2019 – CHW
The hydrangeas viewed from the top lodge looking down the drive – what a sight today.

2016 – CHW
Finally we hit the jackpot on the last day in Seaview. The brand new Eddington House Nursery is beside the church in Brading only two miles away. Brand new stock too and a startlingly good plant display with good growing display beds to ponder and everything excellently laid out. Lots of new things to consider here.Commelia colestis may well be a bit tender but it is a vivid blue and might be available from Kernock as a plug liner? We used to stock this once and it sold well. What else is blue in flower in August?

Sedum ‘Gold Mound’ may be dwarf and a rockery plant but it is still quite striking. No idea about its flowers.

Ligularia gigantea ‘Giant Scabious’ was living up to its name with white flowers. Five to six feet tall. Very difficult to grow in a pot!

Perouskia atriplicifolia ‘Little Spire’ grew to about 18 inches and had delicate but attractive flowers as you can see. Arguably nicer than Perouskia ‘Blue Spire’.

Then we get to some outstanding new agapanthus varieties all in full flower. We certainly need to add some of these to our catalogue (and to sell at Hampton Court) and drop some of the New Zealand varieties.

Agapanthus ‘Silver Moon’ – silver leaf edge variegation and much better than Agapanthus ‘Tinkerbell’.

Agapanthus ‘Windsor Grey’ – whitish grey in bud and tall growing. Quite excellent and arguably better than Agapanthus ‘Queen Mum’. A must get for Burncoose.

Agapanthus ‘Inkspots’ – dwarf to medium growing with dark buds opening darkish blue. Perhaps as good as Agapanthus inapertus ‘Graskop’.

Agapanthus ‘Sandringham’ – a very good sky blue – medium-tall growing.

Agapanthus ‘Bressingham Blue’ – taller growing and very floriferous. Not quite as dark as Agapanthus ‘Navy Blue’?

Agapanthus ‘Lavender Haze’ – lower growing and a gentle light blue.

Rudbeckia ‘Peking’ – very nice but perhaps not that different from others taken on this Isle of Wight trip?

Sisyrinchium ‘E K Balls’ – almost a rockery plant but striking blue flowers in profusion. We used to stock other dwarf sisyrinchium.

Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Fat Domino’ – a very striking red and not insipid like some of the other knotweeds especially Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’. Grows to about two and a half feet, flowers to three and a half feet.

Coprosma ‘Pacific Dream’ – not that different but this is the one being sold everywhere in the Isle of Wight today.

2015 – CHWA quick trip up the drive to catch a few more hydrangeas:

Hydrangea ‘Tricolor’Rather an insipid plant especially when grown in a cold, hot, exposed position as here. The leaves have yellow and white on their edges and the lacecap is a weak colour. Needs to be grown in more shade and shelter. Planted 2002.

Hydrangea ‘Joseph Banks’At Burncoose on the drive the clump is still going strong 120 years after featuring in a picture in the RHS Journal. Nearly as old here I guess. Creamy white opening to a pale blue (on acid soil) and lasting to Christmas without frost. The commonest hydrangea seen in Cornish woodland garden drives but none the worse for that.

Hydrangea ‘Sheila’Not unlike ‘Love you Kiss’ once full out but this pink lacecap is one of the more improved and newer forms which stands out as being a bit different to the norm. This clump was planted in 2011 and has darkish new growth and early leaves.

Hydrangea aspera Villosa GroupVery variable and short lived especially if grown in full sun which this one is not. Some have flower heads remarkably similar, at least at a distance, to some smaller forms of Hydrangea sargentiana. I reckon about 30 years in full sun and 40 in the shade. The lovely peeling bark only appears in maturity on some forms after say 10 years. A popular hydrangea but I prefer larger leaved Hydrangea sargentiana.

A raven feeding a single youngster by the Top Lodge ominously near a young lamb which must be a ‘mistake’ at this time of the year. The most horrid and damaging of all the corvids.Swallows have bred well at the Hovel but, in the early mornings, the telephone wires are already full of martins and swallows thinking about migration or perhaps just more bad weather as the harvest is scheduled to start?

Three weddings this weekend at The Vean / Coastguards Hut. A new record for the estate and Luke, new Vean manager, formally appointed. Today’s party seems to involve a ‘Mr Wacky’ who appears at the front door when lost and I hope is here to entertain children at the wedding. Otherwise the staff are in for a shock!