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On Beyond
Echinacea 'Magnus'
By Melanie Fox
My last 10 years were spent in landscape
design, where plants come last, more often than not, in the design process -- so
I am delighted to be back at Oliver Nurseries where plants and plant
innovations always come first. That being said, this past winter, I was busy
scouring catalogs and the Internet, getting up to speed on what's new and
noteworthy. Many areas of plants have exploded, but I found myself drawn to
several new Echinacea purpurea cultivars time and time again in my searches.
I have to say that coneflowers have
grown up. I left a scene dominated by E.
purpurea 'Magnus,' 'White Swan,' and 'Bright Star,' -- all very reliable but
not very sexy or sizzling. These cultivars had long been the most widely
available Echinacea because of
reliability of flowering, ease of culture, and strong growth habits, both in
the ground or in containers. 'Magnus,' 'Bright Star,' and 'White Swan' are
still great plants, and widely available for just those reasons I mentioned. Indeed,
Echinacea have always provided that
reliable late summer color that blends agreeably; they are not chrome yellow,
and provide fall interest in the drying cones, but never rivet one's eye to
their well-earned spot in the pastel perennial border.
 The days of Echinacea quietly holding their place in the chorus are
resoundingly over! The names begin to tell the story. The whites have gone from
'White Swan' to 'Virgin,' and 'Green Jewel,' both whose green cones add
dazzling impact to their clear, white petals. These new introductions have
husky profiles in the garden, and share the lower height of their predecessor, 'White
Swan.' It's hard to quantify, but these two newbies have so much star power that
our plant-aficionado customers are literally stopped in their tracks when
passing displays of them en masse and ask, "Hey, what is that? I have to have
some!"
I am really enamored of 'Virgin' whose
petals have an interesting shaggy edge, which adds to the beauty of the unique
flowers. 'Green Jewel' was selected by noted international plantsman, Piet
Oudolf -- the creamy greenish white of the petals really do make that cone gleam
like a jewel. These selections are lovely, long-blooming, and husky growers. For
such knockouts, there's no "bad legs, great head" syndrome here!
 On the pink Echinacea front, the dusky mauve of 'Magnus' has been supplanted by
the new pinks, 'Fatal Attraction' and 'Vintage Wine,' which have bright magenta
petals, dark stems, and pleasingly-sweet fragrances. These two new pinks are
really garden eye candy, making Nepeta and Perovskia glow with deeper
lavender color when planted side-by-side.
I would have been content with those
innovations, but the world of horticulture barreled on. I was familiar with the
Echinacea species, E. paradoxa, and E. tenneseensis mainly as items of interest to native plant
gardeners, and as a marketing challenge to keep from flopping in a pot. The
warmth of those yellow-orange Echinacea has been used to produce the new color range in soft-to-vibrant orange and
yellow, and yes, a red. It was
hard to imagine more intriguing names than the previously mentioned cultivars, but
they are fitting for these warm-to-fiery new introductions: 'Sunrise,' 'Sundown,'
'Sunset,' 'Mac 'n' Cheese,' 'Tomato
Soup,' 'Mango Meadowbrite™,' 'Hot Papaya,' and the flaming orange of 'Tiki
Torch.' These plants could set the most colorfully modest border from a smolder
to on fire. Sometimes our plant compositions need just that small introduction
of warmth or flame to make them blaze into cohesive brilliance.
Back in March, during a late-season
snowstorm that blanketed my backyard perennial garden, a feverish intensity whirled
in my brain. I decided to divide and conquer my existing perennial border this year
and infuse it with some of this stunning new Echinacea blood. My old and tired border would arise reborn, and
sparkle with intensity in the upcoming summer's sunlight! I was so ready to proceed with my plan of
attack, but the snow was relentless. I turned and thought, "Hey, what's in that
stack of glossy plant catalogs?" So I dove right into a "virtual" attack, scissors
and glue in hand! Leafing through the pages, I spotted old border favorites to
introduce to these new Echinacea sizzlers,
and I began to cut them all out and pair them up in new exciting combinations. Who
says you can't work in your perennial border in winter?
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Epimediums:
Enter Stage Right
By Amy Dorio
Just like movie stars, plants get
typecast. They get pigeonholed, playing the same role yard after yard, and
their diversity and depth of talent lay undiscovered. Epimediums have just this problem, but worse.
