JEARRARD'S HERBAL
4th September 2022
Solidago virgaurea .
At the start of the week the warm weather returned. I had mixed feelings about it. Another cold week would have felt like a very early start to the decline of winter.
On the other hand, the need for watering in the greenhouse increased again and after a few days it was clear that the garden was drying out rapidly. Fortunately
some light rain on Thursday gave the garden the sustenance it needed to stagger into the weekend and a decent downpour.
I was watching the forecast on Monday to be told that the weather was unpredictable. A lot more honesty than I was expecting, perhaps there is a forecaster currently considering his options.
As the summer shadows lengthen along the hedges and verges around here, odd flashes of sunshine appear from the darkness. It is Solidago virgaurea, a smaller and weedier
relative of the Golden Rod hybrids that stonk through the late summer border. It is a widespread wild flower but this is the first time that I have found it in the garden.
It is growing in the shade of a Cherry Laurel where the sun hardly penetrates and it has added a welcome touch of late levity to the sombre summer scene.
4th September 2022
Nerine 'Catherine' .
The last of the Disa have finished and the red Roscoea have moved in a matter of weeks from "fresh" to "voluptuous". The heavy excitement of summer is being replaced
by the cool excitement of autumn. The Nerine have been waiting in their pots and the anticipation is palpable. The pots seem to strain to contain the contents and I have been watching,
eagle-eyed as nothing happens. Just before the curtain goes up there is a silence, a moment when everybody knows that something is going to happen but it isn't quite happening yet.
The Nerine have captured the moment perfectly.
I have a single precocious seedling that flowered a few weeks ago, I'm not sure if I have been lucky or it got confused. It felt as though an actor had popped their head round
the curtain to see if the audience was in.
This week 'Catherine' has flowered, it has always been the earliest into bloom of the named cultivars I grow. I was admiring the flower when I noticed that there were spikes appearing in pots
all around me. The Nerine have started to move.
4th September 2022
Hedychium 'C. P. Raffill' .
The Hedychium planted outside have grown well. They have enjoyed to warmest summer for decades and I have high hopes for a spectacular flowering year.
It is possible that the dry weather will hold them back but I hope that the rain we have had will spur them on. Hedychium love water. It is a strange
thing when you consider the dried up rhizomes that are sent out by the bulb catalogues. I was once sent a piece so dry that the rhizome had twisted and collapsed
into itself and was lighter than balsa wood. I soaked it overnight, it grew. Hedychium are very tolerant of drought, but they love water.
I am hoping for a very special season.
Hedychium 'C. P. Raffill' has made a good clump and almost every cane has produced a flower spike. The evergreen Hedychium are best enjoyed for their bold
and exotic foliage, flowering is unreliable and it doesn't last long. However if they do flower they crown the garden with glory.
4th September 2022
Colchicum x agrippinum .
There are a few flowers that mark the seasons. Snowdrops mark the end of winter, primroses the start of spring, notwithstanding the occasional out of season
individuals that sprinkle the ground with joyful anticipation.
Colchicum mark the arrival of autumn with lilac precision.
I walked up into the garden a week ago just to see if C. x agrippinum had produced any flowers. I thought that a band of rain might have been enough to trigger them
into bloom. There was nothing to see, just a sheaf of dry leaves still hanging on from the summer. I knew that it was time to mow the beds where the
Colchicum 'Waterlily' will emerge in a few weeks time. I got on and did it. C. x agrippinum acts as an early warning. If I haven't mowed before the flowers appear
then I need to put other jobs aside and start mowing urgently. I have mowed, cleared the bed, sowed some Tulipa sprengeri seed. Everything has been prepared.
The stage is set, C.x agrippinmum has appeared on cue, the performance of autumn has begun.