Plant Pick

Published 7:21 pm Wednesday, November 10, 2010

WHAT: Black Sea epimedium is an iron-clad, handsome perennial that is easy to grow.

WHY PLANT IT: From late winter to early spring it produces a profusion of small, delicate-looking flowers dancing on the tips of thread-thin red stalks.

Its inner petals are primrose yellow and shaped onto nectar-producing sacs; its outer, paler sepals are washed with orange-red. New leaves soon follow the dainty blooms and mature to an attractive blue-green.

The most remarkable feature of the foliage is the inky purplish black coloring that bleeds into each leaf with the onset of lower temperatures and frost.

This deep coloring lasts until the new leaves emerge next spring.

WHERE: Epimediums that are European or Mediterranean in origin, such as the parents of this great hybrid, are tough plants.

Black Sea tolerates poor soils and is drought tolerant in shade or part shade once established. In full sun, it requires fertile soil and regular watering in dry spells.

While it thrives in full shade, it has more flowers and better winter foliage color with more sun.

HOW: Cut its leaves to the ground in January or early February, for they will soon become tattered. Removing these old leaves also allows the new flowers to take center stage.

Plant it with pale-colored hellebores to accentuate the unusual winter foliage.

Divide clumps in fall or winter. Newly divided plants take two seasons to settle in and don’t begin to spread again until the third year.

ACTUAL SIZE: It makes a great ground cover, growing 12 to 15 inches tall and spreading 6 to 8 inches each year. Plants cover considerable space with time. To create a mass planting sooner, set plants 18 inches on center. This hybrid can overtake less vigorous perennials, so plant it with that in mind.

LEARN MORE: See www.greatplantpicks.org.

Source: Great Plant Picks