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.
The garden has been getting rather dry so rain this week has been very welcome. After not raining seriopusly for a couple of months it seems to have forgotten the ground rules.
Sunny days, rain at night!
This week it has all fallen during the day but finally today we are back on track. Lovely sunny day, tipping down as I write this!
As expected the Hellebore seed was shed this week. As expected I was a day too late, and it had started to fall but I seem to have most of it safely gathered in.
I like to sow it all as fast as possible and then twiddle my thumbs waiting for it to come up next January.
On the website there is a big Sarracenia reorganisation in the works but it will be a week or two before it appears because the garden keeps
looking more appealing!
12th May 2007
Scilla verna .
My favourite tiny little Scilla grows on the cliffs west of here where the National Trust are slowly managing to exterminate it by parking visitors cars on it. As well as the blue ones
there are occasional white and pink forms.This one came from Simon Bond at Thuya Alpines and next time I see him I must really find out where it originated - it seems
to have larger, more open flowers than the local plants.
12th May 2007
Roscoea cautleyoides 'Yeti' .
Every year I spend the winter stoically watching the Roscoea pots, and then as the spring advances I finally succumb to panic as I convince myself
I have killed them all while they were dormant. Suddenly (it happened about 10 days ago) the first green shoots appear and I breathe again. Before you
know it there are flowers everywhere and the cold desperate days of winter are forgotten. I wish that they came in a regular order, but this year it is 'Yeti'
up first, one of a mass or more or less identical forms.
12th May 2007
Calanthe striata .
The hardy orchids are a rum bunch. I don't claim to understand what Calanthe want to make them happy.
I have a stock that grows fatter and fatter (it is now the size of a large cabbage) but never comes close to flowering.
They seem to require moist compost that is dry. It's a problem. I bought a second stock, and it has promptly flowered.
Don't ask me, it's a mystery.
12th May 2007
Dactylorhiza praetermissa .
The Southern Marsh Orchid is (apologies to Orchid afficionados) one of the pink ones! I wouldn't normally show this because it is part of a trial to see how long it takes me to kill it.
Cypripedium reginae bit the dust this winter. I have managed to coax a flower from it without it looking suicidal so you never know, it might be a long stayer.
If I can grow one I might try a few more next year and then I will have to do some work understanding the differences between the species. At present, one of the pink ones!
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.
If you want to contact me, the address is infoMONKEYjohnjearrard.co.uk
When typing the address in, please replace MONKEY with the more traditional @ symbol! I apologise for the tiresome performance involved, but I am getting too much
spam from automated systems as a result of having an address on the front page.