The top ten feet of Alnyphyllum eberhardtii has again blown out in a recent gale.

A few tatty secondary flowers on Rhododendron ‘Polyroy’.

Decent yellow tints on Corylopsis spicata.

Camellia x williamsii ‘St Ewe’ now full out.

Enkianthus campanulatus ‘Wallaby’ is a good yellow as usual.

Enkianthus cernuus rubens is even better close up.

Rhododendron reticulatum is also showing up well today near these two Enkianthus.

2022 – CHW
At last a bit of colder weather and a hint of near frost.

A large number of huge ripe seeds dropping under a Camellia reticulata. Almost like wind blown apples on the ground. The squirrels have already found them as you can see.

Still a few odd secondary flowers on Styrax wilsonii. We saw some 6 weeks ago.

New water tanks installed above the greenhouse and at Tin Garden. Easy access to water for newly planted things in the next drought. When finished we will have 5 new water tanks in place in the garden. One of these existed in past decades as a metal tank but had rotted away years ago. Lots of rhododendron to plant next spring in Kennel Close so this is an essential drought precaution. A wet summer looms!

A few more arrivals for the Malus collection. Here is Malus ‘Red Obelisk’.

Ilex colchica has arrived from Mallet Court Nursery. A new species for the Ilex collection here.

The new water tank at George’s Hut.

A single large white flower on an (unknown) evergreen azalea by George’s Hut.

Laurel hedge cutting below Tin Garden.

Polyspora longicarpus (WWJ 11604) with wasps in its early flowers. Loads of buds to come.

2021 – CHW

A fine crop of self-sown Dicksonia antarctica, Picea and Betula seedlings on the hot dry bank above the fernery.

The views from the top of the larger fernery back across Sinogrande Walk.

The original and huge Camellia x williamsii ‘November Pink’ is now full out in the main quarry.

Camellia ‘Winter’s Charm’

Camellia ‘Winter’s Snowman’. These are both hardy hybrids from crosses with Camellia oleifera.

Autumn leaf fall towards the Four-in-Hand. The Magnolia x loebneri lasted for only 48 hours with its full yellow show and is now dropping fast.

Sorbus wilsoniana with a fine show.

2020 – CHW
We planted this Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Amber Glow’ deliberately in a main drain overflow from the drive. These trees delight in growing in boggy waterlogged situations as here.

Prunus ‘Shirotae’ is not nearly as good as it was last year and has been battered in the wind.

Parrotia persica on the drive has a good yellow hue on its lower branches.

The unnamed Camellia x williamsii on the drive is now full out and quite a spectacle as you drive past.

Cotinus ‘Grace’ with a mixture of colour. ‘Scarlet’ says Hillier’s but it is more than this today here.

Cotinus ‘Pink Champagne’ turns a vivid yellow with us despite its name perhaps because it is in full shade? Supposed to be orange and scarlet?

Prunus ‘Fragrant Cloud’ (‘Matsumae-shizuka’) by the cash point is perfect today and another wonderful advert for Matsumae cherry varieties.

2019 – CHW
Magnolia (Manglietia) sapiensis which was so superb in its first flowering this year is growing strongly. A few cuttings or scions for grafting appear to have been taken! Note the rusty brown indumentum on the new growth shoots for next year.

The evergreen Magnolia caveana growing nearby and also planted in 2017 is a similar size but the new growth shoots are not so interesting.

The odd rogue flower on Rhododendron decorum still!

Another large clump of unnamed Camellia x williamsii is making a show on the Main Ride.

I have missed the gorgeous yellow of Lindera sericea this year.

2018 – CHW Metasequoia glyptostroboides showing its wonderful coppery autumn tints in Penvergate.

The first flowers on a group of unnamed Camellia williamsii hybrids below Tin Garden. These are always the very first to flower.

Another new Camellia sasanqua with its first flowers. ‘Setsugekka’ is a large single pure white.

Styrax japonica ‘Pendula’ beginning to show its impressive autumn tints.

As we have seen before Quercus dentata ‘Carl Ferris Miller’ holds its leaves right through the winter. As you can see here the upper leaves still show a hint of green while the lower leaves are completely brown.

2017 – CHW
A pheasant has hit the best bathroom window! Plenty of glass in the bath and it seems to have survived its mistake.

2016 – CHW
Two great seed discoveries today in Forty Acres by Jaimie:Schefflera macrophylla has produced flowers and a huge now ripe set of seeds unseen until now. The seed head stalks are covered in reddish-brown hairs. The seed head is about 4ft across when fully extended.

A row of young Crabiodendron yunnanense has also produced a massive array of seed heads. Far more than we have ever seen before on the original plant which is now 25ft or more tall.

Jaimie and his team successfully felled the tree which brought down the phone lines this weekend.

2015 – CHW

Sunny but severe hail storms impede my plans today or rather force me to complete the fucking Christmas cards in time to post on 1st December. Lizzie goes ‘hunting’ near St Columb and stays dry. Typical of weather differences between north and south Cornwall.

The Camellia x williamsii hedge on the drive is just coming out about a fortnight after Camellia ‘November Pink’. This lot have never been named and have a much more upright habit than ‘November Pink’. Clearly the cross dates from the late 1920s and they have been pruned more than once with great success.

The pictures are poor but they do show blue or great tit damage where the flowers have been partially dismembered to get at the nectar at the base of the flower. Since they have no scent there cannot be much nectar! Pre the first World War bullfinches did the same and several gardeners deliberately carried foldable 4.10 shotguns to deal with the problem. JCW records a tally of 40 shot on one day in his diary entries which will shortly be online. Some of these poachers’ guns can still be found here today though I will not say where. They fired bullets not cartridges and can hardly have been accurate at over 15 feet. I tried one on the lawn on a tin can a few years ago with staggeringly inaccurate results. No wonder bullfinches are so wary of people! I believe in Kent you could get a licence to shoot them in orchards for the same reason until the 1960s.