Growing Barrenwort: Tips at a Glance
Barrenwort (Epimedium)is a wonderful perennial ground cover which will stay put, thrive in dry shade, and contribute handsome heart-shaped foliage to a garden bed. An added bonus is small, delicate flowers (some describe their shape as resembling bishop's hats) which appear in springtime.
- Type Flowering ground cover
- Lifespan Perennial
- Growing Zones 3-9
- Light Shade or part sun
- Water Wet or dry
- How to Plant Divide rhizomes
- Design Tips Rock gardens
- Companions Flowering bulbs
- Peak Season Spring flowers
Barrenwort: A Field Guide
Is there a friendlier ground cover than barrenwort? If so, we’d like to meet it. A drought-tolerant, shade-loving family of woodland plants, epimediums also are a prized rock garden plant and provide good camouflage for faded foliage from summer bulbs.
Barrenwort grows from tuber-like rhizomes, making it easy to divide and transplant clumps—just dig them up and gently disentangle the root systems. Barrenwort cultivars bloom in springtime with delicate flowers on arched stems, in colors that range from white and pink to yellow, orange, and red. But the real show comes from their handsome, heart-shaped foliage, which can be either deciduous or evergreen depending on cultivar and growing conditions