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JEARRARD'S HERBAL


Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.

3rd January 2010

Galanthus elwesii 'Hiemalis' .
Welcome to the New Year, and the sudden change that happens in the garden. We have had a run of frosty nights, so there isn't much to see on the Camellias, which is one of the places I look for pictures at this time of the year, and I thought I might be scratching around to find anything to show this week. I have even been eyeing up some of the foliage plants (Rohdea , Aspidistra and the like) but after a sunny day yesterday we had a mild night and the ground has started to push forth its bounty.
Last week the snowdrops were just promising glaucous marks on the ground, but this week there are shoots all over. 'Hiemalis' has now been expanded into the Hiemalis Group, to cover the G.elwesii forms that flower early, around Christmas. It has been a bit late this year but it is very welcome.


3rd January 2010



Helleborus x hybridus .
The Hellebores are also getting over a fortnight of inactivity. I have had a double white flowered one in flower for a few weeks, and keep expecting more - but nothing! A warm day has been enough to start them off again. Wonderful fat shoots bubbling with buds pushing upwards. This one is a seedling I raised (not even last decade or last century) last millennium. At the time I had a limited selection of plants that had been with me for a long time. The gene pool encompassed a range of wonders and possibility best summed up by the phrase 'muddy pink'. To be brutally honest, this is one of the better manifestations of the type. There will be a selection of wonders to follow. Cleaner colours, spotless, broad tepals, but this spotty pinky one is welcome to re-start the season (and it's growing behind a fern that will allow it to be ignored when there are better things on show).


3rd January 2010



Hepatica pubescens .
Hopefully, this week also marks the season of awkwardness for the Hepatica. The winter buds are not yet bursting, but there are a few flowers escaping from the side of them. The plants stop growing in mid-summer, and then there is a period of slow decay until they decide there is enough spring in the air to keep them happy. They always look as though a vine weevil has set up home beneath the crowns, and more than once I have killed plants by looking for a non-existant pest among their roots.
This one has a pretty flower, but it is unlikely to open fully at this time of the year. It will take more than just a hint of spring before it expands into large pink saucers.

3rd January 2010



Narcissus romieuxii JCA 805Y .
This is a seedling from Jim Archibalds introduction JCA 805. Over the years there have been a number of cultivars selected from it - 'Julia Jane' and 'Joy Bishop' are noteworthy examples, this one has a letter - Y, and it's a good question! It isn't particularly large, pale, yellow or beautiful. It is, however, in flower, so perhaps it doesn't need a justification.
There are a mass of buds coming up on other forms. They have all burst through the surface this week and are an indication of the Alpine pottiness to come!



Acorus Alocasia Anemone Arisaema Arum Asarum Aspidistra Begonia Bromeliads Camellia
Carnivorous Cautleya Chirita Chlorophytum Clivia Colocasia Crocosmia Dionaea Drosera Epimedium
Eucomis Fuchsia Galanthus Hedychium Helleborus Hemerocallis Hepatica Hosta Impatiens Iris
Liriope Ophiopogon Pinguicula Polygonatum Ranunculus ficaria Rhodohypoxis Rohdea Roscoea Sansevieria Sarracenia
Scilla Sempervivum Tricyrtis Tulbaghia Utricularia Viola odorata Watsonia

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.
If you want to contact me, the address is infoMONKEYjohnjearrard.co.uk
When typing the address in, please replace MONKEY with the more traditional @ symbol! I apologise for the tiresome performance involved, but I am getting too much spam from automated systems as a result of having an address on the front page.