JEARRARD'S HERBAL
8th October 2023
Galanthus 'Autumn Beauty'
The garden is shining with warmth and sunlight. Dazzling gardens in spring tremble with fragility.
The sun shines and precious moments of basking untangle themselves from the swirling chill. In autumn the sense is different. The warmth holds on like the
suspension of disbelief at the end of a play. A engrossing world has passed and the cold is returning, but as the house lights come up some wonder remains.
There isn't enough sunshine here to coax the autumn snowdrops into flower. I have a couple planted outside and over the next few months they will produce some leaves,
but I won't get any flowers. I have to keep them in the greenhouse if they are too bloom. Growing in the same regime as the Nerine, they are doing well.
G. 'Autumn Beauty' has performed reliably but was only increasing slowly. I made an extra effort to feed them well last year and I think it is showing results.
8th October 2023
Hedychium coccineum
Early morning dew soaks the Hedychium border, covering it with sparkling dots and highlighting the spiders webs. It looks at its best now.
Although the foliage has been good all summer, it has now reached full height and has an astonishing sense of lushness. The dew enhances it.
Decades ago I grew Hedychium coccineum from seed and felt very adventurous. It lived for many years in a half barrel in the conservatory.
I felt very bold when I moved the barrel outside. I had read that it should be hardy, but the advice didn't ring with the authenticity of experience.
I was very nervous and I think the plant died of anxiety by association. I worried it to death. It went out because I had run out of space for it, and years later
I came to the same point again. The Hedychium border was planted to free up space in the greenhouse. This time H. coccineum
has flourished. This has been a warm and moist year, the plants are flowering well and for the first time ever I have enough flowers to detect a scent.
It is a triumph.
8th October 2023
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Rie05' TOGETHER
Like most gardeners, I have grown a wide range of plants over the years. Some have done well, many have not. Sometimes the failures can be put down to enthusiasm.
I was convinced that the plant would prosper in my conditions, the plant was less sure. Sometimes the failure can be put down to ignorance
and you learn something new. Who would have thought, for example, that deer would love dahlias so much. Phlox go the same way.
I have a Dahlia campanulata right beside my front door. In the night, the deer climb the steps to the door to nibble it.
The converse is that sometimes a plant is an unexpected surprise. I grow a lot of Hydrangea macrophylla cultivars. I don't expect much from them.
A bit of amorphous bushiness and some flowers, space filled, duty done. H.m. 'Rie05' has been astonishing from the first blue flowers in June
to the last burnished purple of autumn. It is a wonderful way to learn something new without the inconvenience of deer poo on the doorstep.
8th October 2023
Nerine bowdenii 'Ostara'
About twenty years ago I cleared the house of clutter. I moved my office down to the ground floor and took the opportunity to throw everything away that I didn't use.
No more tucking things away in odd corners, no more piles of useful things to deal with one day. I didn't cure myself of the urge to clutter but I bought myself some time.
Nerine suffer the same fate in the greenhouse. I have rows and rows of pots of seedlings waiting to be pricked out into a space that doesn't exist.
My response has been to plant a lot more in the garden. N. bowdenii 'Ostara' went out about five years ago and it has done well, much happier
in the autumn rain than it was in the greenhouse. It isn't a perfect solution but it made space for another generation of N. bowdenii
seedlings. The best have already been selected and planted out for evaluation, the rest planted in the border for decoration. The greenhouse space is free again,
time for some more pricking out. Eventually the garden will be cluttered with Nerine but it will take a few more years.
I'm sure it won't be a problem.