JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
22nd March 2026
Camellia grijsii .
At this time of the year change floods through the garden, a poignant reminder of the water that was flooding down the hill a couple of weeks ago.
The ground is feeling firmer, dry weather may be upon us (or it might rain until Christmas). I have tried to plant everything in the garden that I
don't wish to keep in pots through the summer. Top of the list were a couple of new Griselinia cultivars which might stand up to the wind at the top
of the garden.
Despite the seemingly endless intemperance of the weather it has been a good year for camellias and signs are good for the magnolias.
Camellia grijsii always produces a scattering of flowers over time and space but this year is has managed a bold show across the whole plant.
One only really knows when a plant has had its best moment as the flowers begin to fade, and C. grijsii has reached that point.
I could have shown it last week, I probably should have shown it then, but this is the week for celebrating camellias in their delightful, small, white flowered
diversity.
22nd March 2026
Camellia forrestii .
Camellia forrestii has been teasing me for weeks. It has never flowered here before but it was clear in December that there were buds forming.
There aren't a lot of them but I have felt the ground quiver with thrills every time I pass. It might just be lorries on the road.
However there can be no doubt that, be it from tiny white buds or burly truckers, the earth moved.
I bought it as a young plant from Pan Global plants in 2023. I was expecting to wait for four or five years until it flowered
so it is flowering in welcome haste. The species doesn't have a great reputation for hardiness but it has grown through a couple of mild winters here
and I am hoping that the larger it gets the more tolerant it will be.
22nd March 2026
Camellia handelii .
Last autumn I was very fortunate to be able to buy a small plant of Camellia handelii from Burncoose Nursery.
I like to get these things when they are available because there are rarely many of them and they may not appear again.
I potted it up and have kept it in the greenhouse through the winter. It is another case where I thought I was going to have a long wait
but it has astonished me by producing a few flowers this year.
The International Camellia Society says that it is close to C. forrestii and it is my intention to keep it under cover
at least until I have a cutting rooted.
The plant is quite distinctive with small leaves carried on long arching twigs. Only time will tell if it makes a denser shrub or remains
a gangling delight. The American Camellia Society says that it is a Chinese species from the provinces of Hunnan, Guizhou and Jiangxi
and describe it as a "cold hardy plant".
22nd March 2026
Camellia tsaii .
Camellia tsaii has been with me for much longer, but for some years I kept it in the greenhouse because I was worried about its hardiness.
Trees and Shrubs online says that it "requires protection except in the mildest parts of the British Isles". I was given it in 2016,
propagated from a plant growing in Pine Lodge Gardens, but I didn't risk it outside until 2020. Since then it has grown strongly
and, although it loses a few leaves in cold winds during the winter, it has not sustained any serious harm.
It is a very delicate and elegant shrub. The long thin shoots arch gently and the long leaves hang downwards gracefuly.
The new growth is bronze and the flowers hang downwards. It is a very lovely thing.
March is renowned for stormy weather and so far things have been rather gentle. In a season of rapid change I hope they remain that way.
White flowers can bruise badly in strong winds.
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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