JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
To navigate this site, use the links above, or the detailed links at the bottom of this page.
... out in the garden.
21st March 2010
Galanthus plicatus 'Warham' .
I had a lot of trouble sleeping on wednesday night. I couldn't work out if I was too hot or too cold. I had worked late in the garden and got very tired, and then
I couldn't sleep, which was very irritating. Lying awake in bed staring at the dark space where I assume the ceiling was I kept hearing the faintest of distant thuds.
Like a tap dripping onto a carpet or an excitable hamster wagging the stump of its tail.
Finally I decided it was the sound of fairies falling out of the air as they flew through the garden,
and I was very worried, because without the support of the fairies the ridiculous enterprise that is my garden would be quite impossible. Almost as soon as I could see
where I was going, I went up into the garden while the atmosphere was still magical, to find what could be done.
Before I am deafened by a chorus of gardeners and small children
(that is to say, those who still experience occasional magic) shouting 'I believe in fairies', I have to say that I was wrong.
I had heard the soft thud of the snowdrop season ending.
There are still a few flowers to be seen, and 'Warham' has only just hit its peak, but it is the latest of the cultivars I grow. It is emerging from a sea of
leaves that have, emphatically, closed the season.
21st March 2010
Fuchsia excorticata .
A number of plants in the garden have been slow to flower this year. Cold weather has held a lot of things back and this Fuchsia is no exception.
The buds were forming in January and they have been repeatedly destroyed by frost. Now the weather has warmed up a bit, some of them have managed to develop
far enough to open. This is probably the most eagerly anticipated Fuchsia of the season. It comes originally from New Zealand where there is a handful of similar
green and yellow flowered species. I thought that the frost might destroy all the buds but there seem to be plenty to come.
21st March 2010
Olsynium douglasii 'Album' .
For some reason I seem to have picked all the pale coloured flowers to show this week which is strange, there are a lot of very bright things,
and usually this would be one of them. When I first grew it, it was still called Sisyrinchium grandiflorum and I had it planted in a bed of Cassiope
where it made an astonishingly loud pink noise when it flowered. The white form is more subtle, like a ghostly Leucojum and it was a surprise
in the greenhouse - I had seen the leaves emerging but I hadn't noticed the bud.
I am still looking to replace the pink one which was an early
morning alarm call in the garden and seemed to rouse pretty much everything from sleep.
21st March 2010
Soldanella 'Sudden Spring' .
Another surprise was this Soldanella (and it's relative, 'Spring Symphony'). Last week I had a rather tired looking mat of leaves, this week
they are in full flower. It is a second generation hybrid between S.carpatica and S.pusilla and has been more vigorous than either of its
parent species. All of the Soldanella here have been in their pots for too long, and need splitting and rejuvenating. I doubt that I will
see a lot of flower this year, but this has been a good start, so I may be wrong. I was wrong about the fairies after all.
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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