Almost every New England gardener has spots of shade to contend with. Some places in my garden have been shady for years; others have slowly crossed the divide between sunny and shady as surrounding trees mature and throw bigger shadows.
I have tried to pretend that my once sunny border still gets at least six hours of sun a day, but the sun-loving perennials planted there tell me that’s no longer true. No matter how much TLC I give them, they limp along, producing fewer flowers and less growth every year. I’ve found that even perennials that are said to tolerate a bit of shade don’t thrive in less than full sun.
When you’re ready to reckon with the shady truth, it’s time to meet the epimedium. An unsung hero of the shade garden, epimedium is a groundcover commonly known as barrenwort, a member of the Berberidaceae family. A friend gave me a yellow variety a few years back and it has been a wonderful surprise. I’ve since added several other types to my not-so-sunny border.
Epimediums come in a wide range of colors, from yellow and white to many shades of pink, red, lavender and purple. They grow in clusters of four-petaled flowers. The plant is sometimes called “Bishop’s Hat” or “Fairy Wings” because of the pointy shape of the flowers. A popular variety is Epimedium x rubrum; it has red flowers and stunning foliage, green tinged with red.
Epimediums’ heart-shaped leaves grow in dense, low mounds and range in color from green to crimson. In the fall, the foliage turns shades of purple and red. Over the winter, the foliage dies and turns pale bronze and papery. (There are evergreen varieties, but I haven’t seen them. I’m not sure they’d be evergreen this far north.).
One of the joys of spring is carefully removing the dead leaves to reveal delicate fuzzy flower buds. At this point, it’s hard to believe that they will mature into clouds of flowers blooming among tender new leaves. But they haven’t disappointed me once.
Epimediums originated in China and also have been popular in Japan for more than a century. They are woodland plants and prefer moist, humus-rich soil that drains well.
I have tried epimediums in dry shade, and although they haven’t flourished as they do in moist conditions, they appear to have survived last summer’s drought. In my book, that makes them dry-shade warriors. Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum,’ or bicolor barrenwort apparently is a good choice for dry shade.
Epimediums have been used for centuries in Chinese medicine. The plant is also known as “Horny Goat Weed” because it contains icariin, the chemical compound used in Viagra and other ED treatments. When I Googled epimedium I discovered more than I wanted to know about this aspect of the plant.
One of the leading breeders of epimediums is Darrell Probst. He works closely with Karen Perkins, whose Garden Visions Nursery in Phillipston, specializes in epimediums. The nursery is generally not open to the public (Perkins does business primarily by mail order), but it is open sporadically in spring for Open Nursery Days. This year, the open dates are: April 28 and 30; May 5 to 14; and May 19 and 21. The nursery is less than an hour from Amherst. For more information, check out Perkins’s website: www.epimediums.com.
Participants can create show-stopping container garden using native plants May 7 at a New England Wild Flower Society workshop to be held at Nasami Farm Nursery, 128 North St., Whately.
Become familiar with the species that thrive in containers and ways to combine them. Learn about containers, soils, fertilizers and proper container care. The workshop, led by Kate Stafford, will take place from 10 a.m. to noon.
Bring your own container and get creative. Plants are available for purchase; potting soil is provided. Perfect timing for a Mother’s Day gift.
Cost: $26 for society members; $32 for nonmembers. Space is limited to 15. For more information and to register, to go www.newenglandwild.org/programs
Pascommuck Conservation Trust, Easthampton’s land trust, is holding its annual spring fundraising plant sale May 13 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot at Big E’s Foodland, 11 Union St. in Easthampton. There will be lots of perennials, ornamental grasses, trees, shrubs and more on sale, as well as raffle prizes.
Proceeds will fund PCT’s land protection and maintenance projects. Plant donations will be accepted at 8 a.m. May 13.
Join the Hitchcock Center, Mass Audubon at Arcadia, The Kestrel Land Trust, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to participate in a range of programs May 5 to 13 at their individual sites – all to celebrate the beauty and stewardship of birds! For more information about the programs, go to https://www.hitchcockcenter.org/event/valley-bird-days/
Research wildlife biologist DaveKing will give a presentation on the American Kestrel as well as efforts to conserve habitats for migratory birds of all kinds May 9 at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst. The talk will begin at 6:30 p.m.
King, who works for the U.S. Forest Service and is an adjunct associate professor of environmental conservation, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, specializes in the lives of migratory birds.
As a member of the Kestrel Land Trust Advisory Council, he helped to spearhead the land trust’s efforts to save its namesake, the American Kestrel. The suggested donation is $5. Go to hitchcockcenter.org for more information and to register.
Mickey Rathbun can be reached at foxglover8@gmail.com.