JEARRARD'S HERBAL
13th August 2023
Cyrtanthus 'Edwina'.
Autumn has fallen from the skies and penetrated the ground. For the most part it hasn't happened like a package-holiday jet plane falling from the skies and penetrating the ground.
For the most part the falling has been gentle and of the rainy persuasion. It has joined the ground in a soft and welcoming union. For the most part.
Strong winds have rattled the trees. While I was away last weekend we clearly had some serious gusty weather. A branch came down over the orchid house.
It looked quite trivial when I first saw it. By the following morning it seemed to have grown and by the time I had removed it, it had become about 4m long.
Fortunately it did no significant damage. The rest of the garden escaped with minor injuries but it is always salutary to go into the garden after a strong wind
and find branches sticking straight out of the ground. They have fallen like jet planes. I don't go out there when its windy.
In the greenhouse, Cyrtanthus 'Edwina' had opened to welcome the autumn, after weeks of tortoisey dithering. The large flowered Cyrtanthus seem
to hybridise to some extent and presumably this is the origin of 'Edwina'. Clear information is hard to glean, and I have none to offer.
13th August 2023
Crocosmia aurea 'Golden Ballerina'.
Most of the Crocosmia flowered in the aftermath of summer, producing tufts of long-suffering leaves from the hard earth topped with sputtering flames of flower.
In some years the clumps make bouncing balls of fire along the length of the herbaceous border but this wasn't the year. They have finished almost as soon as they started,
the last flowers clinging gracelessly to the tips of the flower spikes. The last fiery dregs dripping reluctantly from the bottle.
Crocosmia aurea 'Golden Ballerina' has fared rather better in the greenhouse. I would like to have it outside but when I have planted it out it hasn't persisted.
I have a moist corner in mind for another try but it may not be hardy enough. Crocosmia aurea introduced large flower size to the mix of Crocosmia hybrids
but with it came a touch of tenderness that lurks in them to this day.
In habitat in South Africa, it grows in moist locations. It does very well in the greenhouse where it stands in a saucer of water through the summer. I should give it a
try standing in the water benches and get to grips with my ridiculous prejudice that Crocosmia like dry conditions, it is nonsense.
13th August 2023
Nerine undulata 'Nymans Soft Pink'.
I love change, it is exciting and stimulating. I hate every moment of it. I cleave to change. Some things happen and some things don't and I choose to enjoy them both if I can.
On the first day of the school holidays the supermarkets started to advertise their 'back to school' ranges. I can imagine a lot of sad-faced children seeing
that, and finding the loss of summer innocence stacked on the shelves in front of them. I have been hiding from it. The Disa have finished.
I intended to cut off the spent flowers last night but dithered over other things. I want the season to change: I don't want the season to change.
Generally in these situations the greenhouse comes to my rescue. In this case it has delivered the first Nerine flowers of the season. I wasn't expecting N. undulata 'Nymans Soft Pink'
to be the first, perhaps this is an aberrant flower, but it is a welcome one. The first N. sarniensis seedling has opened at the same time, and there are spikes coming up
on half-a-dozen other plants.
Autumn is coming. It may be cold, it may be blustery, but it is undoubtedly going to be pink.
13th August 2023
Rhodophiala 'Harry Hay'.
I am by nature untidy. That is a simple truth that has been hard won over the years against the desire to be ordered and have things under control. I don't have things under control,
that simple realisation was a revelation and a delight. I am an untidy person wrestling with a tidy idea. There is a practical example of this in the bulb house.
I like bulbs. I particularly like tender bulbs, but I'm not very particular. I like them all. They get piled into the greenhouse together and chaos reigns.
Summer growing and winter growing and non-conformist all end up on the same benches, it becomes impossible to manage. From time to time I settle down and sort things out.
The Nerine all have space to themselves, I am slowly moving things out of their greenhouse (only the Albuca to go). Last year I moved
my Rhodophiala in a rare moment of clarity and was simultaneously filled with horror. What happens if they don't like the new position? I could have
managed very happily never having grown Rhodophiala, but growing them and then killing them would have made me very gloomy.
No need to worry, in the last two days R. 'Harry Hay' has burst from the pot and into flower. The new situation suits it well, I have all the Rhodophiala
and tender amaryllids in one place. It is a very tidy idea.
As you can see, the reality still needs some work.