JEARRARD'S HERBAL
4th June 2023
Philesia magellanica .
Summer has hit the garden with force. The ground is dry again, temperatures are high. Over the weekend I was at Tregrehan Rare Plant Fair and came home with a few things.
Unfortunately, I don't know what to do next. It's too dry to plant things in the garden, probably too hot to stand things in the greenhouse. I have spent a couple of hours today watering and wondering what to do
for the best. There is a large Camellia. I think that had better go outside and be watered regularly, along with a couple of new Dahlia species.
Some small, tender ferns need re-potting and standing in the greenhouse. A Hakea needs to be planted in the Agave house and watered regularly. The problems will be solved slowly, but it might take all week.
I was determined not to buy anything when I went, but that's not the way things turned out.
I am worried that if I pot things up, they will be trapped in the greenhouse forever. Philesia magellanica has been there for a couple of decades, it really needs to be planted out.
It is almost certain to be hardy here and is getting too big to be re-potted. Worse still, I have two of them. It is time to take a risk. It might happen in the autumn, it's far too dry now to
take a chance. In the meantime the first flower has opened, hopefully the first of many. It's a wonderful thing, soon to become a wonderful thing growing in light shade in the garden. Soon.
I don't have a plan yet, but soon.
4th June 2023
Crinodendron hookerianum 'Alf Robbins'.
It is Crinodendron time. It is a shrub that never fails to inject astonishment into the garden. The typical form is now dropping with bright scarlet flowers. I cut it back last year
because it was becoming a bit lanky and it has responded by covering itself in flowers. There is very little that can compare with it for garden impact in early summer. I have seen a few
that were killed by extreme frost last winter, mostly in the south east of the country, but locally they were untouched.
Last week I was amazed to find a few flowers on the pale pink form, 'Ada Hoffman'. After a chequered start, the plant is now growing away strongly but I was surprised to find a few flowers.
I thought that I would have to wait for at least another year.
This week the surprise increased. I have a few flowers on 'Alf Robbins', the white form (and a seedling from 'Ada Hoffman'). I have flowered it once before, when it was still a young plant
growing in a pot in the greenhouse. It was only about 30cm tall when I planted it out. It isn't a lot bigger now, but after a couple of years establishing, it has managed a few flowers.
They aren't spectacular yet, although they may be as the shrub increases in size, but they are interesting. Nothing can compare with the scarlet wonder of the original form,
but this may be a very charming cool counterpoint.
4th June 2023
Stenomesson variegatum .
A couple of years ago I moved a number of warmth loving bulbs out of the Nerine house and into a small greenhouse of their own. I can manage the ventilation better, so the house warms up
faster and stays hotter through the day. To be honest, it wasn't entirely good horticulture that motivated me. I needed more space for Nerine so I moved out a number of bulbs that were performing badly.
I moved them to a place where I hoped that would prosper. However, if they didn't prosper it would be time to admit defeat and introduce them to the compost heap. Whatever the outcome,
I had more space for Nerine.
It has taken a couple of years for things to settle down and for bulbs to recover from the previous neglect, but this year I had a few Hippeastrum that returned to flowering form.
I think that the move has done them some good.
I was happy to see some action from the Hippeastrum but astonished to see a flower spike on Stenomesson variegatum. I have never had it in flower before. I bought it as a pot
of lax leaves, that is all it has ever been. The flower is astonishing, the delight is overwhelming. The Australians say that it benefits from a dry rest at the end of the growing season.
It dried out a bit last winter, I will try it again next winter. Perhaps this wonder will become a regular event.
4th June 2023
Cantua buxifolia .
Perhaps it is just a year for unexpected flowers. Cantua buxifolia has been gripped by the zeitgeist and joined it. I have three plants, two in the greenhouse and one in the Agave house.
I have had the species in flower once before (in forty years of trying). I am to blame, I am sure, for its performance. The plant in the Agave house is almost always too dry.
The two plants in the greenhouse don't get as much water as they should. They are growing in the ground, and I forget. One of them is the wonderful white flowered form,
which has a reputation for shy flowering. This is the other one, a dark pink clone that is said to flower well. I have only had it for a couple of years, it is a bit early
to judge it a success, but the signs are good. A repeat flowering next year would settle the matter.
The colour works well in the greenhouse as the garden swelters in the heat. The weather forecast has suggested the possibility of thunder storms. Heavy rain would be very welcome
but thunder storms imply that the temperature will be going up further. It is wonderful to have some sunshine tumbling through the garden, but it isn't very nice.