JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
26th October 2008
Hedychium maximum .
A wonderful tall leafy species that has always tried tp flower in December and then been spoiled by the cold weather.
For some reason they have all come up to flower early this year and the tall yellow heads are magnificent.
This plant probably originates from seed collected in northern Vietnam in 1992.
I am trying to pollinate the flowers to get some large flowering large growing hybrids, but I am not convinced there is enough warm weather
left in the year for seed to develop.
Really spicy scented flowers, but I have to stand on a chair to reach them.
26th October 2008
Ipheion uniflorum 'Album' .
I haven't really got over the idea of summer yet - true, I have moved most of the really tender plants together into a greenhouse,
ready to come indoors if things get too scary, but I am still hoping the Colocasia will come to a peak of performance. A
'summer shadow' is still haunting the place, in spite of the clocks going back and the evenings disappearing back into darkness. During the course
of this week, a number of plants have appeared that really belong to next spring, so if summer hasn't quite ended, winter has certainly begun.
This Ipheion will offer a profusion of subtle elegance to March next year, but a stray flower now is a delight. There has also been
an odd Celandine, an Asarum or two and some snowdrops (although mine are still below ground considering their options).
The curious seasson of the undecided bloom has commenced (but no Camellia yet).
26th October 2008
Nerine bowdenii 'Album' .
There is probably a theory to link season and colour in the garden. Spring always seems to be yellow - it might just be the daffodils
but somehow everything seems to be yellow. Suddenly, this week seems to have gone white. Frosts have been threatened
(and we can do without that sort of nonsense, thank you). This Nerine is much more welcome as a cool addition to the greenhouse.
It is a pale pink, and I have seen a pure white one recently, so it is possible that this is mis-named, but it is stunning so I don't
really care (and not stunning in the bludgeoning way like the orange hybrids).
It may just be that they are variable, some whiter than others. A drop of rain today has done nothing to help the colour, but if the
cloud is keeping cold weather at bay, I'm not going to complain.
26th October 2008
Hedychium gracile .
A really pretty little species that has flowered here reliably for a number of years now, and every year I like it more. It is late to come into flower,
so it grows in the greenhouse - I haven't tried it outside. So far it hasn't set seed, or I would have given some youngsters a chance in the garden.
The flowers are unscented , but there has been a suggestion that they are scented in the evening. I have performed a complex experimental test
(I have just been out there with a torch), and I am now in a position to announce my conclusions...
Hogwash! The flowers are unscented.
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.
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