Eager to make itself at home in your border, E. ogisui is a dense groundcover or accent planting for the shade, setting masses of pure white blooms of very distinctive form in early spring. Though not as tolerant of dry shade as many Epimediums, it is welcome for its magnificent blooms, which complement everything else in the garden.
These 1 1/2-inch flowers appear in early spring — before most other Epimedium have begun to bud! — on horizontal, wiry stems up to 2 feet long. Each features a bottom layer of 4 widely spaced white petals, topped by a second layer of very slender white petals centered on top of the first, and itself topped by short, upright petals surrounding a tiny central boss of yellow stamens. Very elegant, and ready to help all neighboring blooms shine just a little brighter!
This plant also sports purple and bronze tints on its evergreen foliage in spring. Forming a dense, somewhat low-growing mound, E. ogisui reaches just 10 inches high when not in bloom, but readily spreads 18 to 24 inches wide and even beyond. This is a plant to naturalize in the garden, increasing your show of beauty every year without buying a single new plant!
Discovered in Sichuan, China, this plant is named for Mikinori Ogisu, the great Japanese plant hunter. It spreads by rhizomes, blooms profusely, and thrives in any moist, enriched garden soil in partial to full shade. In the native it is found among limestone deposits near waterfalls, but no such exotic conditions are necessary for its survival in your garden! It will not be happy in the dry shade beneath trees that many other Epimedium tolerate, however, so mulch it well and keep the plant watered throughout the growth season. Zones 5-9.
