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JEARRARD'S HERBAL

Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.

2nd May 2010



Prunus 'Kanzan' .
Coolweather and rain through the week has been very welcome - the garden is looking better for it and it has slowed the pace of spring slightly. Little Bunnies have been breeding like ... well anyway, there are a lot of them around. The youngsters are willing to eat almost anything in the garden, even those things that are not palatable to the adults, so when I plant things out I always wonder if they will still be there in the morning.
This cherry has grown beyond the ravages of rabbits (though there is a squirrel in the garden now that might chew it, but hasn't yet).
It makes a triangular tree and is covered in pink petals at this time of the year. It is astonishingly gaudy, and I don't know why I like it, but I do. If you go looking for its beauty it will disappoint you and just as you are about to give up, it will entrance you.
Wilful!


2nd May 2010

Calanthe Takane.
The seem to prosper in that impossible 'moist and free draining' soil we are all supposed to be cultivating. I grow them in pots and settle for moist in growth and free draining when dormant. It works, after a fashion though there are a number that do not flower for me.
This is a hybrid between C.discolor and C.sieboldii that seems to be both vigorous and floriferous. I can believe that the vigour comes from C.sieboldii but the freedom with which it flowers is a mystery. I have three flower spikes this year which is more than both parents together have managed in the last decade here. I thought I had solved the problem when I split and repotted the mother plants last year. The divisions grew away with astonishing enthusiasm and produced great fat resting buds, from which great fat leafy shoots have developed. There's always next year.


2nd May 2010



Podophyllum hexandrum .
There is a great confidence about Podophyllum as they emerge from the ground like opening umbrellas. It is clear that they mean action from the start, and have no intention of retreating. The shape makes it quite impossible. Many of the Asian (mostly Chinese) species have wonderfully coloured and patterned leaves but this North American is at its best in flower and then manages a very passable second best when the large pink fruits ripen. The plant is strong growing in a pot, but seedlings have been slower to develop and easier to offend.

2nd May 2010



Camellia edithae .
A species that has recently become available. There are said to be two clones in cultivation, a single flowered dark pink and a double flowered soft red - and I have the red one. I have possibly written the occasional rant about the uglier double flowered Camellia hybrids but I think this is rather charming. Only time will tell if it has the decency to shed the old flowers before they become ugly.
The leaves are the most interesting feature. They are strongly veined and textured and I hope that as it matures it becomes an equally interesting shrub.



Acorus Alocasia Anemone Arisaema Arum Asarum Aspidistra Begonia Bromeliads Camellia
Carnivorous Cautleya Chirita Chlorophytum Clivia Colocasia Crocosmia Dionaea Drosera Epimedium
Eucomis Fuchsia Galanthus Hedychium Helleborus Hemerocallis Hepatica Hosta Impatiens Iris
Liriope Ophiopogon Pinguicula Polygonatum Ranunculus ficaria Rhodohypoxis Rohdea Roscoea Sansevieria Sarracenia
Scilla Sempervivum Tricyrtis Tulbaghia Utricularia Viola odorata Watsonia

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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