JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
16th March 2025
Corydalis solida .
At the top of the garden spring is untangling itself from the woodland flora. Many years ago, as I fought back the undergrowth of brambles from the young trees,
I decided to allow space for the native Cornish woodland flora. That was partly a philosophical decision but mostly an acceptance that I would never
have the time to do anything more. I strewed about a litre of bluebell seed and allowed things to develop. I knew as I threw it to the ground that there was no
going back. I don't regret it, but I have augmented it with a few plants that will fit in with the same conditions.
I had seen Corydalis cava carpeting the woodland at Warley Place and wondered if Corydalis solida would do the same for me.
I bought a few plants in growth at an Alpine Garden Society show as a trial. They were planted out in 2010 and although they were slow to establish
they have persisted. I have some mixed lilac seedlings and a couple of darker ones like this. They don't make a big impact and they don't flower for long
but they have started to spread.
16th March 2025
Corydalis solida 'Firecracker' .
I don't get enough time in the garden to fight epic battles. Those plants that do well are encouraged, those plants that limp along tragically are quietly sidelined.
If it grows well then I grow more of it. Occasionally there is something that I really want to grow and for which I am prepared to struggle with the garden.
Generally the garden wins and I retreat to lick my wounds, but occasionally I am encouraged.
Corydalis solida has been encouraging. It hasn't been a triumph yet but it is moving forwards rather than backwards. Once I had established that the species
would grow under the trees I started to yearn for the scarlet flowered forms. I put in 'Beth Evans', 'Firecracker' and 'George Baker' to see what would happen.
When they had survived for a couple of years I planted an larger area with 'George Baker'. One day I will have a carpet of scarlet flowers. For now, 'Firecracker' is
looking good and doing well, 'Beth Evans' is a bit pinkish but growing well and 'George Baker' is treading water. It flowers a week later that the other two
but I think the plants are getting stronger. It's a slow process.
16th March 2025
Scilla bithynica .
Scilla bithynica has been faster. The hellebore bed is full of bluebells. They are welcome and fill the bed with colour once the hellebores have faded.
The two things don't seem to interfere with each other so I have been looking for other plants that add to the effect.
I was warned that Scilla bithynica could be dangerously weedy and have seen it spreading rampageously in woodland gardens but I have bluebells,
it can hardly be worse. I planted three pots from a garden centre among the hellebores to see what happened. I the first year or two I watched them
with the thought that I could still dig them out if I got worried.
In the event, they have spread. Last year I found that each potful had become a small patch of blue, appearing just as the double snowdrops faded.
This year I have started to find plants in flower three or four metres away from the originals. It is going to spread rampageously and
it has gone beyond the point where I could stop it. I don't care, the worst it can do is compete with the bluebells and it's welcome to do that.
16th March 2025
Scilla liliohyacinthus .
Plants that look after themselves are a great delight. In the woodland garden surrounding the house (National Trust) at Trelissick, the ground is covered in spring
with the flowers of Scilla liliohyacinthus. It is quite tall and leafy but very distinctive. I have wanted to try it in the garden
for a long time without ever getting as far as spending money on it. In the end a friend moved house and gave me their potted bulb.
It sat in its pot for a couple of years being delightful but finally went into the ground in the new herbaceous border, where I forgot it.
I was hoping that it would spread and give some interest to the bare ground at the start of the year.
A month ago I knew it was in the garden somewhere but couldn't have said where. This week it is up and flowering. When I put it in it had three shoots, now there are five.
It is increasing. I could sit back and wait for it, or I could buy some more and help it along. It's growing in a bed with Tulipa sylvestris
and I think they might mingle rather nicely.
To find particular groups of plants I grow, click on the genus name in the table above. Click on the "Index" box at the top of the page for the full list.
I have a lot of good intentions when it comes to updating this site, and I try to keep a note
about what is going on, if you are interested.
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