JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
12th October 2008
Impatiens cymbifera CC 4980 .
Grown from seed collected by Chris Chadwell in the Himalaya, this Impatiens has been cheering the garden for a couple of years now. It is an annual, but seems
to self sow without any difficulty. Given the problems caused by Impatiens glandulifera running wild, I am a bit careful to make sure it does not
spread beyond its allocated bed!
Seedlings start to germinate in June, and grow to about 1m before they start flowering in October, so there is a distinct feeling of autumn about the
flowers appearing in the garden. Early frosts would probably prevent seeds forming, so I had one in the greenhouse for safe keeping - but a slug ate it!
12th October 2008
Hedychium 'Daniel Weeks'.
The Hedychium are still flowering at full throttle. Many of the species have finished, but there are masses of hybrids still to come.
As long as the autumn is kind, there will be flowers to enjoy into the New Year. 'Daniel Weeks' was raised by Gainsville Tree Farm in the USA and introduced in 1992
, it took a few years to come into flower here, but now it has started it seems to be reliable (at least in the greenhouse). The next stage is to try
it in the garden and see if it still flowers!
12th October 2008
Mahonia confusa .
I rather like Mahonia, they tolerate abuse and make good evergreen filler to keep the wind from flitting round the garden unfettered.
Scented flowers in the winter would be welcome if they grew on a baboons bottom and a different sort of wind whisted through them, so these are doubly welcome
(and sweetly scented lest there be any confusion).
Introduced from China by Roy Lancaster in 1980, this has been making a fast impact in gardens, and spawning hybrids like confetti as it grows, so I think
we will be seeing a lot more of it.
Mine is currently little more than a rooted cutting, so a close up hints at a magnificence that the specimen itself is still struggling to achieve.
12th October 2008
Tibouchina urvilleana .
Another plant that is flowering as a young cutting, though in this case it is in the greenhouse. It might just about be hardy here - if I had a spare piece
of south facing wall I might be tempted to give it a try, but until then it will lurk under glass. Magnificent saturated purple flowers, about 10cm in diameter,
I have always been impressed when it flowers, but it does quite a lot of twiggy, silvery haired straggling before it gets to that point!
I have killed it repeatedly over the years, usually because I neglect it when there are no flowers to enjoy. I have had autumn flowing Crocus
to enjoy this week, as well, but they just can't match the purple-power!
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.
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