This wonderful woodlander makes its
living out of the roles no one else wants. Like Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, the Asian native
endures long, parched journeys, but in their case, without much sun and without
any cuts in the action. Dry shade is their circumscribed horticultural role,
and it is a shame to see such a versatile plant get plunked under oaks and
maples when they could easily handle a starring role in a late-April garden.
They deserve better. So did Peter
O'Toole, who failed to clinch the Oscar for his role.
Epimediums are rugged little perennials rarely, afflicted by disease, deer resistant,
unfussy about of soil types, and famous for tolerating the shaded Sahara. The
only thing that makes them walk off the set is soggy soil. This is not a plant
for wetlands.
Unlike its tough-guy image, the Epimedium's flowers are ironically
delicate, dainty blooms bouncing in the spring breeze on wiry stems. Somewhat
like the flower of columbine (Aquilegia), the flowers have cups and spurs, with some spurs being quite pronounced and
elegant. Of all the common names
for the plant, including barrenwort and fairy wings, bishop's cap most aptly
describes their shape.
Flower color is never a problem. From
an orange to pinks, purples, roses, "reds," whites and yellows, Epimediums offer a range. The versatility continues with the
foliage and growth habit. From diminutive varieties like E. diphyllum 'Nanum' that
stay neat and tidy in a clump, ideal for the rock garden or troughs, to
groundcovering varieties like E. xversicolor 'Versicolor' and E.
koreanum 'Harold Epstein' that can
spread up to four to six inches a year, gardeners always have a choice.
 The foliage can steal the show from the
flowers. With Epimediums, the flowers
often emerge while the leaflets are still small. These leaflets offer a
supporting role during bloom time, and often a second act. Many emerge a bronze
or a purple, providing a foil to the flowers, while others develop a rosy tinge
or veining throughout the leaves. Still others like E. grandiflorum var. higoense 'Bandit' have a dark band that edges
the leaf, as if someone took a thick-tipped permanent marker and outlined it.
This foliage display lasts longer than the flowers. One particular favorite, E. xyoungianum 'Tamabotan,' has the most unusual color that just
hints of turquoise. Even though it is subtle, the effect is stunning.
Favorites at Oliver Nurseries include E. xwarleyense. Its orange flowers
perfectly complement the spring show of Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) and celandine
poppies (Stylophorum diphyllum). It
is a nice groundcover, too.
With so much to offer and so many
species and varieties to choose from, it is a shame that just a handful turn up
in garden centers, if at all. This
handful, however, is more than worthwhile and should whet the appetite for
more.
E.
xyoungianum 'Niveum' and E.
xyoungianum 'Roseum' respectively
represent good white and pink clump-forming varieties. E. xversicolor 'Sulphureum'
is known and loved for its yellow flowers and weed-smothering groundcover, and E. xrubrum, for its foliage. E. grandiflorum 'Lilafee' provides a lovely flower display with
large lavender blooms.
 Once you catch the collecting bug for
these plants, you must turn to specialty nurseries. This year at the nursery,
customers will be offered the classics, and some rare varieties, including E. youngianum 'Tamabotan,' E. grandiflorum var. violaceum; E. koreanum 'Harold Epstein,' and E. grandiflorum var. higoense 'Bandit.' The standout source for plants is Garden Vision Epimediums in Massachusetts, owned by Epimedium guru Darrell Probst with Karen
Perkins. Mr. Probst has spent years breeding and collecting these plants and
the mail order catalog is unsurpassed in its diversity and educational value.
This little workhorse of the shade
garden is not waiting for its Oscar, just a chance in your garden and perhaps a
nicer location than under a maple.
(To
request a catalog from Garden Vision, email epimediums@earthlink.net, or contact Karen Perkins at
1-978-249-3863. Write to: Garden Vision Epimediums, P.O. Box 50, Templeton, MA
01468-0050.)
Photos:
Courtesy of Joe Pye Weed's Garden.
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 For more information visit our Web site at www.olivernurseries.com, or call us at 203-259-5609.
Image in header: Detail from Spring, engraving by Bruegel. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dick Fund, 1926.
Copyright 2010 Oliver Nurseries
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