JEARRARD'S HERBAL
That's enough introduction - on with the plants!
To navigate this site use the links above or the detailed links at the bottom of this page.
... out in the garden.
11th October 2026
Camellia sinensis assamica .
Occasional drizzle and a cooling of the evenings give a warning of autumn. The garden is still glowing in the sunshine but the colours have shifted
from greens to russet as the sycamore leaves fall. The big Liquidambar is sparking with burnished purple at the edges.
The round buds on Camellia sinensis assamica have started to open into rounded flowers. All of the autumn-flowering camellias
are remarkable, but this is a favourite. It has satisfying, broad, textured leaves through the summer and then forms perfect flower buds, like little berries,
as the summer ages. The fragile-looking flowers spread over the anthers to keep them dry. I have never seen a happy bumble-bee working its way through the
autumn pollen but there are a few seed pods from last year on the plant so I know they were here.
11th October 2026
Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' .
Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' has flowered in the dry atmosphere of the greenhouse. I'm sure its hardy but it isn't really big enough to hold its own in the garden.
I would be endlessly digging it up and moving it around to keep it safe. In a pot it doesn't have to fight with grasses and brambles.
The colour seems a little sombre in the pictures but it stands out in the greenhouse bringing a warm autumnal tint to the bench.
There are a few autumn flowering onions. Surprisingly they seem to grow well with some of the other autumn flowering bulbs despite having leaves through the summer when
things like Hyacinthoides lingulata and Lachenalia longituba are completely dormant.
11th October 2026
Crocus speciosus .
I have a grandly-themed amaryllidaceae bed in front of the house. I was looking for somewhere bright and dry to keep Amaryllis belladonna.
Once the bed was established I added some Nerine sarniensis seedlings to outrage October's decline. Neither have been exuberantly successful, both continue to linger.
So I have added some snowdrops, some autumn daffodils. Things that stay 'on theme' but add some reliability. The most inportant thing is that they
mustn't have leaves through the summer. I mow the ground and then herbicide it to get ready for the new flowering season.
In a moments weakness I added Cyclamen coum. It doesn't really fit the theme but it looks magnificent as the terror-magenta bursts forth in January.
I can't explain Crocus speciosus. I just put a few in last year because I enjoy them. They haven't done well, I didn't think they would, but one flower has
made it this year. I keep hoping for another but time is running out.
There are some scarlet tulips in there as well. Who can resist scarlet tulips?
11th October 2026
Camellia sasanqua 'Paradise Blush' .
Autumn camelias provide a clear statement of the change of season. There are still summer dahlias in the garden, Dahlia tenuicaulis has yet to flower,
but the camellias have signalled an end to the warm weather. Sunshine now has that low, illuminating tone that makes the garden look wider and fuller of tree trunks.
On Friday I went to see the National Collection of Dahlias as the mist swirled around the bright blooms. Glimpses of sunshine like fragments of a broken summer
tumbled across the hillside. I didn't realise at the time, but it didn't smell of dahlias, part of the character had vanished in the cold mist.
I got home to find Camellia sasanqua 'Paradise Blush' in perfect flower, looking as though it owned the season. This is exactly where it belongs,
a perfect counterpoint to the darkening, blurred edges to the garden.
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