JEARRARD'S HERBAL
2nd October 2022
Eucryphia x intermedia .
At long last the weather has had the decency to reflect the season, or perhaps the season has finally caught up with the weather. One of those things has happened,
or perhaps both. Whatever has happened, the sense of the garden and the weather landing on it have coincided and it feels appropriate after months of unexpected drought and heat.
The evenings have darkened and chilled, I lit the stove in the week (I'm just showing off that I have a new stove) and I discovered that most of my long sleeved
fleeces have holes in them. The garden has hydrated and become sombre. Rain has drummed on the roof of the greenhouse and the water tanks are overflowing.
It is a moment when the garden does things that I have overlooked. There is a single flower on Sternbergia lutea. I love it, I cherish it, I know it's there but I
do overlook it. I has only produced a single bud, but I count it as a triumph in this wet climate.
Similarly, Eucruphia x intermedia gets overlooked. I planted it about thirty years ago and have been forgetting it is there ever since. Perhaps it is just autumn anonymity
coming into play. There is another one further up in the garden that went in a decade ago that I have only just remembered is there. I expect it's flowering its socks off.
Most of my winter socks have holes in them as well.
2nd October 2022
Globba saltatoria .
It has been a good year for the gingers. They have managed to enjoy the heat of the summer without quite suffering the effects of the drought. It was a close
thing but they got away with it. Just before the first rain arrived in August some of the Hedychium coccineum forms had lost the gloss on their leaves,
the first sign that they might roll and then brown at the tips. I am waiting for a triumphant celebration of flowers delivered with typical Hedychium
sobriety, like having to queue for an hour in the post office to be told you have won the lottery.
Globba saltatoria (or whatever it turns out to be) has a more subtle approach to the business of being a ginger. I was pulling the dead stems of willow herb out of
some pots without realising that some of the dull brown tangle was actually Globba flowers. I know it's there; I love it dearly. It is the only Globba
that I can grow (and I have killed a lot of others trying). Even so it was a surprise, and one that I should have expected.
2nd October 2022
Colchicum autumnale 'Alboplenum' .
Autumn flowering bulbs emphasise the change that has happened. It is almost geographical in its scope. The summer has been dominated by herbaceous plants struggling
against the unexpected drought. Autumn is filled with flowers on bulbs that were dormant through the harsh weather and suddenly spring into life with incongruous brio.
There are autumn snowdrops showing their heads. The Sternbergia is stubbornly refusing to open, the weak sunshine hitting it is insufficiently tempting.
The Colchicum and Cyclamen have responded to the rain. The first flowers on both anticipated the rain by a day or two but they have waited for a drenching
before producing a decent show.
I have a single bulb of C. autumnale'Alboplenum'. It is an odd thing, the flowers are ragged and easily discoloured, it rarely has a moment of perfection.
I was impressed that it was still standing up after heavy rain, the flowers usually open flat on the ground after the buds have toppled. It is not the most impressive Colchicum
by a long chalk. I don't understand why it is my favourite. Perhaps these things aren't for understanding. I wish that I had a bed of them spread on the ground
like a lumpy wet duvet. It would perfectly encapsulate the exuberant damp despair of autumn.
2nd October 2022
Fuchsia 'Hawkshead' .
Autumn is filled with the colours of decay. I have been watching the Liquidambar for the first signs of autumn colour. The viridian green that flickered through the summer shadows
has softened. There is a sense of seasickness about it. At any moment the tree will turn red, but it is waiting for the right moment.
Even as the garden crumbles into dormancy there is a sense of resurgence in the autumn bulbs. I enjoy the Fuchsia in the garden for the same reason. They produce fresh flowers
even as the summer sun tires of burning things to a crisp. The old growth of F. 'Lechlade Magician' was reduced to bare stems by the summer heat, but it burst into new growth as soon as
the rain came and it has rebounded with delightful enthusiasm. F. 'Hawkshead' is rebounding from other problems. Little by little over the last years it has been overwhelmed by brambles.
I must deal with that. I really must deal with that. Finally, I acted. The poor old Fuchsia was little more than twigs with some tip-top tufts of leaves.
Stripped of the suffocating competition it has rejoiced. It is a lovely thing.
The sun has been shining from a cold sky. I don't think the Sternbergia will make it today.