JEARRARD'S HERBAL
1st June 2025
Bletilla Laneside Thea .
Summer is rolling along and a little bit of rain during the week helped with the impression that it might not be too dry. I live in a wet climate
and it is easy to moan about the dark clouds that hang over the garden but it only takes a short period without rain for it to make a difference
to the garden. Last year the hydrangeas started to look stressed almost as soon as the first leaves had expanded and flower buds were wilting
before they opened. Ths year they are still looking lush. A shortage of water at the surface does not seem to have led to dry soil
at any great depth.
In the greenhouse the early sunshine pushed temperatures up and meant that the Bletilla started flowering quite early. Hopefully a cooler week
means they will hang on a bit longer.
Bletilla Laneside Thea was selected by Jeff Hutchings at Laneside Hardy Orchids, one of the valuable small nurseries that didn't make it through
the combined pressures of Brexit and Covid. It has very gentle pink flowers that develop on a long spike over a long period.
1st June 2025
Crindendron hookerianum 'Ada Hoffman' .
In the course of the last year things have changed along the front boundary of the property. I planted a row of young camellias
and a few other evergreens to form a loose hedge. After a few years of relative insignificance, suddenly this year they have reached a decent size
and started to knit together.
I added a group of three Crinodendron hookerianum that I dug up from the front of the house where they had become too large and dense.
They moved into the hedge without a hitch, enduring some indignity in the process but rising above it. I planted the white flowered
C. h. 'Alf Robbins' beside them a few years later hoping for the chance of interesting seedlings eventually. Alf has grown enough to start flowering
and to keep him safe I have had to remove Osmanthus delavayi planted recklessly close.
The pink flowered C. h. 'Ada Hoffman' is planted a few yards away. I was unimpressed with the plant initially. It was wimpy in the garden
and I lost it twice before I planted sturdy plant in a good location. Since then it has prospered and this year it has reached a good size and flowered freely.
I didn't think it was a good thing, I was wrong.
1st June 2025
Magnolia 'Star Wars'.
The same could be said about Magnolia 'Fairy Cream'. I was given a young plant many years ago and planted it in the garden with great (excessive)
caution. I picked a well protected location, under the cover of trees and protected from the wind by evergreens. The poor thing struggled and finally expired.
Two years go I was given another, popped it in a space in the border and it is now nearly 2m tall. Sometimes the good things take time to recognise.
Magnolia 'Star Wars' is an example. I have planted a number of deciduous Magnolia in the garden, almost willy-nilly. I didn't really know what
to expect from any of them; in a large garden things that are cheap at the time get priority and I'm sure that all big magnolias are good.
However 'Star Wars' is special. It is tough, the flowers are large and well coloured and it has a good shape, surviving occasional abuse.
I felled a tree that landed on it by mistake a few years ago, it has forgiven me. Best of all, it has a long flowering season. The early blooms flock onto the
branches like large pink birds, the later ones make nests in its green shade. When autumn comes it will reliably crown the season with a few late blooms
to cheer the heart and coax the spring towards us.
It took me 25 years to recognise it, but Magnolia 'Star Wars' is exceptional.
1st June 2025
Disa Gwennap clone.18.
Spring builds from a slow snowdroppy start through Narcissus and Camellia to the ridiculous heights of the evergreen azaleas.
As they fade, which they do in a very assertive and literal way, it seems as though spring has shot its bolt.
There is one last fanfare. In the greenhouse the spring shoots of the Disa have formed buds. Any day now the greenhouse will erupt
in volcanic colour, fiery reds and oranges, some white-hot petals and a scattering of brimstone. It is all to come.
To start the season off, the first of the Disa Gwennap have flowered. So far it has been rather cool peachy colours but there are
more incendiary tints to follow. This is clone.18, one that I selected last year and a clone that may go on to be named eventually. I am
prepared to wait a few years to be sure that it is reliable. Flowering beside it is a seedling of Disa Carharrack that is full of volcanic fury.
It may get a name this year, it's corker.