April is the time that the Bishops Hat sends up wiry stems that hold airy bouquets of tiny yellow flowers that have bright yellow petals, deep yellow spurs, pale yellow sepals and bright yellow stamens.
Epimedium sulphureum or “Bishops Hat” is a shade loving deciduous groundcover that can thrive under the shade of maple trees.
The plants only grow a foot tall and spread about a foot and a half wide.
In early spring, the new heart shaped foliage emerges a light green with reddish tints, and as the weather warms up the leaves turn a rich green. In the autumn, the leaves again share their red colors to the landscape.
April is the time that the Bishops Hat sends up wiry stems that hold airy bouquets of tiny yellow flowers that have bright yellow petals, deep yellow spurs, pale yellow sepals and bright yellow stamens.
Some perennials only live 3-5 years but the Bishops Hat thrives for decades and is both deer and rabbit tolerant.
There are a number of other Epimedium to think about adding to a sandy shady garden including Epimedium leptorrhizum whos common name is “Fairy Wings” and has large delicate rose pink flowers with shell pink petals, Epimedium grandiflorum “Lilafee” which has amethyst purples flowers with long white spurs and Epimedium rubrum or “Red Barrenwort,” which produces lots of tiny delicate flowers, rose red sepals, snow white petals and bright yellow stamens.
(Editor’s Note: Ginny Rosenkranz is a commercial horticulture specialist with the University of Maryland Extension.)
