JEARRARD'S HERBAL
24th December 2023
Camellia 'Yuletide'
The week has been dark. It hasn't been violently wet but if I go into the garden the atmosphere clings to me and holds on even when I come inside.
It has been dark but it has also been dark. The winter solstice has come and gone but darkness has dominated the garden,
pushing me indoors in the middle of the afternoon as the gloom seems to build from all sides. It may not show yet, but at last the days are getting longer.
Spring is no longer a promise in the adverts, it is actually waiting in the wings ready to take to the stage.
Yuletide arrived and with it 'Yuletide' arrived. The Camellia isn't usually this early for me but at the risk of stating the obvious, this has been a strange year.
I spotted a single scarlet flower at the end of the week. It was a bit battered by the weather but it was open. It had a second flower today that looked better, but I didn't
have a camera with me. It hasn't been cheery enough in the garden to traipse back to the house to get it. There will be another flower tomorrow or the day after (probably).
24th December 2023
Galanthus 'Three Ships'
The snowdrops in the garden have straddled the gap between autumn and spring. They are emerging very early this year and developing fast in the warn weather.
I'm sure there will be a cold snap in January and describing it as a snap might be unduly optimistic. I try not to predict the future but cold weather in January seems likely.
Galanthus 'Three Ships' has been showing colour since the beginning of December and was in full bloom a week ago. We have had some strong wind
at the top of the garden and it is looking a bit ragged, but it has come sailing in on time.
Three years ago I split my main clump and put the surplus under the trees at the top of the garden. I had hoped that they would have started increasing by now
but they have been slow to get going. I am going to wait, there is no other option, but I'm not being very patient. I want a woodland filled with Christmas snowdrops
and I want it now. If there weren't bulb shoots pushing through the ground then I would stamp my foot petulantly. Not being able to is another source of frustration.
24th December 2023
Pleione Wharfedale 'Pine Warbler'
There is surprisingly little happening in the greenhouse. The last few flowers are hanging on to the Stenoglottis and there are a couple of Correa in flower
but there is little sign of new growth. Pleione Wharfedale 'Pine Warbler' has been the only exception. I was cleaning last year's dead leaves from the Pleione
pots a couple of weeks ago when I found the first signs of growth. The new buds were developing.
The weather has been warm and benign, the buds developed rapidly. A slug ate the first but the second has opened without damage. It is just a little unfortunate that
it doesn't seem to be 'Pine Warbler'. As far as I can tell, this is P. Barcena. I only grow two early flowering Pleione because they don't do very well in my greenhouse.
I think that the winters are too cold and the slugs too voracious. Both plants were correctly named when I purchased them so unfortunately the confusion is down to me.
I have two autumn Pleione and I have mixed them up.
24th December 2023
Narcissus 'Rijnvelds Early Sensation'
I am a little frustrated that I have mixed up the Pleione, it is the sort of thing that I take great pains to avoid. It is a soft spot for me this week.
Narcissus 'Rijnvelds Early Sensation' has started to flower. I have a tiny meadow in the garden that was once bisected by a line of hazel bushes, planted to reduce the impact of the wind.
The two halves of the meadow each had 'Rijnvelds Early Sensation' planted in them but the scale was wrong. The hazel hedge was an unnecessary obstacle.
I removed it thirty years ago and the meadow was much better for it. Unfortunately the daffodils were split into two groups, with a gap between them where the hedge had been.
Perhaps no-one else noticed, but to me it was a yawning gash through the meadow. I have dithered for a long time, but last summer I bought some more bulbs
and in July I planted them in the space where I thought the gap was.
So this is a week of sensitivity. The 'Rijnvelds Early Sensation' are in flower.
Did I manage to plant the new ones in the gap and were the new ones true to name? The next few weeks will tell.
The New Year may yet start with some spadework, digging out the potential imposters. Dank dark weather promotes pessimism.
It will all be fine, the daffodils are flowering.