JEARRARD'S HERBAL
7th July 2024
Aruncus dioicus
It has been a busy week and while I have been distracted by other things, summer has walked boldly into the garden and sat itself down in a chair. It's not going anywhere soon.
Fortunately it has brought some summer rainfall with it. A heavy fall a fortnight ago eased fears of another drought. A second wet day last week left the garden looking cheerful.
More rain is suggested for tomorrow. It isn't needed but it will be welcome.
The herbaceous border has cheered up a lot. Last summer the day lilies flowered well in the heat but the leaves became spotty and brown very early in the season.
This year the flower colour is looking less intense but the foliage is still looking decent.
Aruncus dioicus is more tolerant of the climate. In some ways it is the perfect herbaceous plant for this garden. It is easy, it looks after itself and it copes
well with drought or floods. If it has one drawback it is that the flowers don't last very long. This is the good week, next week it will have started to brown.
In a fortnight it will have good foliage and proclaim very loudly that its season is done. I would like more. I would love to raise seedlings but I only have one plant.
Dioicus says it all.
7th July 2024
Drosera cuneifolia
Down in the greenhouse the Disa are rising to a spectacular crescendo. I have been going down there in the morning and evening, while the temperatures are bearable.
With bright colour filling the air it has been easy to overlook the other details. Quite by accident I went down there after lunch one day and had to scurry back immediately for a camera.
Drosera cuneifolia flowers for an hour or two at midday in the brightest sun. I have become so used to seeing the small plants in their pot that I take them for granted.
I tend to forget that they flower for weeks through the summer, albeit only for an hour or two each day.
The pink-purple flowers are much smaller than the Disa and they aren't produced in such profusion. Still, they hold their own in the greenhouse.
It would be an overstatement to say that I grew D. cuneifolia for its flowers. I don't really grow it for its leaves either. I grow it because, after rather a long time,
I'm not sure what else I can do. However, if it didn't have great leaves and great flowers it might not have kept its place. A great many sundews have been shown the exit.
7th July 2024
Philesia magellanica
Sometimes the knees tremble. I have two large Philesia that have lived in large pots in a shady part of the greenhouse for a very long time. They flower,
they thrill me, they do everything I could ask of them. They are very obliging and if it wasn't for a reputation for being a bit wimpish in gardens, they would have
been out there years ago. It rankles that I occasionally see them prospering in the most unsuitable gardens. It is as though the plant was goading me
to put it outside and watch it die.
In March, as winter ended, both plants were looking a little weary of potted life. I planted the first one out and a few weeks later the second followed.
So far things are looking good. I am going to see the appearance of a flower as a good sign rather than the last desperate act of a plant in the throes of death.
If they prosper, I will be left wondering why I tortured them in pots for so long. The answer is, I have killed it outside before. Hopefully I am a bit wiser,
the garden is a bit kinder and the plants are a bit stronger. Alternatively, I should start kicking myself now so that I am in good form when they fail.
7th July 2024
x Hippeastrelia
As the weeds grow and the long arms of the brambles embrace the garden, I console myself that it will slow down soon. Perhaps I am fooling myself.
Perhaps after a wet week the weeds will set off with renewed enthusiasm. I hope not. I have cut the brambles back twice now, it would be nice if they would take the hint.
In the Hedychium house weeds have been romping around faster than I can deal with them. It will all sort itself out in time. I have some repair work to do on the roof,
weeding can wait for a bit longer. On the other hand, I did have to fight my way through last week to see what was happening.
It is a good thing that I did. This x Hippeastrelia was in flower. I hadn't even noticed the spike coming up. I must check the Sprekelia growing beside it
to see it there are more exciting scarlet flowers due. Both plants are appreciating a bit more water this year (courtesy of the aforementioned roof defects) so I may have a bumper year for flowers.
I am controlling the urge to lift a bulb or two and grow them with the other Hippeastrum. I could give them more care in pots, they would appreciate that.
However, they were planted out to reduce the insanity of pots. I should remember that.