JEARRARD'S HERBAL
9th February 2025
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Brimstone'.
Spring is decorating the garden like the sound of a distant tinkling bell. It's there, it's undeniable, but it is playing with the senses.
For every moment of clarity there is a matching moment of uncertainty. Sunshine and chills, rejuvenating humidity becomes dankness.
The signs that the season has changed are strange. I am drawn to the top of the garden again, it has become a "destination".
Through the summer I appreciate the trees, they seem to keep the sky up there at a safe distance. I mow a perimeter path,
congratulating myself on the peaceful natural environment while riding on a thundering mower spewing a stream of shredded 'natural environment'
out the side. I go there in the summer, but I'm not drawn there.
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Brimstone' acts as a marker. Beyond the Hamamelis is 'the top',
a remote corner of spring woodland. It has become a place to visit, to linger, to peer short-sightedly at the ground for the appearance of old friends.
The Hamamelis has rejoiced into bloom in the tinkling spring.
9th February 2025
Galanthus 'Wendy's Gold' .
The top garden is filled with the promise of snowdrops and has been for many years. It was the first home to many of my old cultivars when I started to garden
up there. The idea had been to scatter the plants in distinct groups. I could keep all of the precious cultivars apart and enjoy their
(trivial) differences, but still get the effect of a woodland carpet of snowdrops. It never quite got there. I started moving plants to other parts of the garden
long before the carpet laid itself. It became clear that the ground up there was a little too dry for Galanthus nivalis and its abundant
imitators. They do well lower down in the garden but on the top it was only Galanthus plicatus that really seemed to prosper.
'Wendy's Gold' went up there a couple of years ago when the clump in the garden was unearthed by agents unknown. I found it wilting one morning
and took the opportunity to move it. It has re-established slowly and is starting to increase again. Other G. plicatus cultivars have joined it.
There are early signs that I will eventually have a carpet, the promise is still there.
9th February 2025
Helleborus x hybridus green .
The hellebore border occupies the second half of the top garden. As with all great plans, it is a work in progress. I thought that I could
use the light tree cover to establish a broad ribbon of Helleborus x hybridus across the slope. It would provide a home for the many
seedlings I had acquired and would be simple to maintain. It has almost worked, it is certainly simple to maintain (cut it all to the ground in November).
The hellebores have persisted, they are getting stronger slowly, there are seedlings appearing. It hasn't made the dense, leafy cover that I had hoped for
but I'm sticking with the plan. I think the hellebores need more feed, they can be hungry creatures.
I have tried adding other adornments through the years. Double snowdrops have been spreading, they are up and over before the hellebores need the space.
Early daffodils perform the same trick ('Snowbaby') and I a hoping that tall, late daffodils ('White Lady') will flower over the top of the foliage. I have planted a
few hostas to see if I can get a scattering of lilac spikes in August. It will be very clever if it works, results so far are inconclusive.
This green hellebore is a welcome sight. It has wandered around the garden for a few years before finally settling here. It isn't spectacular
against the verdant moss, but it is very satisfying.
9th February 2025
Nerine undulata 'Winter Sun'.
Spring may be tinkling but at the top of the garden the wintery grey sky is still pressing down. Eventually the dour coverlet of winter will be cast aside
but in the meantime it is good to have a greenhouse to retreat to. There isn't much happening down there, it is very relaxing. There are no icy
winds and early season sunshine brings the suggestion of warmth. The morning will come when the greenhouse is hot and the bathroom can be cleared of refugee orchids.
It is a good moment in the year.
For now, the greenhouse is offering a selection of Freesia buds, some last snowdrops and the penultimate Nerine.
This is a very late flowering form of N. undulata that was distributed for a while from Dutch suppliers. It hasn't been very popular, despite its remarkable behaviour.
Flowering in January and February, it isn't hardy enough for use in the garden. Growing greenhouse Nerine has always been a minority sport.
However, when it's cold and spring is tremulous, it is a rosy pink reminder of the joy of gardening and of the milder months to come.