JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
To navigate this site use the links above or the detailed links at the bottom of this page.
... out in the garden.
11th January 2026
Pleurothallis lindenii .
I think that it is reasonable to say that it has been a week of two parts. The moderate, dry weather of last week continued into the first half of this week.
It was good gardening weather and I was pleased to be able to get on with a few jobs that I have been putting off. Top of the list was cutting back the row of hydrangeas
which has become overgrown in the last few years. They were very beautiful as they tumbled in waves of blue through the low scrub but they were layering themselves
as they went, covering more ground than I wanted.
The garden has been full of camellias. With the exception of 'Narumigata', the autumn camellias have finished but their place has been taken by spring camellias
in a wide and unexpected assortment. 'Betty Sheffield', for example, was not expected until March. An early showing at the start of January seems a little
too bright for the season. With low light levels and long nights it is the subtle touches that stand out most tellingly. 'Betty Sheffield' has just demonstrated
that there is no advantage to overpainting a Monet with pink emulsion.
In the greenhouse I had to seek out Pleurothallis lindenii and the winter experience was sweeter for that.
11th January 2026
Acanthus mollis 'Hollard's Gold' .
Under a fastigiate Yew, Arisarum proboscideum has thrust a forest of new shoots through the soil. It is a gentle plant,
quietly spreading into a dense carpet. It will flower freely in a month or so with clusters of mouse-tail inflorescences hiding beneath the foliage.
It will be subtle and amazing at the same time. It sprawls as freely as the hydrangeas and I get new colonies springing up around the place - however did it establish
in the middle of a path I mow every fortnight - but at 15cm tall it is hardly a hazard. It might be taken for a timid-souled thing
but the new shoots pierce the ground with a determination that says 'don't mess with me'. I won't. Welcome, Arisarum!
Lower in the garden the last shafts if mid-afternoon light stumble through the undergrowth and illuminate Acanthus mollis 'Hollard's Gold'.
Acanthus mollis is a delightful foliage plant. A little muscular perhaps for some situations but it does it in a bashful and slightly apologetic way.
There are a couple of selected foliage forms. I have never done very well with the variegated ones, but 'Hollard's Gold' is tough and glows appealingly
when times seem dark.
11th January 2026
Camellia 'Variegata' .
The Acanthus has appreciated being ignored for a couple of years. Last time I did anything to it, I dug it up and moved it into deeper shade
where it has established and produces bright, cheering foliage just when the garden is looking worn down. It then re-grew from the roots
so I have it back where it was originally. I don't mind. I'm not so egotistical that I need to control everything. Just the hydrangeas, for now.
I like the foolishness of variegated camellias. I feel protective of them when they attract the hostility of the world, and it is fair to say the
world can exhibit some serious hostility. Still, I have a safe (-ish) home for them.
This one has suffered a bit. I was delighted when I bought it and put it straight into the garden. For several years I have known it was out there,
without quite knowing where. It turns out that it was under the sprawling hydrangeas and it has made a welcome return to the spotlight.
Is it beautiful? Not really. Does it flower? Not yet. Why do you grow it? Well, I grow it because I am a gardener.
I like it.
11th January 2026
Dahlia tenuicaulis
The settled start to the week gave way quite rapidly to storm Goretti. There were vague rumours at the start of the week about a storm.
Nobody was quite sure where or when. In the event it barrelled in from the south west, hitting Cornwall squarely on the end of its dangling peninsula.
In the last moments of calm somebody said there is a weather-bomb coming. Uncharacteristically frank for a meteorologist.
In the garden I was celebrating the last flowers on Dahlia tenuiculis, anticipating their loss to a frost at any moment.
On the south wall of the house, Acanthus sennii will be knocked out of bloom by a freeze.
And then I went away for a few days. Goretti hit.
Who knows what trees are down. There are disturbing reports from some of the big gardens. Do I still have dahlias in bloom by the house?
Do I still have a house?
I'm not sorry that I was away when it hit, it would have been miserable crouching in the house waiting for it to subside, but I'm not looking
forward to the journey home tomorrow.
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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