21st May

FJ Williams Profile Picture
FJW 1955-2007
CH Williams Profile Picture
CHW 2015-
JC Williams Profile Picture
JCW 1897-1939
C Williams Profile Picture
CW 1940-1955


2024 – CHW

Some scenes from the celebrity photocall.

Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Some scenes
Sir Brian Williamson and Julia Hands.
Sir Brian Williamson and Julia Hands
Sir Brian Williamson and Julia Hands
The family line up (with Giles of course).
The family line up (with Giles of course)
The family line up (with Giles of course)
Pictures of the gold medal in our hands.
gold medal
gold medal
gold medal
gold medal

2023 – CHW
Zantedeschia aethiopica full out already. We saw this clump well frosted in December and the leaves turned to mush.

Zantedeschia aethiopica
Zantedeschia aethiopica
Escallonia bifida now pruned back.
Escallonia bifida
Escallonia bifida
Likewise Escallonia resinosa (a gift from Windsor Great Park but Burncoose used to sell). Plenty of cuttings here shortly.
Escallonia resinosa
Escallonia resinosa
Maddenia wilsonii has made enormous growth this spring.
Maddenia wilsonii
Maddenia wilsonii
When will we learn that evergreens need higher deer fencing. Here Euonymus spraguei killed back but shooting from the base.
Euonymus spraguei
Euonymus spraguei
And a leafless Euonymus verrucosus.
Euonymus verrucosus
Euonymus verrucosus
This young Meliosma beaniana (alba) struggled last summer but seems to have a chance now.
Meliosma beaniana (alba)
Meliosma beaniana (alba)
A good clump of Rhododendron ‘Penvose’ at the entrance of Old Park.
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
Salix hookeriana now in leaf and wonderful white felting on the underside of its leaves.
Salix hookeriana
Salix hookeriana
Salix hookeriana
Salix hookeriana

2022 – CHW
Yesterday afternoon we cut some budded Embothrium for the Chelsea stand which will go with us early today.Magnolia ‘Porcelain Dove’ was just out.
Magnolia ‘Porcelain Dove’
Magnolia ‘Porcelain Dove’
One of the Magnolia dealbata by Georges Hut had two flowers out high up.
Magnolia dealbata
Magnolia dealbata
Jaimie and the team have just got brave and pruned the two elderly Camellia saluenensis by the ladies loo and all the other camellias along the wall.
Camellia saluenensis
Camellia saluenensis
Camellia saluenensis
Camellia saluenensis
So Lizzie and I get to Chelsea and the stand is nearly finished.
the stand
the stand
the stand
the stand
the stand
the stand
the stand
the stand
the stand
the stand

However the Iris sibirica ‘Fran’s Gold’, our entry for Plant of the Year, is a bit of a disaster as, in the tent for a week, the leaves are no longer a bright yellow. This is its best feature. Furthermore, as I knew from the outset, an iris is a very difficult thing to show in flower perfectly for any length of time. Most stems on ‘Fran’s Gold’ had two or three flowers with the bottom one opening first and the top one last. After two hours of picking over the plant for the Plant of the Year entry it was clear that we were in a difficult spot even before the leaves turned greenish. Three plants went onto the stand and we eventually selected one for the award and carted it off to be photographed.

This is what ‘Fran’s Gold’ should look like in Jim & Fran Clarke’s garden in Co. Kildare.

Iris sibirica ‘Fran’s Gold’
Iris sibirica ‘Fran’s Gold’

2021 – CHW
The first proper group tour (ie paying!) this spring.

First slightly hail damaged flowers out on Magnolia x wieseneri.

