February plants
Jimi Blake runs Hunting Brook Gardens near Dublin. huntingbrook.com
EPIMEDIUM ‘BLACK SEA
’
One of the first in my large collection of epimediums to flower, with pale, orange-veined yellow, blooms that emerge in February alongside the snowdrops. The wonderful foliage turns nearly black as the temperatures fall in autumn, extending the season of interest in the woodland bed where it’s planted. I’ve experimented growing epimediums in different areas in the garden and find full sun and rich soil that does not dry out is the best for them. I propagate by division at the end of August and cut back all the leaves in early January before they start putting up flower stems.
Height 30cm.
Origin Garden (species Transcaucasus and Black Sea coast).
Conditions Rich soil that
