They cannot resist incinerating a self-sown pampas grass along the way.

The RHS Woody Plant Committee have now ratified the awards for Caerhays plants exhibited at flower shows last spring and voted on by the RHS Rhododendron Camellia and Magnolia Group judges.
– Camellia x williamsii ‘Caerhays’ FCC
– Rhododendron ‘Caerhays Pink’ FCC pending registration
– Magnolia ‘F J Williams’ FCC
– Camellia japonica ‘Takanini’ FCC

2022 – CHW
Wreath installed at the front door. Jaimie and Michael are very good at making these.

Squirrel traps operating well in this cold snap. Here a double whammy with conkers being the attraction.

Ripening seeds on Schefflera delavayi.

This was planted as Camellia gigantocarpa and is flowering for the second time that we have seen. Maurice Foster has an interesting article on camellia species identities in the latest RMCG newsletter.

Here is another puzzle! The other plant (ex Crug) of Camellia gigantocarpa has very different leaves. Largely smooth rather than bullate leaves. No flowers here after 15 years and you can see how the secondary new growth can get frosted. However the flowers on the other plant accord with the pictures from Dr Clifford Parks (+ 2 Chinese authors) book on Camellia species. Is Camellia gigantocarpa this variable in its leaf form.

Finally the leaves on another Aesculus wangii are frosted but not yet dropping.

2020 – CHW
A carpet of seedlings under a solitary Podocarpus salignus. You never see enough podocarps or red berries on the tree to realise it can produce such a crop. Nor had I realised that this was a female (and self-sown) tree about 40 yards from the main clump.

Styrax hookeri still has some leaf but the seeds have dropped.

Buds now showing up on Michelia doltsopa but nothing like the crop which it has produced in the last two years. Drought again I suspect but it did overdo it last spring.

A tail end flower on Hydrangea ‘Fireworks’ without any hints of red by Georges Hut.

Most of the buds on a young Magnolia ‘Caerhays Belle’ have shed the first of their outer bud coverings dangerously early in the wind and mild weather. A few years ago this plant flowered a bit in the autumn and, although the flowers did not open properly, the sap was up and dieback ensued after minor cold. This has now been pruned out and the plant has recovered for now.

2019 – CHW
Camellia sasanqua ‘Sugar Plum’ lives up to its name and is well worth Asia propagating. One young plant above the two veitchiis.

Camellia x williamsii ‘George Blandford’ was full out three weeks from the first flower opening as seen then in this diary.

2018 – CHW
The new gas operated squirrel traps which have been recently legalised by the government have just arrived and here is a picture of one of them. The bait smells particularly horrible and we must wait and see if the squirrels are inclined to play. The whole point about these traps is that they do not need to be inspected daily and that the dead squirrels simply fall to the ground. It will be interesting to see if they work.

On a happier note, here is a picture of a red squirrel enjoying its nuts in a garden in Seaview – very close to our holiday home. The Isle of Wight remains grey squirrel free.

2017 – CHW

Another trip to look at the schefflera collection.

Schefflera taiwaniana has just finished flowering and is now setting seed. It has a multi stemmed habit.

Schefflerea pauciflora is still a small plant with a single stem but is now sporting a fine crop of nearly ripe seeds.

Schefflera aff. myriocarpa has also recently finished flowering and has huge trusses of seeds setting.

Schefflera macrophylla is starting to put out a huge new growth shoot coated in orange-brown indumentum.

Schefflera alpina has seeds like ivy berries in similar clusters.

Some schefflera species flowered in late summer and some in mid autumn but the seeds are all the key feature of these superb plants in mid to late December. Much seed for Asia to collect although not all of it is ripe yet.