Magnolia x wieseneri
Magnolia x wieseneri
Aesculus x bushii just into flower in Kennel Close.
Aesculus x bushii
Aesculus x bushii
The very last flower on Camellia ‘Cornish Snow’ which first came out five and a half months ago.
Camellia ‘Cornish Snow’
Camellia ‘Cornish Snow’
First ever flower on a magnolia just below Donkey Shoe. An unusual colour and very late but the label has vanished. Need to check 2018/9 planting plans which are with Jaimie for revision at present. [It is Magnolia ‘Pastel Sunset’ x ‘Genie’]
Magnolia ‘Pastel Sunset’ x ‘Genie’
Magnolia ‘Pastel Sunset’ x ‘Genie’
Then a trip to a garden near Tintagel/Boscastle on the cliffs.
Amazing cliff landscapes!
cliff landscapes
cliff landscapes
cliff landscapes
cliff landscapes
cliff landscapes
cliff landscapes
Wonderful to see Armeria maritima growing and flowering in such profusion.
Armeria maritima
Armeria maritima
I think this is ‘Bladder Campion’, Silene vulgaris ssp. vulgaris, in huge clumps amid the rocks in a bit more wind shelter.
Silene vulgaris ssp. vulgaris
Silene vulgaris ssp. vulgaris
Silene vulgaris ssp. vulgaris
Silene vulgaris ssp. vulgaris
Scilla verna also growing in profusion on the cliffs alongside bluebells which were three weeks later into flower than ours.
Scilla verna
Scilla verna
‘Sea eagle and fish’ bronze in the garden.
bronze
bronze
Escallonia rubra var. macrantha – a wonderful seaside hedge.
Escallonia rubra var. macrantha
Escallonia rubra var. macrantha

2020 – CHW
Voting is underway for the RHS Virtual Chelsea ‘Plant of the Decade’. Our 2015 winner in the form of Viburnum plicatum ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’ is one of the 10 which you can vote for. The email sent to circa 300 personal contacts and the Caerhays/Burncoose customer databases can be viewed here with pictures of Kilimanjaro and a link to the Chelsea voting form.It will be interesting to see how we get on in the voting which ends on Saturday when the virtual show closes.What a joy it is actually to have a year off from Chelsea which dominates the month of May and has done so for the last 40+ years in one form or another. A week to 10 days in London in the heat avoided (I am told London is currently very hot). The hay fever and sneezing from the plane trees in the Royal Hospital grounds and the crowds. I wonder how many of the small businesses which regularly attend Chelsea will survive the corona lockdown?Work is proceeding on the top wall to relay the slates and remove all weed growth. This is our third year on this sort of work (including repointing) with a fixed budget.
Top wall
Top wall
Azalea ‘Rosebud’ is always late and this year it probably would have cut for Chelsea.
Azalea ‘Rosebud’
Azalea ‘Rosebud’
Azalea ‘Rosebud’
Azalea ‘Rosebud’
Azalea ‘Rosebud’
Azalea ‘Rosebud’
A young Styrax japonicus ‘Sohuksan’ now in colour with plenty of buds. The oldest one over seeded and has very few buds this year.
Styrax japonicus ‘Sohuksan’
Styrax japonicus ‘Sohuksan’
Styrax japonicus ‘Sohuksan’
Styrax japonicus ‘Sohuksan’
Pterostyrax psilophyllus var. leveillei with its trilobed leaves. We used to be allowed to call it triloba. A first flower on this young plant. The one down Bond Street has, I think, died over the winter.
Pterostyrax psilophyllus var. leveillei
Pterostyrax psilophyllus var. leveillei
Euptelia polyandra with its first set of new growth. Planted out last autumn.
Euptelia polyandra
Euptelia polyandra
Aesculus glaucescens (x neglecta is its revised name) is now a decent tree.
Aesculus glaucescens
Aesculus glaucescens
Aesculus glaucescens
Aesculus glaucescens
Aesculus glaucescens
Aesculus glaucescens
Magnolia sieboldii ‘Pride of Norway’ is later into flower than other named forms.
Magnolia sieboldii ‘Pride of Norway’
Magnolia sieboldii ‘Pride of Norway’
Magnolia sieboldii ‘Pride of Norway’
Magnolia sieboldii ‘Pride of Norway’
Magnolia obovata ‘Pink Flush’ now full out.
Magnolia obovata ‘Pink Flush’
Magnolia obovata ‘Pink Flush’
Magnolia obovata ‘Pink Flush’
Magnolia obovata ‘Pink Flush’
Azalea ‘Corneille’ is making a good clump.
Azalea ‘Corneille’
Azalea ‘Corneille’
Azalea ‘Corneille’
Azalea ‘Corneille’
Azalea ‘Corneille’
Azalea ‘Corneille’
Azalea ‘Tower Darling’ is another old Ghent variety. Hugely scented today.
Azalea ‘Tower Darling’
Azalea ‘Tower Darling’
Azalea ‘Tower Darling’
Azalea ‘Tower Darling’
Azalea ‘Tower Darling’
Azalea ‘Tower Darling’
A flower coming on Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Vulcano’.
Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Vulcano’
Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Vulcano’
Cornus ‘Venus’ has got even better! Bracts the size of my hand when fully mature.
Cornus ‘Venus’
Cornus ‘Venus’
Cornus ‘Venus’
Cornus ‘Venus’
Cornus ‘Venus’
Cornus ‘Venus’
Deutzia calycosa ‘Dali’ with its large clusters of bicoloured flowers. Excellent!
Deutzia calycosa ‘Dali’
Deutzia calycosa ‘Dali’
Deutzia calycosa ‘Dali’
Deutzia calycosa ‘Dali’
Deutzia longifolia (white form) is newly planted by Tin Garden.
Deutzia longifolia (white form)
Deutzia longifolia (white form)
Deutzia longifolia (white form)
Deutzia longifolia (white form)
A good new young Magnolia wilsonii (DJHC 98369) with its first, and quite small, flower.
Magnolia wilsonii
Magnolia wilsonii
Magnolia wilsonii
Magnolia wilsonii
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’ flowering with few leaves as the new growth emerges. A good new clump of this Caerhays hybrid.
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
Rhododendron ‘Penvose’
A good old clump of Rhododendron decorum at the top of Burns Bank.
Rhododendron decorum
Rhododendron decorum
Rhododendron decorum
Rhododendron decorum

