JEARRARD'S HERBAL
30th April 2023
Paeonia mlokosewitschii .
It has been a murky week. Rain has mostly fallen at night but there has been little wind and the sunshine has been gentle. The result has been mist, which hovers in the distance,
and lurks dankly around corners. The garden still feels heavy from winter wet. It should be too late to move things and replant them, but it still feels possible.
Peonies have been springing from the ground, carrying with them the promise of summer. I was particularly pleased to see P. willmottiae re-appear. It grew rather weakly last year,
and then died back very quickly as the drought took hold. I was worried that it might have given up the decorative struggle for good, but it seems to be as resilient as it is beautiful.
A single shoot marks its determination to enchant.
I have a number of seedlings of P. mlokosewitschii in the new herbaceous border. I am hoping for a good yellow one, but I have waited for so long that any flowers are welcome.
The first has finally appeared, a blushing white flower. The foliage is right for P. mlokosewitschii and the flower colour is within the possible range of variation
for the species, but I don't know where the seed was collected. It could be a garden hybrid. It is a wonderful beauty, but it isn't yellow. I view it through an intangible mist
of disappointment.
30th April 2023
Pinguicula grandiflora .
The greenhouse has felt like a good place to be this week. The clamminess in the air doesn't reach inside, and the weak sunshine provides some gentle warmth.
I have spent some gentle hours photographing things that tend to be overlooked, peering through the condensation into pots of fern spore that haven't germinated,
and finding a hundred and one other things to do that don't involve going outside.
High on the list has been planning a future for the Pinguicula. Over the years I have grown a number of hardy Pinguicula species. Most of them are long gone, but they have left
a genetic mark. I have a hybrid swarm that romps along the bench, seeding around joyfully. I have started the process of dividing out the variations. I grew P. vallisneriifolia
for a long time. Its offspring are still evident among the swarm. I have moved them into isolation in the hope of preserving some of the species qualities. Most of the plants are
P. grandiflora, in full flower now and the best looking of the whole gang. If I could only grow one Pinguicula then this would be the one.
It seeds very vigorously, that outcome may be inevitable.
30th April 2023
Clivia miniata Pastel Shades .
I went to a Hardy Plant society sale this morning. We all had a good moan. The main subject was plants that had died unexpectedly in the winter. I was lucky, there was cold damage in the greenhouse,
but the garden escaped relatively unscathed. Others were less fortunate.
One of my worries was the Clivia. We had a couple of very sharp radiation frosts at the start of December that caught gardeners by surprise. In the greenhouse, the Clivia
were scorched. At the time it looked catastrophic, but it seems not. A number of plants are coming into flower and although there are dead leaves on most plants, there aren't many dead plants.
Plants growing in the Hedychium house were more exposed, but a good number appear to be alive. It will take them a year or two to recover, clivias are slow things, but I think they will get there.
I have a number of "pastel" Clivia miniata. This is one of a number of seedlings that I have grown. Pale flowers are the promise when the seed is sown, but there is always room for uncertainty.
This plant is flowering for the first time and it has delivered. The flowers are on the dark side of pastel, but it is the real thing.
30th April 2023
Dendrobium kingianum 'J. King' .
Further along the bench, the Dendrobium are putting a brave face on events. This winter caused more damage than I have seen before on their tough, leathery leaves.
A few were killed outright, a number were defoliated, and most suffered significant leaf damage. I have been cleaning them up weekly to remove the brown leaves as they fall.
As the plants are cleaned up the situation becomes clearer. Most of the plants will re-grow although it will take a few years for them to recover fully. It was a sharp reminder
that I should cover them over at the start of winter and leave them covered until the spring warms up.
Fortunately there are enough old canes on D. kingianum to produce flowers. I'm sure that the greenhouse will be perfumed with their honeyed fragrance if the sun comes out.
While I am waiting, a few flowers on 'J. King' provide some springtime cheer, and there are plenty of other plants with buds coming.
Growing Dendrobium without heat is challenging, and possibly foolish, but it does have rewards.