JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats 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.
2nd May 2008
Rhoodendron 'Black Satin' .
I have to admit that Rhododendron don't really do it for me. Pretty in a rather smug and constipated way
, and smiled at tolerantly in the way you do to a friends ugly children but not really a joyful thing.
Every now and then I run into one that I like enough to grow. This one has fabulous purple-green leaves
which make it distinctive and worth growing. The rather artificial purple flowers are a temporaray
distraction.
2nd May 2008
Geranium phaeum 'Mulberry Tart' .
During the 1980's I was actively growing and selecting seedlings of Geranium phaeum. I named and released a few.'Calligrapher' and
'Rose Air' are still in circulation, 'Dreamer' seems to have fallen out of favour and 'Heather' is, as far as I can tell, now extinct. Then
at the end of the 1980's there was a boom in new introductions, many of them excellent plants, and I stopped raising them. The market was already saturated
and confused enough without any further help from me. This large flowered rather ruffled seedling had been provisionally selected for
further trial under the informal name 'Mulberry Tart', but it isn't really distinct enough to warrant a name. The reddish mulberry tones were
inherited from my stock of 'Bowles Red' which still seeds about the place.
2nd May 2008
Iris japonica 'Ledgers var.' .
Probably to commonest and most satisfactory form of Iris japonica, which can sometimes be miffy and damaged by frost. Does wonderfully
in moist shade (most unlikely of conditions), but looks a bit dog eared in sun and becomes limp and leathery if it gets too dry.
2nd may 2006
Acer pseudoplatanus 'Brillintissimum' .
The Sycamore is a splendid tree. Masses of tiny seedlings in spring are a small price to pay for the comfortable sheltering canopies
of the adult trees. There is much variation in the colour of the first spring leaves, from golden green to bleeding beetroot.
'Brilliantissimum' has so little chlorophyll in the early years that it never grows to be more than a manageable dwarf. At it's best, in the sun,
it is astonishing. By mid-summer it is a dull and dusty green blob. Unusually for me, I can never decide if I like it or not. I grown it
in a pot on top of the inspection cover for the sewer, which it completely fails to disguise. It is either as perfect peach pixie,
or vomit on a stick!
To find particular groups of plants I grow, click on the genus name in the table above. Click on the "Index" box at the top of the page for the full list.
I have a lot of good intentions when it comes to updating this site, and I try to keep a note
about what is going on, if you are interested.
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