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.
A grey week of rain and a sense of brooding panic! I have been worrying about all the things that
haven't been done yet and it has been hanging over me like a heap of conceptual compost.
Most importantly, the Hedychium house is getting no closer, but the expansion of the Hedychium
is making it more and more pressing. It can't be done until I have dug the hole to investigate
the foundations of the barn (the engineer wants a peek), which can't be done until I have made access
for the digger, so I have been standing in the evening gloom cutting down some Ash trees.
Cutting down the trees so that I can repot the Hedychium. It's a strange world.
Midst the gloom and greyness of the week I had assumed that nothing much had happened but I was wrong.
There has been a lush and welcome unfolding of opulent colours.
24th June 2007
Iris ensata 'Sorcerer's Triumph' .
I flirted with Iris ensata twenty years ago and a combination of chance and nostalgia have brought me back.
It's like an accidental encounter with a lover from long ago. Curious, slightly wistful and tinged with a strange detachment.
Past years, not wanting to disturb the dust. Vague embarrassment at forgotten details.
This is the first time I have grown 'Sorcerer's Triumph' but for all its fastidious excess there is something unaccountably
sad and ancient about it. It has matched the mood of the week.
24th June 2007
Roscoea purpurea KW 13755 .
In much the same colours, I find this a much jollier thing. An introduction by Frank Kingdon-Ward. 'Wisley Amethyst' is supposed to derive from the same stock,
though my plants are quite distinct. The Roscoea have been romping away, producing a few treats and surprises. I could really have spent a week showing you some of them
, but I keep getting distracted. Among the distractions have been the two spotted octopedal spawn of the entomological devil (Red Spider Mite). A rummage through the electronic panacea for all ills
(Internet) has located a source for a remedy - biological control by post, due shortly! You will hear the Alocasia cheer! Nonetheless, you have to admire their ambition.
If I was the size of a pinpoint , and walked under a four foot Alocasia, I'm not sure my first thought would be "I could eat that"!
I am very fond of custard, but faced with a tidal wave of custard bearing down on me, I am not sure that I would tuck in my bib and open my mouth. Much as I admire them,
even more I admire the Phytoseiulus that will gobble them up!
24th June 2007
Clematis 'Warsaw Nike' .
I planted this as a tiny cutting a couple of years ago and had forgotten it, while it quietly got on with the preparations for flowering.
Suddenly, here it is, fabulously purple. There are a few other Clematis around the place but they aren't all happy, so I make a point of enjoying them when they are good
but not lamenting too much when they are not.
24th June 2007
Hemerocallis 'Chicago Heirloom' .
The Daylilies are winding up to a peak, all transient excess and cacophony, but they do it with a cheerful smile.
'Chicago Heirloom' is one of those varieties that divides people. Those who like the sturdy perennial
clumpy charm of the older varieties may blanch at this rather curious colour. It looks a bit
as though it has blanched slightly itself. I rather like it, but I wouldn't want it to be a Weeklily.
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.