23rd August

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CONTRIBUTORS:

FJW 1955-2007

CHW 2015-

JCW 1897-1939

CW 1940-1955

2021 – CHW

Yet more magnolias in flower located today.

Magnolia wilsonii (DJHC 98369) having what I assume is a second flowering. Very fine for late August and I find a Magnolia sieboldii doing the same. I presume the wet summer has led to exceptional extra new growth and we are really seeing next spring’s flowers?

Tilia kiusiana is now full out, dropping nectar, and covered in bees. About 25ft tall after 30 years. Not a huge tree and an upright pyramidical shape. Few trees flower in September apart from one or two limes and some southern hemisphere species. The eucryphias have largely come and gone while I have been away.

Magnolia ‘Star Wars’ is splendid today. Often the secondary flowers never open or are eaten by slugs but this is a good show which will probably persist to even more tertiary flowers as the leaves drop.

Fruits forming and already ripening on Cornus alternifolia.

Clethra alnifolia ‘Pink Spires’ full out.

Clethra tomentosa ‘Cottondale’ not quite full out.

Clethra tomentosa ‘Cottondale’. Planted in 2003 this has now made a large spreading (by suckering) plant about 6-7ft tall and 10-12ft wide.

The two clethras growing side by side make what is the best flowering combination in the garden today.

2020 – CHW
One of the greatest benefits of not cutting the banks outside the front door this year is only now apparent. A flock of 50 to 70 greenfinches have been feasting on the now dry and ripe knapweed seeds for some days. The flock is quite tame but quickly fly to shelter in trees before individuals rush back to perch on the flower stalks chirping away with delight.

Hedychium coronarium are now full out on the top wall. I may have called this by other names in years gone by but H. coronarium is the only common white flowering species.

Eucryphia cordifolia is still a fine show to 35ft in height but has gone over quickly in the humid conditions like today.

Styrax japonicus ‘Fragrant Fountain’ shaping up as its name implies.

Betula utilis subsp. albosinensis (as we now have to call it) with most of its old bark covering peeled away. What a set of colours.

Olearia solandri in full flower on its older stems contrast nicely with the light green new growth. Quite a sizeable shrub today after planting in 2007 – perhaps 10-12ft tall with a spread of 15-18ft.

A whitened pheasant carcass in a rhododendron.

A nice crop of buds for next spring on Magnolia ‘Mr Julian’.

Loads of flowers (as well) at the top of our largest Magnolia ‘Black Tulip’. I do not remember both trees having secondary flowers last year.

Lapageria rosea ‘Picotee’ is now full out with some flowers dropping.

2019 – CHW
Seed forming after the first flowering this year of Illicium griffithii (WW 711911). Tom Hudson thinks this is incorrectly named but the seed pods are attractive and need collecting when fully ripe.

Acer sikkimense (WJC 13674) has attractive reddish secondary new growth just appearing after the rain.

Rhododendron emarginatum (CW+T 6278) with its first flowers. I can find no reference to this species in the pocket guide to rhodo species. This, I suspect, came from the Lamellyn wild sourced plants which Jeremy gave to us shortly before he died.

Olearia solandri in full flower. The bush is now 8-10ft tall and 12-14ft wide above the greenhouse. A New Zealand heath-like foliage plant similar to Cassinia perhaps but growing rather larger.

Eucryphia cordifolia with virtually no flowers this year but plenty of good new growth.

2018 – CHW
A nursery visit to take more pictures for next year’s new introductions to the catalogue.The Passiflora edulis fruits are now colouring up.

Hydrangea serratifolia in flower for the first time in the nursery. Not that exciting!

Seeds on Tilia maximowicziana in a pot – another new first but the leaves have not enjoyed the drought.

2017 – CHW
I wanted to revisit the Lapageria rosea as this plant is now back on our website and we are missing a few pictures. From a distance the flowers look red but they are actually a gentle pink close up. Sometimes the flowers are in trusses and sometimes single. The flowering season is two to three months.

Only one Echium pininana flower spike still has a few flowers left on it. The rest are brown and dead or have blown over. Not before scattering seeds everywhere though!

Plenty of seed forming on both the original Camellia saluenensis which Asia will soon need to collect.

The magnolias outside the back yard have few seed pods this year and, in consequence, loads of buds for next spring. The seed pods are small and some have only the odd seed in the pod so little wasted energy on seeding and more buds!

The flowers on Hydrangea seemanii are setting loads of seeds. Hardly worth bothering to collect them for propagating as this plant forms aerial roots and cuttings are easy.

Campsis radicans full out against the wall outside the back yard. The new telegraph pole and new transformer over the wall being installed shortly may well destroy this gorgeous plant which I planted 25 years ago.

2016 – CHW
Two very different forms of Hydrangea sargentiana. The first looks more like Hydrangea villosa but the bark seems wrong for villosa while the second (seen previously in this year’s diary) has much larger leaves and is nearly over.
The true Hydrangea villosa on the opposite side of the drive is virtually over too.

Not a lot to differentiate the two species in some clones.

second (seen previously in this year’s diary)

Hydrangea aspera ssp robusta is still in tight bud but its leaf and bark is virtually identical to Hydrangea sargentiana. But for the very late flowering of robusta you would be very pushed to tell them apart.

2015 – CHW
More heavy rain and the holiday season at its zenith. Typical Cornish summer but wonderful for second growth in the garden. Grass cutting nearly finished but we will definitely need a full second cut after all this rain. Cotoneaster horizontalis putting on its show of orange berries early after the wet weather. A lovely herringbone effect. This climber or groundcover plant used to do the same job as the Rubus tricolor (Korean raspberry) did (see Tuesday 18th August).

Erigerion karvinskianus (mucronatus) opposite the front door is a marvellous plant for semi naturalising in a wall or hedge and self seeds everywhere. It flowers all summer with white flowers turning pink. An absolute must for coastal gardens and a plant which Burncoose sells in hundreds.

A few leftovers from the film crew, plastic flowers in the Camellia Lady Clare, fake urns with plastic flowers and a decorated summerhouse. It all goes tomorrow thankfully. If you don’t know already parts of the Caerhays Estate (mainly East Portholland) are featured in the new Tim Burton movie to be released in 2016, called Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

The Echium pinnifolium flower is now dead and seeding hard but next year’s crop of this biannual plant looks ready to go outside the Drawing Room window.

1995 – FJW
2 hours rain – no rain for 3 weeks – very hot. Summer supposed to be the driest since early 1700’s.

1986 – FJW
Momma died.

1942 – CW
All 3 big Magnolias on wall have several flowers. Both big Parviflora and the big Sinensis have late flowers and Saluenensis – several Lapagerias and cyclamen. Fuchsias good but feel the heavy rains of the last weeks.

1916 – JCW
The following rhodo’s show flowers or bits of flowers. R flavidum, R fastigiatum – keysii – decorum – Cunninghams yellow – 10333 – intricatum, R spaeranthum.

The Garden Diary

A Cornish garden diary from Caerhays Estate over 100 years

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