Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Epimedium latisepalum....a nice evergreen Chinese epimedium

On any given day I have a different favorite plant. Or a different favorite epimedium; this plant is always challenging for favorite epimedium. The flowers are huge and held nicely up in the air, but it's the posture of the leaves that appeals to me. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow that shows what I mean. Trifoliate, they are held lightly atop almost vertical leaf stems and angled so that they sit at about a 30 degree angle facing away from the base  of the plant. As though they had closed ranks to defend the center and have only coincidentally maximized their potential for receiving solar radiation. I am reminded of Roman shields in a phalanx. The effect is quite structural and controlled; our plants are sited about 10' from the path and are far enough apart that they maintain their individual structure. They are striking and attractive.

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