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.
15th June 2025
Vincetoxicum hirundinaria .
A couple of long bursts of rain during the week have taken the strained look from the garden. Everything can relax, and unfortunately that will include the brambles
which will trail their long arms across paths. It is the season of subtle exuberance and the brambles will join in.
As spring was crushed under the wheels of the summer sun it felt as though the garden had dispensed with grand spectacle and settled for the delights of small detail.
As I walked around with a camera there were no great views to see. Instead I was left to poke around among the bushes looking for the abundant little thrills
to be found there. The garden seemed very intricate but it was an illusion. In the greenhouse, the Disa have started to paint the town red (and yellow, pink and white).
Beside them the first of the summer Roscoea are in flower. The carnival of R. purpurea can be heard in the distance. The first daylilies have opened outside
and there are Agapanthus drumsticks ready for the parade. The garden has metamorphosed from the riot of spring to the cacophony of summer, shedding thrills of detail along the way
(mostly among the bushes).
Vincetoxicum hirundinaria is subtle enough to escape attention completely but somehow it manages to occupy centre stage. As the sunlight hits it the clusters of white flowers
shine defiantly. I grow a few Vincetoxicum for their almost invisible black flowers, this summer snowstorm is recklessly uncharacteristic.
15th June 2025
Eriolarynx australis .
There isn't much happening in the Hedychium house. I am trying to clear it and remove the worst of the weeds that are taking over as I go. It's a slow process,
careful not to damage the Woodwardia radicans which has established there but not in the garden. The hose drips on it when I am watering, which probably helps.
These are the subtle details that mustn't be disturbed as I weed. I need to find more spaces in the garden for the remaining Hedychium.
There are a few dozen under cover and they need to be outside, somehow there are never enough suitable spaces.
At the far end of the house, Eriolarynx australis has found a home. It would probably prosper in the garden but I haven't got around to cuttings yet. They are one of those
things that get put on the list of things that will never happen. It would only take a moment but I would have to stop everything else to do it.
Somehow there are never free moments so it's the sort of trivial little job that never actually gets done.
The Eriolarynx flowers in trumpeting triumph during June and then will sputter with flower for the rest of the year.
15th June 2025
Epipactis palustris Robust Form.
With the Disa standing in the brink of volcanic eruption it is easy to think that all orchids are big and bright. Any seeker of British orchids will tell you that it isn't so,
many orchids are delightful in their detail, albeit small and dingy as well. I started to grow Epipactis a few years ago, simply because they seemed to prosper in the greenhouse.
I have seen clumps of E. gigantea growing lustily outside and Epipactis palustris is a native so they would probably grow in the garden but I haven't tried it.
My experience with native orchids in the garden is that they ignore the gardeners wishes and do as they please. That generally involves dying.
In the greenhouse they have been doing well once they get settled. I have had problems establishing young plants and the vexatious 'Serpentine Night'
has defied my efforts, but they have mostly responded well.
This one was sold to me as the robust form of Epipactis palustris and I suppose that adjective should have warned me. It took a long time to get going,
producing feeble shoots for a couple of years before finally getting the strength to flower. I am hoping that this season marks a turning point
and that I can look for some increase by next year.
15th June 2025
Stewartia pseudocamellia Koreana Group.
The gardeners life runs back to front. When I was young I planted herbaceous plants, hungry for the immediacy of their growth. Young people are impatient and perhaps they should be.
As I get older I have developed a greater appreciation for the trees in the garden. In retrospect I was very lucky that I had to plant a windbreak in the early days
to keep the lawn from blowing away. Those trees, common and sturdy, are the backbone of the garden. From time to time I dig up a label from some long dead herbaceous gem
and ponder the meaning of gardening. Campanula eh! Heady days.
Fortunately I carried on popping trees into spaces when the opportunity arose. I would like to have a collection of Stewartia for example. I am lucky that in the hurly-burly
of gardening, I found time to plant one. It has been flowering for a few years now but this is certainly the best I have seen. Hidden somewhere in an undergrowth of field maples and hydrangeas
it is slowly developing a trunk. Perhaps it will be a beautiful pattern of shining cinnamon and grey, perhaps it will be a brown stick. It is difficult to know what you will
get with Stewartia until they are mature. One day I will clear around it and find out.
It's the sort of small detail that rewards a June day before the summer carnival comes to town.
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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