Jearrard's Herbal

1st May 2022

Hyacinthoides non-scripta .
It has been a dry week at the end of a dry month. The garden is crisp underfoot, the ground is hard on the knees when weeding (I don't do much of that). Last night the garden filled with the palpable promise of rainfall. The forecasters suggested four hours of heavy rain this afternoon. By this morning the forecast had changed to rain lasting all afternoon and evening with heavy spells. It will change the garden immediately, parched plants will revive, the weeds will explode into action. It is raining heavily as I write this at lunch time. Apparently. I have great faith in the forecast which will be bolstered (quite unnecessarily) when some actual drops of rain actually fall on the garden. Until then it is light cloud and confidence.
There has been a flood this week, despite the lack of water. The bluebells have burst from their buds and coloured the ground in surging masses. They are terrible weeds really and it is almost possible to have too many of them. Almost, but not quite. I sowed the seed of these decades ago, knowing that I could never go back. There were bluebells on the property anyway, I just hastened their invasion. They have spread into a lake of colour at the top of the garden, flowing willy-nilly where they will. On Friday I took the mower out and restored some discipline, defining the paths and crisping the margins. In a matter of moments the top of the garden shifted from wild to naturalistic. It is a ride-on mower, this is not the hand of man so much as the bouncing of his buttocks.

Arum maculatum Yellow Berry

1st May 2022

Arum maculatum Yellow Berry .
I am very fond of arums. They are not always so fond of me but I live in a moist climate and it doesn't suit those species adapted to the warm Mediterranean sun. I delight in those that grow here. Arum italicum is vigorous and the native Arum maculatum would like to follow the bluebells example and become a weed. I discourage it in a gentle and loving way. In the hedge on the other side of the road is a vigorous plant that I think might be a hybrid between A. italicum and A. maculatum. I have been watching it from this side of the road for 30 years, one day I will cross over and take a closer look.
I could not resist this yellow berried form of A. maculatum when I was offered it. I have some misgivings, it will have to deliver on the promise in a significant way or it is going to be dug out again. It has been in the ground for a little over a year and is growing with vigour, quite determined not to be removed without a fight. Well little arum, here's the thing. Yellow berries or its vendetta time, we will see if your roots run as deep as my determination.
I'm sure everything will be fine, just like the torrential rain that is still falling (they tell me) and still undetectable.

1st May 2022

Tellima grandiflora 'Purpurea' .
Weeding is a dull job, there are much more interesting things to do. This garden is managed in broad strokes, if I can run the mower over a piece of ground, that controls the weeds and if I can't then I enjoy the wild flowers. Slowly over the years the ground has come under control, trees and shrubs have created shade and I have learnt to plant with the seasons, always ensuring that every bed has a month or two of complete dormancy when I can mow it with impunity. Plants that survive the regime prosper and the others fade away. It's all very gentle.
I like plants that can look after themselves and relish this environment, though some relish it a little too much for my taste. I don't think I ever planted Tellima grandiflora but I grew it in a pot and shortly after I started to find seedlings in the garden. I watched its annual spread up the hill. By the time I realised that it was a monster it was already beyond control.
In theory I had the purple leaved form though mine has always been wilfully green. I keep hoping for some colour but all I get are occasional forms with reddish flowers. Perhaps that is all it ever does and purple leaves are a myth.
It is a terrible weed, I mow it ruthlessly but it doesn't care. If I could destroy it in the garden then I would, but I can't. I enjoy the flowers in the spring and try to pull them all off. If I am walking through the garden with a spade and see one then I hit it forcefully. I can't win but I still cackle with glee.


Iris ex 'Bay Street'	Iris ex 'Bay Street'	Iris ex 'Bay Street'	Iris ex 'Bay Street'	Iris ex 'Bay Street'
1st May 2022 One mans weed is another mans wonder. The Pacific Coast Iris present both. I should have weeded the pots by now but there hasn't been time. The slim flower buds are pushing up through a potted meadow of intruders. They will all have to be split in the autumn, I will clean them up then. These are two year old seedlings from Iris 'Bay Street'. I don't grow the parent, the open pollinated seed came from the Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris. It has produced some astonishing plants in a range of colours. More open every day and it is a delight to see what is new every time I go out. I. 'Bay Street' itself has a pale flower with heavy purple veining. It's influence is clear in the second seedling above, the others expose the mysterious interaction of genetics and pollinators. I have spent many hours looking at these plants trying to decide which are good and which are not. My conclusion has been that they are all good. They will all be retained, some will be reliably perennial others will last for a couple of years and then fade away. My selection will be limited to keeping those that don't die out. It's simpler than trying to make choices. Light rain has started to fall, patience has been rewarded.