JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
2nd August 2009
Citrus 'Meyers Lemon' .
I walked into the greenhouse today determined to throw away all of the things that have died in the winter. There aren't a lot of them, but I have been leaving them
alone until I am certain they aren't going to shoot from the base. Some of the Aloe and other succulents - all best composted now.
There have been a lot of surprises. This lemon came through without much significant damage. All of the baby lemons from last year fell off
in january but I didn't lose leaves or branches. Now we have had some warm weather, it has prospered and almost doubled in size. It has covered itself in flowers
(that I wanted to be sweet and intoxicating, but were unfortunately more like a volatile unstuffer of blocked noses) and there are tiny fruits forming all over.
I still dream of my own home grown lemons, winter permitting. Usually with Citrus, I get chlorotic leaves - they react badly to even a trace of lime, and resent
some fertilisers, but this one has stayed healthy and I don't have a sick Lemon....
2nd August 2009
Cyclamen hederifolium .
...except for this one!
(I know - that was a lot of work for a single really appalling pun). Last week I didn't have any in flower, and was predicting their autumnal arrival,
but when I went and looked in the greenhouse, the first flowers had in fact already opened. They have been followed in the week by a few flowers under the trees
, including a rather lovely dark flowered one. I would have shown a picture here, instead of this one growing in a pot, but I was leaning down
taking pictures, and they are all out of focus. (Strange as it may seem, I was too lazy to lay down where I could take steady pictures).
Eventually the ground under the trees will be filled with Cyclamen flowers, and perhaps that is the time to take more pictures.
2nd August 2009
Agapanthus inapertus 'Graskop' .
This is a bit of a cheat - I didn't grow it, I bought it this afternoon, but it is wonderful. There used to be a sensational clump of the pale blue flowered
form by the back wall of the Palm House at Kew - it may still be there - and it was the plant that convinced me of the beauty of Agapanthus
(which seem to thrive best on a diet of bullshit and hyperbole). Words like Hardy are easily paired with Laurel, but the joke wears a bit thin when it is
allied to Agapanthus. Not that they are tender, but mulch them and keep them in a warm place, and be prepared for the occasional
convertion to winter slime.
This deep blue form was a 'must have' as soon as I saw it. It is as dark as anything else I have seen, although I spent a reckless sum of money
on a single shoot of 'Midnight Cascade' earlier in the spring, because I was promised black-blue flowers (which might be astonishing,
will be almost invisible in the garden, and are quite probably just hyperbole anyway). If it ever flowers, I will let you know!
Meanwhile this colour is full to the chromatic brim, like a tin of teacle or the North Atlantic.
2nd August 2009
Gladiolus papilio 'Yellow Form' .
And this Gladiolus is the home-grown wonder of the week. The usual form has greyish-purple flowers with an indeterminate beauty
like the wailing of wolves in the mist but when I plant it out in the garden the flower stems tumble around in disarray. A clean colour could be staked
inconspicuously but the cloudy grey hangs off the stakes like a dead fish on a fishing rod.
This yellow form (which may easily belong to a different species) is just as floppy (I had to hold the stems up to photograph it) but the colour is crisp enough
to rise above any mechanical support.
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.
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