JEARRARD'S HERBAL
12th May 2024
Hyacinthoides non-scripta .
It has been a week where the garden has put spring firmly behind it. Hot weather has struck. As the leaves on the trees have expanded, the garden has retreated into the gloom
and the cool shade has been very welcome. I have been doing some final spring maintenance, cutting back brambles and ivy, but it has
been put off until the cool of the evening. Even in the developing shade it has been too hot through the day. As the sun rises through the morning
the garden climbs from greyness and resolves into sharp light and shadows. The welcome colour of spring has become the mature elegance of summer.
Under the trees at the top of the garden, the last wave of spring has crashed over the ground. The bluebells are flowering. In a couple of weeks the flowers will fade
and the woods will slowly be covered in the parchment brown remains of the enthusiasm of spring. For now, the dark blue carpet is the most satisfying thing in the garden.
When I planted them I selected seed from the darkest blue flowers in a local population (the field next door). I don't know if my bluebells are darker as a result,
perhaps it made no difference, but I enjoy the illusions of depth that it has brought.
12th May 2024
Pinguicula lusitanica .
In the greenhouse the heat has started to build up, and I have begun to do tasks that I have been putting off all winter. Some of the Sarracenia have been sorted out.
It is a long job, and I have been putting it off for a couple of years but slowly I have made some progress. I have crept up on the job and taken it by surprise.
Rather than settle down to a long slog, I have scurried down to the greenhouse, done a little potting, and scurried off again before it becomes tiresome.
It seems to be working. The Sarracenia under cover are looking refreshed, those in trays outside will have to wait for a bit longer.
The Pleione are succumbing to the same ruse. A little bit here, a little bit there to restore order. Last year they were magnificently
disordered, this year they were just untidy. Order is being restored (along with slow-release fertiliser in the compost).
Last year I sowed some new pots of Pinguicula lusitanica to ensure its survival. A few years ago I thought that I had lost it and was only saved
by an errant seedling that came up in a pitcher plant. Now I sow new pots regularly and with some warmth in the greenhouse, this is the result.
12th May 2024
Roscoea cautleyoides 'Early Yellow' .
Roscoea is another genus that has got a bit out of control in the greenhouse. They have filled the available space and something will have to be moved if
I am going to continue to raise seedlings.
Fortunately Roscoea cautleyoides has demonstrated that it is content in the new herbaceous border. At the moment 'Early Yellow' and 'Kew Beauty' are
out there, but there are a handful of other cultivars in the greenhouse that will be going out shortly. It won't make a lot of space, but it might free the log-jam
on the bench.
At present the space is filled with summer flowering R. purpurea forms. There is nothing showing in the pots yet and I want to get them sorted and weeded
before I water them for the first time. Once they have been watered they will start to shoot and the pace of the season will increase. No significant management will happen
until they start to die down. I got caught out last year, I intend to remain on top of it this time. Last year I made some hybrids but didn't collect the seed
(Roscoea don't make it easy). I expect the seed fell under the benches and it may well germinate there, so all is not lost.
12th May 2024
Utricularia reniformis .
There are a few plants from south eastern Brazil that seem to be much hardier than one might expect. I suppose that if I
said they came from a region just north of northern Argentina then it wouldn't be so surprising. South eastern Brazil just sounds too warm.
I have a small Guava bush from the region that has outgrown its space on the bench. It will be found more space because it is wonderful
(in a very low key way). It has been undamaged through several winters and cuttings will be tried outside.
Utricularia reniformis is another of these geographical oddities. It has been frozen solid in its pot and still grows away the next spring.
I grew seed from my original plant (which came from an unheated greenhouse in London) and this is the first flowering of a seedling.
Another tried to flower in December, but that was taking liberties with the cold, and the flower stem collapsed. It is an astonishing plant. I first grew it as an oddity
but it has become a much-cherished wonder of the greenhouse. I have a couple of its close relatives, but this is the form that flowers well.