Barrenwort 'Lilafee'
Epimedium grandiflorum 'Lilafee' · Berberidaceae
Clouds of small, long-spurred, violet-purple flowers, like tiny columbines, dance above new leaves flushed with bronze-purple. The name means lilac fairy.
- Size
- 10 in tall, 14 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Late April to late May
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around barrenwort 'Lilafee'
The planner designed this bed around barrenwort 'Lilafee' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why barrenwort 'Lilafee' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Barrenwort 'Lilafee' × 10, purple
- 2 Leadwort × 11, blue
- 3 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 4 White snakeroot 'Chocolate' × 3, white
- 5 Korean feather reed grass × 1, pink
- 6 Makino's holly fern × 3, dark green leaves
- 7 Grecian windflower × 12, blue
- 8 Yellow trout lily × 12, yellow
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are dense clusters, globes, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only purple.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 10 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 70% of the edge.
- 10 plants in 3 runs (5, 3 and 2). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From late April to late May.
- Fills a gap. For three of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cool colours (purple, blue and pink) with yellow as the warm note, and green and white to calm things between them. Something is in flower for 29 weeks, from early April to mid October.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where barrenwort 'Lilafee' goes in a border
At 10 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The most free-flowering of the clumping barrenworts. It wants better soil and more moisture than the tough evergreen kinds, and rewards them. Cut off the old leaves in late winter.
- Spring flowers for woodland beds
- Edging a shady path
- Planting with small hostas
What to plant with barrenwort 'Lilafee'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears': its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same moist soil.
- Japanese painted fern: its silver leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (18 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Dwarf crested iris: in flower together for four weeks, from late April; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about barrenwort 'Lilafee'
Does barrenwort 'Lilafee' need sun or shade?
Barrenwort 'Lilafee' grows in part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does barrenwort 'Lilafee' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does barrenwort 'Lilafee' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late April to late May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Early May to late May |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late April to late May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to mid May |
| Zone 7 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 8 | Early April to early May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should barrenwort 'Lilafee' be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 14 in (35 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 10 in (25 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many barrenwort 'Lilafee' plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used 10 in three groups.
Is there a native plant like barrenwort 'Lilafee'?
Barrenwort 'Lilafee' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Woodland phlox: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; blue, lavender or white, not purple.
- Creeping Jacob's ladder: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 4 in taller, blue, not purple.
- Wherry's foamflower: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to late June, white, not purple.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after barrenwort 'Lilafee'?
Barrenwort 'Lilafee' is over by late May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Astilbe: from late June to mid July, 24 in tall.
- Cranesbill 'Rozanne': from early June to early October, 18 in tall.
What does barrenwort 'Lilafee' look like in winter?
Barrenwort 'Lilafee' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Epimedium
- Barrenwort 'Amber Queen' Epimedium 'Amber Queen'
- Barrenwort 'Frohnleiten' Epimedium x perralchicum 'Frohnleiten'
- Orange barrenwort Epimedium x warleyense
- Red barrenwort Epimedium x rubrum
- White barrenwort 'Niveum' Epimedium x youngianum 'Niveum'
- Yellow barrenwort 'Sulphureum' Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 10 in (25 cm) tall, 14 in (35 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late April to late May; airy sprays; purple, lavender
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green, bronze
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Berberidaceae
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.