JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
18th October 2009
Crocus speciosus .
I grow very few Crocus, though I have a feeling that I may go on to grow a few more. This one is an old occupant of the garden, althopugh it isn't
especially long lived for me, and the best plants come from new bulbs grown in pots. Fortunately it responds well to commercial cultivation, so corms are
easily and cheaply available. A number of forms have been named over the years, but I am not sure that any of them now maintain their distinction.
The flowers are large and balance on very slender stems, so they don't stand up well to rain or wind. Outside I see the buds, flopping on the ground,
but I very rarely see the flowers fully open. In a pot on a sunny day they open to extravagant bowls of veined lilac. It is a brief and precious moment.
I keep hoping that I will find somewhere in the garden that they really enjoy. I have thinned out a few of the trees in the woods, and it is possible
that it is now a suitable home for them, but that is a project for next year!
18th October 2009
Ipheion hirtellum .
During the summer I was sent a couple of bulbs of Ipheion species that are new to me. This one is probably Ipheion hirtellum but the details of
Ipheion taxonomy elude me (and I'm not the only one). The yellow flowered species are all very alike, and all very different to
I.uniflorum so a re-arrangement of names is always a possibility.
Last year I intended to try some hybrids between the two groups, but there wasn't enough overlap between their flowering to make it possible.
This year I have buds forming on I.uniflorum at the moment, so it may be possible. I suspect it will be a rather oniony process.
18th October 2009
Lysionotus gamosepalus BSWJ 7241 .
A rather charming small shrub from Thailand, collected by Crug Farm Plants. It suffered a bit through the winter - I don't think it suffered from cold,
it was in the conservatory, but I think I kept it too dry in an attempt to save it from frost damage (can't really assume plants from Thailand
will be cold tolerant, let alone hardy)
. I needs a much larger pot and a lot more space.
Quite by accident I discovered that it seems to be quite easy to propagate - I snapped a stem off while wrestling with repotting the big Dicksonia
and it has rooted without difficulty. Very pretty yellow flowers. Last year it flowered for several months and I think under the right conditions
it would probably flower continuously.
18th October 2009
Romulea autumnalis .
Grown from seed from Silverhills Seed in South Africa. I get very confused with Romulea identities but this one is certainly a Romulea
and it has flowered in autumn, so I have some confidence that this is correct.
The flowers have only been open for a short period in the middle of the day, so it was fortunate that I was at home at lunchtime with a camera
on Friday, or this would have passed unrecorded. It makes a nice start to the season of winter growing bulbs. They all seem to be burgeoning
in their pots at present so it could be a bumper year, there was far less frost damage last winter than I was expecting.
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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