JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
14th December 2008
Fuchsia magellanica var gracilis .
This has long been one of my favourite Fuchsia. In the summer it is easily lost among all the noise and activity, but it will flower over a
very long season - if the weather is kind it will continue to produce flowers right through the winter. I have always planted it as a filler
in difficult places, where I can't seem to find anything else to prospr. A mile or so down the road from me it was planted by the side of a house,
and has snaked up behind the cladding to burst out through every tiny gap in a shower of flowers. It is a wonderful demonstration that if
supported it will climb almost any obstacle. This one is planted under an Alder and I am about to fix the first four feet of growth to the trunk
so that the next flush of growth can continue upwards. If it works it will be wonderful.
14th December 2008
Fuchsia arborescens .
It has been a cold week. The last few days before the solstice always seem the dullest and most miserable, so it was a surprise to find Fuchsia arborescens
still managing to flower. It hates cold weather, and we have had a bit of it now - I woke up this morning to find the garden had been carpetted with hail stones
overnight, so the air is cold and humid and all the tender growth should have gone, but this seems to have escaped the frost. Fingers crossed
I may still have it next year (it sometimes makes it!)
Is it tempting fate to think it might last for another two weeks, and still be flowering for the new year? (Yes, I think it probably is!)
14th December 2008
Clivia miniata Yellow Artificer .
My general plan for the winter consists of hiding in the greenhouse with the tender plants and waiting for the spring weather to start. I bought this
Clivia from China a few weeks ago because I don't yet have anything with yellow leaves - I have some seed that makes the promise but it
will be a few years before that comes to anything.
When I unpacked it, I didn't think it was particularly yellow, but now it is potted and I can compare it with a green one, I am very pleased.
14th December 2008
Ranunculus ficaria 'Aurantiacus' .
And the promise of spring is still in the air, or in this case in a pot in the greenhouse. The Lesser Celandines are one of the earliest
Most of them have well developed leaves by now, usually with small buds developing in the centre of the crowns. One or two of them have flowers open already
, which reminds me I have to split and repot them all this year!
Next week may be colder, it may be wetter, but the darkening days of winter will be ending, which is always a cheering thing.
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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