2019 – CHW

Silver gilt medal.

Here are more pictures which Karol took of our stand as a whole with a few VIPs dotted about amongst them from yesterday morning. You make up your mind if the medal awarded was correct? The public and the judges do not always agree. I will not commit anything further to paper other than to say that the Burncoose team have nothing to be anything other than proud of!

Final stand pictures- Chelsea
Final stand pictures- Chelsea
Final stand pictures - Chelsea
Final stand pictures – Chelsea
Susan Hampshire & Gerry
Susan Hampshire & Gerry
Guy Hands, Charles, Susan Hampshire & Gerry
Guy Hands, Charles, Susan Hampshire & Gerry
Guy Hands, Charles, Susan Hampshire & Gerry
Guy Hands, Charles, Susan Hampshire & Gerry
Susan Hampshire
Susan Hampshire
Susan Hampshire and Tony Hunt
Susan Hampshire and Tony Hunt
Final stand pictures - Chelsea
Final stand pictures – Chelsea
Final stand pictures - Chelsea
Final stand pictures – Chelsea
Final stand pictures - Chelsea
Final stand pictures – Chelsea
Final stand pictures - Chelsea
Final stand pictures – Chelsea
Final stand pictures - Chelsea
Final stand pictures – Chelsea
Final stand pictures - Chelsea
Final stand pictures – Chelsea
Final stand pictures - Chelsea
Final stand pictures – Chelsea

2018 – CHW
Photos from Chelsea flower show
Chelsea stand finished (3)
Chelsea stand finished (3)
Chelsea stand finished (1)
Chelsea stand finished (1)
Chelsea stand finished
Chelsea stand finished (2)
Chelsea stand finished - team photo (1)
Chelsea stand finished – team photo (1)
Chelsea stand finished - team photo (2)
Chelsea stand finished – team photo (2)
Guy Hands at Chelsea
Guy Hands at Chelsea
Guy Hands at Chelsea
Guy Hands at Chelsea
Felicity Kendal at Chelsea
Felicity Kendal at Chelsea
The Queen at Chelsea
The Queen at Chelsea

2017 – CHW
The echiums have not made it so go into the skip which leaves rather a big empty hole. The Magnolia sieboldii has flopped and has to be cut down and rearranged. When we untie the loo paper from the buds of Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’ one of them opens brown and bruised so it has to be cut off and binned and the three plants rearranged.

We end up with nearly every plant we have brought used up on the stand but still a big empty hole behind the cash point. So a hasty trip to Hillier’s to beg half a dozen big evergreen ‘things’ to fill the hole. Hillier’s have over 20 trollies full of plants spare from their stand so this is not a problem. The holes get filled.

Then the cut weigela decides to flop so we have to take out this corner of the stand and raise up the things in front of it so you can no longer see it properly. This all wastes an hour or so.

We are short of turf but Justin manages to scrounge some and he and Freddie Williams do the final brush up and turf laying around the stand.

Then we all look for hours at every angle of the stand for gaps and holes or droopy individual flowers. Worse still, pots which the judges might spy. This takes all of us most of the afternoon while Gerry writes the final plant labels. We cannot now reach some of the plants on the centre of the stand so much balancing and reaching with long bamboos.

The fountain has lost 3in of water in 24 hours so needs topping up. Where has the water gone? Clearly another Rayner leak but no evidence yet of a boggy patch around the stand.

