An extraordinarily difficult to load consignment from Burncoose Nurseries to the Channel Islands which left earlier this week. 15-18ft tall aloe trees with delicate branches were a nightmare even with the telehandler. Twenty-seven pallets in all with two more lorry loads to go.

Vaccinum dunalianum caudatifolium (from Crûg) is newly planted in the Auklandii Garden. Interesting new growth.

Rhododendron falconeri now in flower but much less of a show than last year.

On 1986 garden plans I find this (to me) unknown Vaccinum species is supposedly Vaccinum padifolium. However, the description in Hilliers does not match. Another one for Susyn Andrews to identify next weekend.

Fallen old red leaves below Nothofagus fusca. This tree was collected in New Zealand by Sir Harold Hillier and given to my father.

2020 – CHW
It is all very well for Her Majesty’s Opposition to criticise government policy but are not oppositions also supposed to put forward alternative strategies? Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do have a policy which is to stay in lockdown and not advise people to go back to work even if they can. Clearly time will reveal who was right (if there is ever to be a provable ‘right’). Starmer and the Labour party have not quite said that they want to prolong lockdown but they cover themselves by saying the government’s approach is ‘too confusing’ and ‘contradictory’. They mean the same as Sturgeon really but are not convinced that is what the public actually want.Strangely all parties are forced to more or less agree that Rishi Sunak’s extension of the furlough scheme is good news as is the arrival of help for the self-employed. Where is their alternative policy?

Political opportunism in a crisis is rather more revealing of the opportunists than what they actually say. The BBC too delights in reporting the end of political ‘consensus’ with repeated references to the government no longer carrying popular opinion with it in the polls. They of course do their utmost to achieve exactly that. Another nail in the BBC coffin given time one hopes.

I was being thick about my earlier comments on the purple cut leaf beech which I described as a purple form of Fagus sylvatica ‘Aspleniifolia’. It is! However the correct name is Fagus sylvatica ‘Rohanii’. Part of the fun of writing this diary is sorting out little puzzles like this for oneself.

Very good at Burncoose today were:

On the way to Burncoose I stop in Carnon Downs to photograph a mystery tree in full flower. The leaves look a bit like a Sambucus (elder) but not the flower and this is a large multi stemmed spreading tree of 20ft or so (one of three in a roadside verge). Steve and Clare in the office cannot put a name to it either. Investigations continue! It is Fraxinus ornus or manna ash.

The base of the toppled turkey oak from a week ago and a big gap in the treeline along the Burncoose front drive now.

Magnolia ‘Moonspire’ flowering properly (or properly noticed) for the first time. Jaimie picked a flower. A x brooklynensis seedling.

Malus x micromalus (Malus baccata x Malus spectabilis) is a fine show. Hillier’s says it has pink flowers! The buds are pink but the flowers are not. The label is however as we obtained it. I have seen this elsewhere else in the last couple of years and do not remember pink flowers either.

Aesculus mutabilis ‘Induta’ was one of the standouts of a show garden at Chelsea last year. A very small tree which is slow growing. This was planted in 2007 and is now 10ft x 8ft. It would have probably been over by next week’s ‘virtual’ Chelsea.

Magnolia fraseri ‘Pyramidalis’ is finally out and rather a let-down after such a peculiar green and yellow bud. The first flower shrivelled after only 48 hours but still one more bud to come. I do not remember our old and long dead three trees of M. fraseri having flowers only out for a day or three but I do remember a fairly nasty smell. No nasty smell with this one. I need to check our other young M. fraseri for flowers but, I suspect, far too early in the year.

Rhododendron ‘Sappho’ has a scruffy habit.

Crataegus laevigata ‘Crimson Cloud’ is a wonderful hawthorn! Better even than ‘Paul’s Scarlet’.

Ceanothus thrysiflorus ‘Snow Showers’ making good headway in the Isla Rose Plantation.

2019 – CHW
To Burncoose to sort out what to cut from here for Chelsea. A first flowering at Burncoose for Manglietia Chingii; now renamed as Magnolia conifera var. Chingii. This is what the label says but I will need to check with Tom Hudson as to whether it is correct. Very distinctive bark and we definitely have a plant here too near Tin Garden. The tree is 20-25ft tall. Some of what appear to be buds are in fact new growth buds while others are more rounded and are certainly flowers. These are mainly at the very top of the tree where it has been slightly defoliated by strong winds.

The Burncoose plant of Decaisnea fargesii flowering beautifully on several of its multiple stems.

The Burncoose plant of Meliosma oldhamii has much yellower new growth than the Caerhays plant. Rob and I could only spot one flower spike developing on a single lower branch. Another ‘first’ in the offing but it will not be the spectacle that we hope from the Caerhays tree.

Back at Caerhays Clethra pringlei is out early. This rare species struggles in full sun elsewhere in the garden. Here in decent dappled shade.

Camellia ‘Manuroa Road’ full out. Cannot remember offhand where this came from. Odd name but very late flowering.

Magnolia laevifolia ‘Michelle’ (formerly Michelia dianica ‘Michelle’) has flowers that open out flat. The label says dianica ‘Michelle’. The use of the name Michelia dianica or Michelia yunnanensis as it was also called was phased out in 2006 to 2008. Anyway it is a good named form and well worth propagating or watching for seed. Quite a big plant now.

Another new magnolia with blue flowers (before they open). This is the first flowering of the magnolia labelled acuminata multiflower subcordata. Clearly there is a muddle in the naming. Need to check the Eisenhut listings as this is where this originated from.

2018 – CHW
We can now reveal one of our two entries for the RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year competition next week. The plants will also be featured prominently on the Burncoose stand.Fargesia murielae ‘Luca’ is an interesting novelty Bamboo bred by Frank Schnupper in Germany and exhibited in public for the first time in the UK at Chelsea. This variety is a real dwarf. It has an almost round shape an only reaches a height of 40 to 50cm with a maximum width of about 1m. ‘Luca’ is a perfect species for small gardens, foundation planting and in a pot on the terrace or balcony. ‘Luca’ does not develop spreading rhizomes and is therefore not invasive in the garden in the same manner as many other bamboo species and varieties. In addition, the plant is hardy and requires little or no maintenance. It is hardy to -20°.This plant will be available to pre-order by mail order only on the Burncoose Nurseries website later this week.

A trip to Belvoir Castle for a board meeting (six plus hours each way). Karol goes to photograph some of our planting over the last 10 years at Belvoir where we have created a woodland garden of some 25 to 30 acres. See for yourself how it is doing. Older pictures of the start of the gardening plan at Belvoir Castle are on the Burncoose website. The garden was opened to visitors last year and made a profit so everyone happy.

Meanwhile the first of the three lorry loads for Chelsea gets loaded and off we go!