JEARRARD'S HERBAL
11th September 2022
Lycoris squamigera .
The seasons are changing, the weather has been changeable, I have seen the future in my weekly wash. I had got used to leaving the washing outside for an hour or two through the summer,
quite enough time for it to dry. Not so this week. It went out, it came straight back in and went into the tumble-drier. Yesterday we baked in the sun, this morning the mist
has wrapped the garden in anonymity. I have started to plant things in the garden again, a couple of poplars went out and an Asparagus. The soil is soft to walk on
and looks rich and crumbly. An inch down it is still dust dry. I planted out Gunnera perpensa and nearly lost my nerve but more rain will come before it has time to suffer.
The most exciting find of the week was Lycoris squamigera. Nothing as trivial and flimsy as flowers, that would be a foolish expectation. The excitement was to find that the bulbs are still
alive and seem to be prospering. They had distorted the sides of the pot which was a heartening sign.
I can't grow Lycoris. Despite their similarity to Nerine in flower they require different conditions. They aren't even very closely related. However I am beguiled by their long spidery blooms
and I keep trying. They like hot, wet conditions and I have a hot, wet greenhouse (at least through the summer). I have bigger bulbs than I had last year, I am delighted.
Flowers - ha, who needs flowers!
11th September 2022
Hedychium densiflorum 'Assam Orange' .
In the dry shade of some mature Leyland Cypress I planted Hedychium 'Assam Orange'.It wasn't the perfect location but there was a space that needed filling
and I had a lot of spare Hedychium seedlings. They have established slowly. Hedychium love water, at first sight the position was not ideal but I hoped that
there would be enough moisture for them to survive. The surface water from the field above me drains down between the Leylands and creates a swampy corner after rain. Occasionally.
There hasn't been any rain this summer, I didn't think the Hedychium would flower. They looked particularly gloomy at the peak of the drought. Autumn rains fell just in time to save them.
The flower spikes are shorter and later than usual, the growth looks a bit strained, but they have made it.
Lower in the garden the Hedychium border has fared better. Water draining down the hill below the surface is impeded by the boundary wall. The soil never becomes dust-dry
though it would be wrong to describe it as damp. A suggestion of moisture accumulates and for the Hedychium it is enough of a suggestion to prompt them into flower.
11th September 2022
Mahonia japonica .
Some time in July the herbaceous border gave up trying. The Crocosmia had just started to flower as the border turned brown. The first flowers on the Crocosmia spikes opened
and then the buds above them dried out and fell off. Even Persicaria amplexicaulis wilted, the usually sturdy mounds of foliage limped along in droopy desolation
and the "rats tail" flowers looked like rats tails. But every cloud has a silver lining, even when they aren't clouds.
Mahonia japonica has been troubling me. It's in a nice position, I could grow something much better. The leaves are not as good as M. x media, the wispy branches droop
erratically and the flowers, although they can appear in December, seem to encapsulate the dreariness of the season. I had a plan to move it, to add its evergreen presence to the under-storey
of the windbreak.
Drought has been its salvation, at least for now. Stressed by the shortage of water it is allowing the older leaves to die off and they have turned bright orange in the process.
It is a bit early for autumn colour but it is the best thing this Mahonia has managed. It is unquestionably the best Mahonia in the garden at present
which is a telling comment on the garden value of some more recent introductions.
11th September 2022
Vanda cristata .
I have a small greenhouse on the south side of a sycamore tree. It is protected from the morning sun and then heats up through the day. Slowly the orchids in it are
pushing the other contents out. It isn't heated so winter chill is a significant factor but there seem to be orchids that will grow there.
I enjoy the research, identifying those species that might tolerated a degree or two of frost. The greenhouse dipped to - 5degC in the beast from the east.
It is a slow process of discovery. The only way to know for sure if a likely candidate will survive is to try it.
It was a sense of wilful naughtiness that led me to try a Vanda out there. The first was V.alpina which grows at altitudes reaching 2,000m in the Himalayas
and southern China. Surely it can resist a bit of frost? It came through last winter, though it was a very mild year. Vanda cristata is a sister species
from Tibet and China that grows even higher. I bought one in the spring, it has grown well and now burst into flower. The first part of the plan, to keep it warm in summer, seems to be working.
Winter will be the real test. A hard winter could wipe out all of my experimental orchids in one go. I am determined to be stoic and observe what happens dispassionately.
I will undoubtedly learn something of interest. I'm hoping that I won't be taught a lesson.