JEARRARD'S HERBAL
10th July 2022
Impatiens gomphophylla .
The heat of summer has finally arrived. The garden is sweltering under the relentless sunshine. It is almost impossible to go out there in the middle of the day.
There is a lot to do, but early morning and late afternoon are the only opportunities. I would like to say that I spent the middle of the day asleep under a shady tree
but it has been too hot for that. I open all the doors in the house and hope that a breeze blows through.
The garden is more resilient than I am, soaking up the heat with delight. All of the slow growers suddenly take heart and set off. Even my avocado looks as though it might not die after all.
The earliest of the heat lovers are performing in the greenhouse, but on the south wall of the house Impatiens gomphophylla has taken off. When I planted it out I was worried that the
ground was too dry and stony. It was slow to establish but now I have a good clump of upright stems dripping with orange flowers. I turns out to be a fortunate location, the evening sun shines
through the translucent stems in a wonderful way.
10th July 2022
Dendrobium Ise .
In the greenhouse the warmth of the precious day lingers through the night to greet the early visitor. It is a nice place to go after breakfast. It doesn't take long for the heat to build
so it is a short visit.
Most of the Dendrobium have finished. It might be fairer to say that most of the Dendrobium didn't start but I have a lot of very young plants growing on. They aren't big enough
to entertain grandiose ideas like flowering. Most of the Dendrobium that were big enough to flower have finished however a single bloom from Dendrobium Ise has hung on.
It is a hybrid between D. moniliforme from Japan and D. officinale from the mountains of Yunnan. It should be quite tolerant of low winter temperatures and in the greenhouse
it gets plenty of summer heat. It has come through a couple of winters without damage so I look at the plant with confidence.
I am less confident of the flowers. They seem to be larger than either parent and there is a distinct purple spot on the labellum which cannot be overlooked and which is difficult to explain away.
It isn't impossible, D. moniliforme sometimes shows a purple spot, but it is unexpected.
10th July 2022
Utricularia reniformis .
Hot dry weather means I have to keep a close eye on the Sarracenia beds. If they dry out the new growth withers and never recovers. It only takes a moment. The Sarracenia
adore the warmth and bright light of mid-summer and they are looking their best. Beside their fresh lime green foliage the Disa are flowering in strident shades of scarlet.
It is a telling and tactless colour combination well suited to the warmth.
Hidden among the Sarracenia I have four clones of Utricularia reniformis. I had to space them well apart last year because the creeping stolons had escaped from the pots
and were mingling willy-nilly in the warm water. There was something not-quite decent about it and it had to end.
The large lilac flowers help to soften the boundary between the red and the green. I am looking forward to the day that the flowers tower above the Sarracenia leaves
and add a surface shimmer through the summer. I think that day is still a fair way off. Only one of my clones actually flowers, the other three are still maturing.
After a decade waiting I have become accustomed to patience.
10th July 2022
x Hippeastrelia .
I have a small collection of Hippeastrum that have accumulated as impulse purchases over the years. When I see the big fat bulbs for sale, the promise of big scarlet flowers
is almost overwhelming. I tend to overlook the fact that I am not very good at growing them. For years I have kept them with the Nerine which made taxonomic sense but was a terrible mistake in cultivation.
The Nerine like it dry in summer, the Hippeastrum like it wet. I spent years assuring myself that I would remember to water them. I would have continued that ridiculous self-deception
until they were all dead, but the Nerine saved them. I needed more space so out went the dying Hippeastrum, much to their relief.
Out too went x Hippeastrelia, in this case it was planted in the ground in the Hedychium house. I was worried that it might be too cold but at least it had a chance. If I had left it with the
Nerine it would have been dead by now. This large red flower has been the surprise of the week, the first it has produced since 2016.
My x Hippeastrelia suggests that when it comes to gardening (and without invoking politics), change is good.