JEARRARD'S HERBAL
26th June 2022
Disa Linda Bee .
Summer has struck in the garden. It has been uncomfortable working out there during the day and for the first time this year I have been bitten by a horse fly.
It send me scurrying for the fly repellent but unfortunately the house has been in chaos for a couple of months (builders). I have no idea where it has been put.
Good old internet, a new bottle is on its way!
Fortunately there has been some rain to go with the heat. We haven't had a thundery deluge as befits hot weather but extended drizzle has been welcome - unless you
happened to be spraying weeds when it arrived. Unfortunate timing but I was so busy scratching a horse fly bite that it was hardly even irritating.
In the greenhouse, where I hid when the rain came, the Disa are glowing in warm colours even as the sky darkened with clouds. Rainwater from the roof gets
diverted through their beds and they seem to benefit from it. It arrived just in time to save me watering them.
I have a group of seedlings of D. Linda Bee that have started to flower well. I'm not sure what I expected to get by crossing two large, red flowers together
(Frieda Duckitt x Thema Kindred) but unsurprisingly the seedlings all have large red flowers. I have been looking at them, uncertain which to keep and which to reject.
There seems to be nothing between them, keep them all or ditch them all? I wanted to retain one, just to mark the fact that I had re-made the original hybrid. Fortunately I took
a lot of pictures. In the photographs, clone.12 has a better shape than any of then others. It is enough to secure its future.
26th June 2022
Eriolarynx australis .
Eriolarynx australis is one of those plants that I have avoided for years, not because I wouldn't like to grow it but because I couldn't believe it would be hardy
here, despite assurances to the contrary. When I moved into the house the wind whistled across the fields like a frustrated shepherd recalling a disobedient dog.
Poor old Eriolaryx with its brittle stems and soft leaves wouldn't have stood a chance.
Times change imperceptibly, trees grow and provide some shelter. Somehow I never got back to Eriolarynx.
I saw a number of wonderful specimens in quick succession growing in local gardens that sent me back in the Eriolarynx direction. I bought this one because it seemed to
have darker flowers than the others I had seen. It has gone into the Hedychium house for now, I will root some cuttings when I get time and plant one outside. I have confidence,
cutting material and enthusiasm. I have everything I need except for a clear idea of where I intend to plant it. I'm sure that will come.
I did have a space that would have been perfect, but I filled it with Dahlia species instead. I don't regret it, they are going to look wonderful as well.
26th June 2022
Hemerocallis 'Powder Puff' .
I have a herbaceous border that is slowly being overshadowed by the trees surrounding it. Equally slowly I am modifying its contents to adapt to the changing circumstances.
For slowly read "with glacial progress". It is taking me very long time. In summer I think it would be best done in winter, in winter the nights draw in so quickly
that I leave it to spring and who has time for anything extra in spring?
It has taken so long that I have built a new herbaceous border in the meantime. The new one has been better designed and it will be simpler to manage - it really will!
It has also been more fun to do which may have been significant.
In the slow process of lifting, moving and rearranging things, a lot of the Hemerocallis have re-appeared from the forgotten undergrowth. Most of
my plants are rather elderly cultivars that are now described as historic. 'Powder Puff' was important in its day (registered in 1951) as a significant step
towards pale flowers. I bought it in the early 1980's when it was still a modern novelty in the UK. Times have changed, the "almost white" daylilies came along
in the form of 'Serene Madonna' (now also superseded) and 'Gentle Shepherd' (still whistling away). I allow 'Powder Puff' a dignified retirement
in a quiet corner of the garden where it can sit in the sun and remember past glories.
26th June 2022
Rodgersia nepalensis .
Part of the fun of the new herbaceous border has been deciding what should be grown in it. I drew up a list of potential candidates - I do love a good list.
Full of promise and possibility. I rarely take much notice of the list when I actually start planting, opportunism takes over, but I like to make one.
It's gardening from a comfy chair.
I like Rodgersia, it's a satisfying genus. The plants are strong enough to hold their own in the garden, good in flower and they keep good foliage
right up to the end of autumn. They are not invasive and they seem to have no major pests. It's a good genus. I can always find space for another and that's really how
R. nepalensis arrived here. I didn't know what to expect but I was prepared to take a chance.
It has been a good thing, the white flowers have a greenish tinge as they open, the plant has cool charm. It's in the old herbaceous border. I would like it in the
new herbaceous border but five years later I still haven't done anything about it. Glacial slowness. It would only take a moment in winter but better wait until spring
- well, you know how it goes.