JEARRARD'S HERBAL
That's enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
13th September 2026
Hibiscus syriacus 'Notwoodtwo' .
A mild and seemingly uneventful week in the garden, but without a murmer late summer turned into autumn. The first leaves have fallen from the sycamore.
You would hardly notice, but among the cyclamen at their feet there is a soft brown crunch on the ground as I walk through.
They may fall in a gentle trickle of a few more weeks, or a gale might rip them aff in a single night. Autumn can be fickle but it has arrived.
Hibiscus syriacus is a flower of late summer here. It takes an entire growing season to build up a head of steam.
A hot dry summer has undoubtedly assisted this year, but autumn is still showing in the flowers. Last week the picture of the white flower
was burnt flat by the intensity of the light, this week the light is softer and the texture and detail of the petals can be seen.
13th September 2026
Nerine bowdenii .
It was a surprise to fine Nerine bowdenii in flower by the house. I was inclined to see it as the rash enthusiasm of a single young bulb,
but up in the new herbaceous border a number of others have started as well. I think growth was triggered by the long hot summer ending in a misty deluge.
Almost immediately the first flower spikes appeared above ground and they have developed rapidly as the nights cool.
These are my own seedlings and it may be that I have inadvertently selected early flowering forms. I start pollinating as soon as the first flowers appear in the greenhouse,
by October it is duller and colder out there and I am less enthusiastic. In addition, by October I have seed heads forming all around and I have started to wonder where it is all going to be grown.
On the other hand it may just be an early year and have nothing to do with me.
13th September 2026
Colchicum 'Waterlily' .
I was also surprised to find Colchicum 'Waterlily' in flower. I turned a corner in the garden and there they were.
I don't expect to see them until October, and last week I even entertained the idea that there might still be time to mow the bed before they emerged.
I was mowing the paths around them at the tme and there was definately no sign of flowers, so these have sprung up in three or four days.
Hopefully there will be a lot more. Two years ago I thinned the trees they grow under and a lot more light gets into the small piece of woodland.
In January storm Goretti removed a lot more to the north of the bed. In addition to more light, there should have been a lot more moisture in the soil as a result.
Hopefully the Colchicum had a really good season as a result, and hopefully flowering will reflect that.
13th September 2026
Camellia brevistyla .
I drove around the garden on the lawnmower this week to take pictures. I had been looking at camellias as I passed them. I'm not expecting autumn flowers yet but I was looking for swelling buds,
hunting among the foliage for the unspoken promise.
Driving past Camellia brevistyla there was a glint from the shiny foliage. I discounted it, but as I drove on the glint stayed in the same place.
I had to inspect more closely, still thinking that it was the late sunshine catching the shiny foliage.
Not so, the first flower is open.
I have six seedling Camellia brevistyla in the garden and this one has always been the first to flower. It isn't the best in bloom, but it is the earliest.
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