JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
10th November 2008
Oxalis massoniana .
It has been one of those weeks where the colours switch on a whim between grey skies and golden sunlight. At the bright times , it has been
pure orange, and this Oxalis is a surprise exponant of the theme. I got it last year in the middle of winter, and when the stems died back
in spring I thought I may well have lost it. It isn't expected to be especially hardy, it comes from South Africa, but it is still with me
and seems to be getting stronger.
It isn't a subtle colour, but subtlety is best saved for bright light (and other peoples gardens).
10th November 2008
Epimedium x youngianum 'Tamabotan' .
Autumn colour has been building through the week, and those of the Epimedium that manage to colour are doing their best.
'Tamabotan' always does particularly well here, and the colour is actually more striking than the flowering display in the spring (which is good), so
it is a plant for many seasons.
The leaves are much more resistant to windy weather than many of the trees that colour (and there aren't many of those in the wet climate here anyway)
so the colour is especially welcome.
10th November 2008
Parochaetus communis .
Along with the orange, there has been a seasonal flush of blue from Impatiens and Commelina
and such like, but this little Parochaetus is one of my favourites. Not especially hardy
but forms have been introduced recently that are supposed to be tougher. This one would run around vigorously
in a moderately moist location and produce pure blue flowers over an extended season. It never produces a lot of
them at once but every one of them is a little drop of pure colour as though the raindrops had punched tiny holes in the sky as they fell
, leaving these precious little pieces on the ground.
In my case it is still in a pot in the greenhouse hanging in great clumps over the bench like 'al dente'
spaghetti because I have lost it outside before and I don't wish to repeat the event.
10th November 2008
Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon' .
Sunshine at the right time and low winds have allowed the Liquidambar to colour - I had to go up several times a day through
all of this week to get a decent picture of it and the weather forecast hints that it might be leafless before long
so I am determined to enjoy it.
This colour is the last blast of the old season. Already there are buds (and even flowers) on next years spring
flowers and in places the earth is being tenderised by the thrusting shoots of next years bulbs.
Plants that need to come in for the winter are being marshalled into groups so that nothing gets forgotten
and if the forecast threatens serious frost there will be a day of panic and movement and little time to kick idly
through the rustling leaves. Time will have to be put aside ...
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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about what is going on, if you are interested.
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