The Ethereal Epimedium

Huddled together in the shade of the early morning, our collection of Epimedium greets the cool air with its upright, misty sprays of spidery looking flowers. This somewhat diminutive, slow-spreading groundcover is a plant collector’s dream. Under the Epimedium umbrella exists approximately 58 species, with the heart or arrow shaped leaves and ghostly blooms presenting themselves in an array of colors, shapes, and sizes. One could enthusiastically collect Epimedium varieties over the course of a lifetime and fill a shade garden with an impressive assemblage. Our ever-expanding selection of Epimedium here at the Nursery is simply the tip of the Epimedium iceberg.

Yearning for Yellowroot

The emergence of the snowdrops and daffodils suggest rebirth and renewal as we step into the 2023 growing season. Meanwhile, cool-temperature-loving crops are waking from their slumber beneath their protective plastic domes. Of these early risers, Xanthorhiza simplicissima takes the subtle approach, blending into the fallen brown debris of last year’s growth and allowing only the most curious to seek out its hidden secrets. This week, we’re celebrating the ethnobotanical and ecological sides of Xanthorhiza simplicissima, known commonly as yellowroot, a highly underutilized native woodland shrub that has a lengthy and storied past.

Jasminum nudiflorum

Each week as the daylight hours grow longer, the temperatures warm, and the trees begin to unfurl their buds, we inch closer and closer to springtime. Insects are beginning their life cycles, early spring ephemerals are getting ready to burst open, and the Nursery is bustling with activity in preparation for the 2023 season.

A few months ago, in a past e-mail, we excitedly noted that some of our Jasminum nudiflorum crop had begun exhibiting sparse blooms far before its prime flowering time. Today, we’re revisiting this beautiful winter-bloomer and its full flush of February flowers.