JEARRARD'S HERBAL
Thats enough introduction - on with the plants!
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... out in the garden.
31st August 2025
Disa cardinalis .
I was lying in bed this morning, unwilling to get up. I was warm, I was comfortable, but the real issue was that I hadn't quite done with the night yet.
Some weeks are like that. They linger lethargically in the wake of the week before, not quite ready to set off on anything new.
This has not been one of those weeks. A grey start hinted that things were changing even though the ground remained crispy-dry and the Impatiens were wilting.
One good band of rain in the week put an end to the garden's fatigued droopiness. I think about 1cm of rain fell though it's difficult to be sure - my measure is the level of water in the water lily tubs.
A second day of rain yesterday sealed the deal. The sun has softened, the nights are longer, the garden is wet. The summer drought has ended. I think we have had 3cm of water in all.
The tanks are full and the water lilies are flowering in clear pools that reflect the low light, no longer writhing like stranded eels in the base mud.
Change has come to the Disa as well. I have been sowing seed and cutting off the last of the blooms. It is time to let go of the orchid summer and move on.
Fat green rosettes are forming at the base of the old flower spikes. Winter will be verdant.
A few last flowers remain. This Disa cardinalis is still fattening a seed pod. By the time it ripens it will be very late for seed sowing but I have done the hybrid (with D. Veitchii in this case)
and it will be given a chance to grow.
31st August 2025
Amaryllis belladonna .
From the moment Acis autumnalis flowered the end of summer has been written in the runes. Shortly there will be skeins of geese honking south through the grey sky (they go to the RSPB reserve at Hayle).
The last hot sun of the season bore down on the new herbaceous border as the lengthening shadow of the windbreak sought to extinguish it.
Up popped Amaryllis belladonna. It isn't reliable here, my garden is too shady and wet. I have planted a few on the terrace in front of the house, full sun, no water.
They haven't flowered yet but I have only been waiting a couple of years, these things can't be rushed. One plant of 'Nancy Lindsay' growing in a tub has flowered,
the first I have seen for several years.
I did have 'Johannesburg' flowering in a pot in the greenhouse for some time but then I planted it outside and nothing.
This is another growing in a tub, I guess they like the additional drainage and summer baking. I obtained it locally and it is a strong colour. There are two flower spikes,
perhaps it is adapted to the locale. Perhaps Amaryllis simply dances to its own tune.
31st August 2025
Roscoea purpurea rubra .
Gardeners straddle the dichotomy between patience and impatience. I have a pollination to do this afternoon and it will be years before I see any results, good, bad or indifferent
(the last being the most likely). It will take some patience. On the other hand it has to be done this afternoon or the moment will have passed. When it works I lean back with a benign smile and say
(to anyone within earshot) "ah yes. I had hoped that might happen". Any other outcome is swept under the metaphorical carpet.
There have been rumours of a soft orange-salmon form of Roscoea purpurea and I have yearned for it uncomfortably like Romeo in tight pants. Wonder of wonders, it has appeared on the market
(Harvington Hellebores). I ordered it immediately. It was not the time for patience, it was the time to seize the moment. It will be delivered shortly and delightfully.
Yesterday this one flowered among my seedlings with a gleeful snort of laughter at the simultaneous joy and frustration it occasioned. A small part of me hopes that it will be feeble,
a wimpish nod in the direction of salmon without the strength to raise its head again. The expensive new one will be marvellous, vigorous, a worthwhile wonder.
Still, sweeping the frustration under the carpet, this is a joy. It will be another year before the new one flowers. In the meantime I am sure this one has a more delicate tone,
a more graceful poise. It has that special something, to wit it is here the other is simply en-route. Immediacy is difficult to resist.
31st August 2025
Nerine 'Catherine'.
The first job of the week was to cut off the last of the Disa flower spikes and give the plants a chance to recover and grow before winter creeps up on them.
The second job was to water the Nerine house and there were the first flowers of the next wave of wonder. Three plants of N. sarniensis are in flower, this one and two of my own seedlings.
Over the years I think I have been accidentally selecting for early flowering. I get more plants flowering in August with every passing year. I think the excitement of the new
flowering season gets me out pollinating as soon as I can. The greenhouse is warm, the garden chair is relaxing and pollination is easy.
By the time the last plants flower in November the greenhouse will be cold and dank, the chair will be hard and pollinations will be uncertain.
The practical reality that I have clusters of ripening seed all around will also dampen my enthusiasm for more.
For all that, August is good, early flowers are good and winter is still a long way away. 'Catherine' is good, and there are several "sons of Catherine" rushing into flower behind her.
I'm not going to miss the Disa. It was a good year, they have done their job, 3cm of rain has fallen and it is time to move on.
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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