety that originated in China and has made a splash on this side of the Pacific.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Installing swathes of barrenwort is the perfect way to create a tapestry-like effect in the shade garden.\u00a0 The plants can also cover ground at the feet of taller specimens like monkshood\u2014aconitum\u2014or Ostrich fern–Matteuccia struthiopteris.<\/h4>\n

Barrenwort clumps expand at a rate of four to six inches per year, so you can create a formidable array by starting with just a few plants.\u00a0 This is a good thing, since single plants\u2014especially of newish cultivars and hybrids\u2014tend to be a bit expensive. \u00a0The initial outlay can be a challenge, as gardeners\u2019 wallets tighten considerably in spring, due to the wide availability of every kind of plant.\u00a0 When you consider barrenwort, just remember that it is a great investment that will be fully amortized by the time you have divided the original plant a few times.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Provide barrenworts with well-enriched soil when you install them, and water regularly while they settle in.\u00a0 After that, they need little.\u00a0 A good trimming in later winter or earliest spring gets rid of the ratty old leaves, the better to showcase the spring flower display.<\/h4>\n

Local garden centers will carry a few epimedium varieties and you should keep an eye out for them as you troll the aisles in the coming weeks.\u00a0 For a wide selection, go to Plant Delights Nursery, 9241 Sauls Rd, Raleigh, NC \u00a027603; (919) 772-4794; www.plantdelights.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, no matter what you do, plants just die.\u00a0 When it happens, you haul them out of the ground, consign them to the compost pile and ease on down the horticultural road.\u00a0 Other times, you think a plant is dead and it makes a phoenix-like resurrection.\u00a0 This happened to me two weeks ago.\u00a0 The phoenix … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3],"tags":[1395,1397,1170,1396,1398,589,1399,126],"class_list":["post-1874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-barrenwort","tag-bishops-hat","tag-darrell-probst","tag-epimedium","tag-fairy-wings-plant","tag-groundcovers","tag-interesting-foliage","tag-shade-plants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1874"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1875,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874\/revisions\/1875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}