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.
Well, the rain has come, the clocks have gone back, the greenhouse is cold, and the Begonia leaves have started to rot.
I guess the less optimal season has started. I'm about half ready for it. The conservatory is almost cleaned out, ready to move all the Zingiber
back in, along with the really tender Hedychium - borneense, horsfieldii, hasseltii. That will more or less use up the available space
, so I don't know where the Colocasia are going to go this year, but I looked at them this afternoon, and I think they will manage outdoors for
a couple of weeks yet. I expect it will all work out.
Started work again on the index for the site - made some slow progress - dark evenings will probably result in a little more, and then I have to
think about doing this years update - no doubt you will see it as it unfolds. Lots of photos to sort, and other tedious admin tasks, but it will all
happen in due course.
My ongoing comedy of errors with Gladiolus byzantinus continues. I was going to plant some bulbs in the meadow where I have cleared some shrubs and extended
, and then at the last minute I got worried that they would be too coarse too late in the season and make the summer mowing difficult, so I didn't bother.
Note to self: stop being a berk!
28th October 2007
Clivia gardenii .
In the greenhouse this lovely Clivia has just flowered. I still need to do a little checking on names (it originally came from a source that
has made a few real howlers) - I know C.gardenii produces a few pale peach forms - I'm just not sure that this is one of them! I was expecting
a dark orange with green tips to the flowers. This is much nicer. Clivia seed from the Chubb Peach strain delivered a week ago has started to
germinate in the office, so it has been a Clivia week. I have one unseasonal flower of Clivia miniata open at the moment
and I was hoping to pollinate this with it, but there doesn't seem to be any pollen - not warm or dry enough for the anthers to dehisce. And
I am still on the lookout for a classic orange C.gardenii.
28th October 2007
Ranunculus ficaria 'Cupreus' .
I should have realised when the leaves came up a few weeks ago, that the flowers would not be far behind, but it is still very odd to
have Celandines in October. I don't know if it has been an odd season, or if I have an odd watering regime (I was trying a new watering
system this year). Worth showing the picture, even if the flower is out of focus - I was in a rush this afternoon because the rain was falling
on the camera and I was getting wet as well! Not many other buds above the ground yet, and if the cold weather arrives I epect they will
get held up until the new year. I haven't noticed the leaves of the wild ones yet, though I expect they are there. If I get around to weeding the herbaceous
border I wil find them - it's alive with the bulbs.
28th October 2007
Hedychium coccineum, Hedychium gardnerianum .
I still haven't quite got to grips with the boundary between Hedychium coccineum and Hedychium gardnerianum. I understand that it is still
a matter for debate among the wise (and those with access to a decent botanical library). 'Tara' sits in the uncertain zone. These are all three in flower at the moment.
On the left is a fairly typical Hedychium coccineum - I got it locally from a nursery who bought some dry "bulbs". In the middle is
Hedychium gardnerianum 'St Martins' , a slightly orange tinted form from the Isles of Scily, sometimes called a hybrid though I doubt it myself.
On the right is Hedychium gardnerianum 'Thai Kahili' from a nursery in Thailand.
28th October 2007
.
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.