JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
To navigate this site use the links above or the detailed links at the bottom of this page.
... out in the garden.
18th May 2025
Polystichum polyblepharum .
After a spot of rain last weekend, the prospect of drought has crept back into the garden. The last new camellias of the season were planted ten days ago and they are still looking good.
I will have to go around with water again shortly but perhaps it will rain again by the end of the month. I really should get everything planted before the end of March.
I wish I could remember that.
I thought that with the end of spring, the garden would go into its customary quiet spell before the colour of summer took over. The first Hemerocallis buds are showing,
but there are some remarkable splashes of colour before then. Despite that I seem to have spent the week photographing leaves. It started last week with the expanding leaves on
Fagus 'Purple Fountain' but this week everything is looking good. I have taken dozens of pictures of camellias, all for their new growth. It is subtle and delicious, not a phrase
commonly used for camellias - except perhaps for tea.
Polystichum polyblepharum is slowly and doggedly grinding its way into the ranks of my favourite things. It does the 'ferny' thing with robust determination. It isn't a wafty elegant plant,
it has the solid intricacy of Victorian engineering. Perforated cast iron arches and fluted metal columns supporting bridges.
18th May 2025
Paeonia peregrina .
In the Agave house there is a flash of ridiculous colour from Paeonia peregrina. I'm not really sure why it's in there. I needed to plant it and there was a space.
I had some vague plan about broad glaucous Agave and scarlet peonies, but it was only vague. The new herbaceous border is only a dozen feet away but
I am reluctant to move it. Peonies don't always appreciate disturbance and I would hate to damage it. I have got used to having the flaming scarlet flowers
in the shelter of the greenhouse, I would miss their inscrutable stillness if they were thrashing around in the wind.
Also, I think the colour of the flowers might make the herbaceous border look deficient. It is full of clashes and compromises. At present the bleached
purple of Roscoea cautleyoides is standing aloof from Allium 'Purple Sensation' as though the colours had nothing in common, as indeed they don't.
New foliage on Rodgersia is adding to the demonstration that not all shades of purple are the same. Nectaroscordum siculum didn't even
need to be there, but that didn't stop me when I was planting.
Paeonia peregrina is perfect where it is and it will stay there.
18th May 2025
Cantua buxifolia 'Dancing Oaks'.
The Agave house is home to a great many things that have little to do with Agave. When it was first built there seemed to be a lot of space in there.
Just the place to fit in a few of the things that like it warm and dry in winter. A number of Puya found homes there, along with some Hechtia
and for a while the Billbergia filled one corner. They are all being moved out slowly. Too big and too prickly. Even the Agave have been moved out.
A couple are too big to move, they will stay until they try to flower.
Tucked away in one corner is Cantua buxifolia. I have grown it for a very long time and I think it has flowered once. It isn't really worth the
rather low grade space it occupies but I have become fond of it. Like a pair of shoes that fit really well but have started to leak, I am reluctant to part with it.
Fortunately I was given 'Dancing Oaks' which is a much better selection, growing vigorously and flowering freely. I even saw it performing well outside at Ventnor last year.
It has suddenly rushed into flower. There was no sign of buds ten days ago and now it is covered in them. It grows in the ground in the greenhouse, beside the open door.
It has overhead protection but doesn't overheat.
18th May 2025
Tulipa sprengeri .
I had an exposed garden, the wind sliced over it like a sword, cutting things back. I planted a lot of trees, and now it is calmer. Despite the permeability of the trees
it sometimes feels as though it is full of masonry. Full of opportunities to bang your head against brick walls in futile frustration.
I grow Tulipa sprengeri. I might grow Tulipa sprengeri, it is uncertain. This garden is too wet for tulips, I accepted that long ago, but the swarm of
Tulipa sprengeri under the trees at Savill Gardens started me dreaming. I had a bulb in a tub and I was given some seedlings. They were planted under the trees
and I have sown seed up there for several years. For a few years I had flowers but last year there was nothing. I was a little grumpy but had the sense to realise that some things just don't work.
I was resigned to being tulip-less but still hoped for a miracle.
And here it is. Just a single flower but perhaps a seedling that has made it through. Perhaps there will be more next year, I will sow more seed, do more hoping and more expectant waiting.
This is the best thing in the garden this week, it may be the best thing that has happened all year. This may be the last Tulipa sprengeri that ever flowers under the trees but it has kept hope alive.
It might be the first thread in a scarlet carpet.
This week one of those walls felt a bit softer.
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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