Epimedium 'Amber Queen'
Posted: Apr 29, 2011 4:55 pm
Our epimedium collection is really taking off. Too darned cute to pass up.
This one was a find. DH was looking through a shelf of something more common (maybe 'Frohnleiten') and spotted something different. It was putting up an airy bloom scape late in the season, and the leaves were different from those around it. He tried to convince the nursery owner to sell it for less since it was clearly mismarked, and the response was "well, if you want it, then maybe I should charge double!"
Once it bloomed, we knew it was indeed special. Reading online descriptions, I thought it might be 'Amber Queen'. I wrote to the grower who had supplied the other epimediums on the shelf, who confirmed that they also grew AQ, and some might have slipped through on another shipment. Their wholesale price was more than double that of the other epimediums, so the nursery owner was right!
This the tallest epimedium scape, by far, in our garden. Nearly 50 cm. The flowers are quarter-sized (euro-sized). Hard to take pics of these because the presentation is so airy. Nice long leaves with red-brown speckles. And last year, at least, it was truly evergreen. We hated to cut the foliage off this spring because it still looked good.
This one was a find. DH was looking through a shelf of something more common (maybe 'Frohnleiten') and spotted something different. It was putting up an airy bloom scape late in the season, and the leaves were different from those around it. He tried to convince the nursery owner to sell it for less since it was clearly mismarked, and the response was "well, if you want it, then maybe I should charge double!"
Once it bloomed, we knew it was indeed special. Reading online descriptions, I thought it might be 'Amber Queen'. I wrote to the grower who had supplied the other epimediums on the shelf, who confirmed that they also grew AQ, and some might have slipped through on another shipment. Their wholesale price was more than double that of the other epimediums, so the nursery owner was right!
This the tallest epimedium scape, by far, in our garden. Nearly 50 cm. The flowers are quarter-sized (euro-sized). Hard to take pics of these because the presentation is so airy. Nice long leaves with red-brown speckles. And last year, at least, it was truly evergreen. We hated to cut the foliage off this spring because it still looked good.
