Care-free perennials: Epimedium

They're durable, hearty and will reward you with colours for several seasons. The epimedium is one of the best plants you can choose for a long-lasting relationship.

When you're looking for that one special plant that has the best of all worlds (hardiness, colour, adaptability and fairly resistant to pests and diseases), the epimedium is the perfect one to turn to.

Growth and appearance characteristics

There are three types of plants to use in a garden: thrillers, fillers and spillers. The first is your showpiece, the second is what fills in gaps and the third category, which the epimedium falls into, is what spreads out and creates a full, rich look to the garden.

Epimediums grow about 20 centimetres tall, but mostly spread out to form a green-leafed carpet with bright reddish-pink buds. They're perfect for pairing with other like-coloured plants and flowers, like Japanese maples, astilbes and heucheras, but you can also sharply contrast them with other plants for a really dynamic look.

Their bloom takes place early in the spring and, oddly enough, appear before the leaves do. Once the leaves appear, their colour will roughly match the blooms but as the season progresses, the leaves will transform to a lovely green colour. However, the plant still isn't done by the time winter arrives and the leaves will return back to their original reddish colour.

Ideal growing conditions

These plants can tolerate a bit of sun, but you'll want to avoid placing them in an area where they'll get more than four to six hours of direct sunlight a day. Ideally, they prefer full to partial shade with cool to medium warm temperatures.

In terms of soil, epimediums can grow in a variety of conditions. They can thrive in loose crumbly soil, tree-rooted soil, sandy soil and even clay soil, but for the last two, try and add some organic compost to help the epimedium along to maximum growth. As well, don't get too worried if you've been taking extra special care of it and nothing shows for several seasons. Epimediums can take up to their second season to really fill out.

Care and maintenance

You'll have to do a little bit of pruning and cutting back, but not much at all. In the transition time between winter and spring, cut back old foliage so new growth is stimulated for the next season and clear away any old- or dead-looking leaves. If winters where you live are particularly cool or cold, toss a burlap cover on top of them to protect them from the wind.

That's about as complicated as caring for an epimedium gets. They're almost entirely resistant to pests and diseases, and even regular garden nibblers, like deer, almost always stay away. If your epimedium starts growing too big for its area, divide the plant and spread it out.