JEARRARD'S HERBAL
24th February 2019
Pieris 'Forest Flame' .
We have had a long dry period, the garden is burgeoning, even the sun has shone. It can't go on. The question is, will it get better or worse?
The merchants of doom are selling the idea of another "Beast from the East". It is amazing how powerful a good phrase can be. Before that one
was coined people just thought that the spring weather could be unreliable. Now we have a snappy sounding demon to invoke. People like to use the phrase,
it trips off the tongue better than "a long, steady flow of cold air from Siberia". People are willing it to return, just the keep the language alive.
Gadzooks!
Forecasters are getting their linguistic thrills by pointing out that there is no sign of a beast yet. My opinion counts for nothing, but the greenhouse
has been warm all week. I'm having fun in the sun.
Up in the garden, the first of the Pieris has opened. It is a spring genus in this garden, I don't recall any precocious winter flowering.
I don't recall seeing a Pieris that I didn't like and I don't recall what this one is, I think it's 'Forest Flame'. The problem is that Pieris are very accommodating.
I repeatedly plant things in unsuitable places, a talent that reaches a pinnacle in my treatment of Pieris. This one was planted where
it would look pretty until it grew too big. It was moved to an available space, which wasn't big enough. Now it is in the top part of the garden
enjoying the full sun and exposure to the wind. Flowering its uncertain socks off.
24th February 2019
Cymbidium wilsonii .
At least Cymbidium wilsonii has a name. It isn't the right name, but that is often the case with Cymbidium.
A decade ago there was a steady stream of plants from China arriving in nurseries and this was one of a number of Cymbidium
that appeared. It seems to be a hybrid of some sort, if pushed for an identification I might suggest that it was one of the flowering ones.
I don't have much of a feel for Cymbidium, I grow them bady. I know it, they know it, anybody can see it. Flowers, even
unidentified flowers, are rare. It is even rarer for them to survive long enough to open. Last year the Beast from the East
destroyed all the developing spikes, the year before they were all eaten nonchalently by a slug with a shrug.
I think I probably need to keep them in a more reliably frost free greenhouse and look after them more diligently. One day I have no doubt
that I will be struck by a passion for them. Until then they are moved about more frequently than the Pieris and lose their names
with a similar efficiency.
This is a rare success.
24th February 2019
Erythronium dens-canis .
The snowdrops come up under the trees and signal the end of winter, or the start of spring. They act as a warning of snow or
the proximity of Valentine's Day. Whatever you make of them, up they come. The season has been short this year
with the long, warm, dry spell. The snowdrop flowers are fading. I have even lifted a few clumps and split them. I don't think it is the
best time of year to do it but I was standing beside them with a fork and the recklessness of the moment took over.
Replanting was a problem because the twisted leafy shoots of the Erythronium are pushing up all around. Two years ago I planted a small clump of
E. dens-canis under the trees. I have a few named cultivars in special places around the garden but I keep seeing it
"naturalised" in gardens and looking good. I don't think it actually seeds around, it just gets planted heavily. I can do that!
I thought I should probably plant a small trial before I got too carried away. These were the cheapest that I could find
and they promised "mixed" on the packet. In the event I think this is 'Moerheimii', they all have an extra petal or two
in the flower.
24th February 2019
Camellia 'Jury's Yellow' .
Camellia are as co-operative as Pieris when it comes to moving around the garden. Most of the older plants have been moved once or twice
over the years. Sometimes the names and the plants are temporarily disconnected but they come back together eventually. This is 'Jury's Yellow'.
If it isn't then it is 'Brushfield Yellow'. I have both names, I can't tell the plants apart. At its best the central mass of petaloids
glows yellow. In dull weather it can look a bit creamy. There are a number of pure yellow flowered Camellia species, but as far as I know the colour has
yet to be incorporated into a hybrid suitable for general garden culture, 'Jury's Yellow' cheats by borrowing colour from the stamens.
It is looking particularly good this year, a long period without frost means that the bush is covered with yellow and white flowers.
In frosty weather they add brown to the mix and the combination isn't very appealing.
The weather is going to change. Liguists might choose a sudden chill, old wives might suggest March winds, and the long dry spell might suggest rain.
Or perhaps more of the same. Inevitably the Camellia flowers will suffer but it may be a good thing. Many of them need cutting back
and the earlier it is done the more chance I have of flowers next year.