Epimedium also known as barrenwort, bishop’s hat, fairy wings, and horny goat weed, needs a makeover. An excellent plant for dry shade and deer proof, it deserves a better place in the pantheon of ground covers. Under used, overlooked, and ignored, this little ground cover is so important when I work on landscape designs, because there is a limited palette of plants that deer leave alone, especially ground covers. Native to Asia and occurring in moist humousy soils, Epimedium also flourishes in dry shade, the nemesis of gardeners everywhere.
I prefer the name “fairy wings” as the delicate flowers resemble fairy wings which are held on slim stems in early spring before the foliage appears. I have a large stand under a Saucer Magnolia which has the double whammy of full shade and very dry soil.
It performs beautifully and the only maintenance involved is whacking it back in early spring, because in my area of the mid-Atlantic, it is deciduous. In more southern climes, this ground cover would be evergreen. But don’t think that being deciduous is a drawback for me. Epimedium looks good until December and then once you trim in early March, the beautiful flowers emerge to flutter in the lightest breeze.
This is not a specimen plant. You would plant this by the dozen to form an impenetrable mass of plants that weeds can never pierce. And I really mean that! I never weed this once the plants knit together to form a mass. spreading via rhizomes, Epimedium is a tight clumper.
Coming in all kinds of colors – yellow, pink, red, white, and orange – I just planted one hybrid called ‘Orange Queen’. A medium to fast spreader, this little charmer has larger flowers and performs well under the deep shade of an evergreen spruce – a very tough spot!
Plantsman are working on introducing new varieties and there has been an explosion of new Epimediums to suit any garden. In the Plant Delights catalog, there are over 50 varieties to pick from.
But nine times out of ten, if you talk to a gardener, they have never heard of this plant. Usually listed in nursery catalogs as ‘Barrenwort’, I am not surprised! Not a plant with large showy flowers, but a ground cover workhorse for me. And I will repeat, that deer don’t touch it!
For more ideas on ground covers, other than Vinca, Pachysandra, or Ivy, check out From the Ground Up-Picking a Great Ground Cover.