At 4pm we have the group photo and Louisa and Rob go home.
Chelsea group photo
Chelsea group photo

2016 – CHW
It looks as though Louisa and Rob will need to stay on an extra night but we are well on course to be nearly finished by Saturday evening. The cut stuff is coming out much too quickly and it is extremely hot in the tent today. We end up shipping back about 12 trolleys of plants which are surplus to requirements including quite a few rhodos which have shot their bolt and gone over. Very different year to some in the past where we have had to go begging and borrowing from others to fill the last few holes. The great thing about the show this year is that we have five people who actually know what they are doing putting up a stand and can get on under Gerry’s guidance without any fuss or drama, and complete the last minute fiddling which Gerry and Louisa are so good at.

The emerging story of the show is the orient express railway carriage which sits resplendent on the Bowdens stand alongside us. Even on Saturday the top end of the stand has not even been started on and it is laughingly obvious to all that a cock up is emerging.Bowdens used to be simply a hosta company and now they have acquired a fern business as well. Quite what ferns and hostas have to do with the orient express is anyone’s guess and the two look entirely ridiculous together.

The Hillier’s stand which is not on the monument for the first time is already finished and they too are enjoying the increasing panic among the hosta fraternity. To cap it all Bowdens come cap in hand to buy all our remaining hostas and our last 300 litre bale of bark mulch which I make them pay for. In fact they admit to being 4.5 tonnes short of bark mulch. How is it possible to underestimate the amount of bark mulch needed by 4.5t?

The RHS have offered them physical support because they are at least 20 pair of hands short in having even the faintest change of finishing the stand on time.

It transpires that the owner in a previous existence ran a funeral business – astonishingly it went bankrupt.

His track record with other exhibitors has involved a number of fracas over the years, one requiring a police presence. To cap it all there are rumours of a certain amount of skulduggery by the RHS to get the train on board although many had countenanced caution. So it looks like the RHS may be partly to blame for the impending disaster.

2015 – CHW
An uneventful trip back and home by 1pm in time to write up the post Chelsea stand list of what sold best from the stand so that the website can now show the whole stand with key insets of:

Viburnum plicatum ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’
Viburnum plicatum ‘Kilimanjaro Sunrise’
Salvia 'Love and Wishes'
Salvia ‘Love and Wishes’
Calycanthus x raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’
Calycanthus x raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’
Enkianthus campanulatus ‘Victoria’
Enkianthus campanulatus ‘Victoria’
Lupinus ‘Manhattan something – Lights?’
Lupinus ‘Manhattan Lights’
Decaisnea fargesi
Decaisnea fargesi
Disporum longistylum
Disporum longistylum
Zantedeschia 'Pink_Flamingo'
Zantedeschia ‘Pink_Flamingo’
Podophyllum persepele ‘Spotty Dotty’
Podophyllum persepele ‘Spotty Dotty’

I was quite wrong about the enkianthus and embothrium being too far out to use on the stand.  The Caerhays plants were but the Burncoose plants were excellent as was the cut embothrium.So now for the dreaded ‘thank you’ letters to staff,  sponsors and even, perhaps, the RHS! This will have to wait until I have recovered from six days at Chelsea.  Three of hard labour helping build the stand,  one of parties and celebrities and two killers with the public.

My least favourite week of the year is finally over.  Hooray! AND,  if anyone else says you must have had such a wonderful time I will throttle them even if Burncoose did,  this year, put up an unrepeatable performance at Chelsea 2015.

1988 – FJW
Dry spell continues – but not too hot – a normal good spring as we used to know it. M highdownensis good.

1929 – JCW
Magnolia wilsoni the early one is at its best. No Parviflora but several Nicholsiana are out on the big plant and very large flowers making 7 inches across. Double Avium is not fully open.

1916 – JCW
Azaleas near their best. Sappho seedlings nearly over. Very near 1912, it is hot and dry.

1912 – JCW
Now leaving for the International and Scotland, Bluebells over, Montana over, Azaleas going over, Auklandii nice. Mrs Butler and Falconeri over, Viburnum plicatum and Sappho the two best things. Thomsoni pink coming, white going, Waterer’s good.

1910 – JCW
A fair lot of May. Bluebells at their best. C montana rubra and Van Tubergens Iris well over. C montana ⅔ open. Azaleas opening. R auklandii over.

1908 – JCW
All the early tree ferns half grown, cold east wind has spoiled some.