28th November

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

2023 – CHW

Jaimie’s early morning picture taken from the castle roof while clearing out the gutters.

early morning picture taken from the castle roof
early morning picture taken from the castle roof
A similar picture of a circle of mushrooms taken from the roof.
circle of mushrooms
circle of mushrooms
A large plant of Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ down from the Top Lodge which I had forgotten.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’

2022 – CHW
Laurel cutting proceeds below Tin Garden.
Laurel cutting
Laurel cutting
Neolitsea aff. polycarpa fronts a good display of unnamed Camellia x williamsii.
Neolitsea aff. polycarpa
Neolitsea aff. polycarpa
Rehderodendron kwangtungense (WWJ 11940) appears to be evergreen? No hint of leaf colour turning yet or leaf drop.
Rehderodendron kwangtungense
Rehderodendron kwangtungense
Camellia ‘Cornish Snow’ still flowerless but loads of bud.
Camellia ‘Cornish Snow’
Camellia ‘Cornish Snow’
A few secondary flowers on Eucryphia lucida ‘Pink Cloud’ as is normal at this time of year.
Eucryphia lucida ‘Pink Cloud’
Eucryphia lucida ‘Pink Cloud’
A little autumn colour remains on Rhus chinensis.
Rhus chinensis
Rhus chinensis
Lindera erythrocarpa turning yellow. Other deciduous Lindera species have already shed their leaves and I have missed them this year.
Lindera erythrocarpa
Lindera erythrocarpa
Lindera erythrocarpa
Lindera erythrocarpa

2021 – CHW
Placing out the 18 cherry trees (two of each) in the newly fenced off strip below White Styles with Jaimie. We put in marker stakes in a staggered line at 7 meter spacings. A list of what is to be planted is attached below:
Prunus ‘Matsumae-Beni-Yutaka’
Prunus ‘Ukon’
Prunus ‘Shirotae’
Prunus ‘Tai-Haku’
Prunus ‘Horinji’
Prunus ‘Hokusai’
Prunus ‘Gyoiko’
Prunus ‘Ichiyo’ (‘Pink Champagne’)
Prunus ‘Matsumae Fuki’ (‘Chocolate Ice’)
Crataegus x lavalleei ‘Carrierei’
Acer x freemanii ‘Autumn Blaze’
Tilia cordata ‘Winter Orange’
below White Styles
below White Styles
below White Styles
below White Styles
All now planted and wired up with deer and rabbit protection.
wired up
wired up
This should one day make a fine show for visitors walking on to Old Park. Too much of a frost pocket for magnolias but these cherries will flower (hopefully) too late in the spring to be caught by frosts.

2020 – CHW
So we come again to the three malus trees on Bond Street which are now fully ripe.1. Perhaps Malus ‘Golden Hornet’?
Malus ‘Golden Hornet’
Malus ‘Golden Hornet’
Malus ‘Golden Hornet’
Malus ‘Golden Hornet’
2. The pear or oval shaped fruits which are red with a dash of yellow suggest this may well be Malus bhutanica (Malus toringoides) as do the trailing branches
Malus bhutanica
Malus bhutanica
Malus bhutanica
Malus bhutanica
Malus bhutanica
Malus bhutanica
3. This one with rounded red fruit might be Malus hupehensis or, conceivably, Malus x floribunda.
Malus hupehensis
Malus hupehensis
Malus hupehensis
Malus hupehensis

I will need to pay rather more attention to the flowers on these three early next summer.

Camellia maliflora on Bond Street. The older, larger plant is now dead. Sparse flowerer at the best of times and a collector’s item. This is not a species known in the wild in China but it came first to the UK as a form of sasanqua in 1818.

Camellia maliflora
Camellia maliflora
Camellia sasanqua ‘Blush’ with its first flowers.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Blush’
Camellia sasanqua ‘Blush’
Aesculus wilsonii with unexpected autumn colour. Usually it just drops or blows away.
Aesculus wilsonii
Aesculus wilsonii
Aesculus wilsonii
Aesculus wilsonii
Taxodium distichum with its autumn colour below White Styles.
Taxodium distichum
Taxodium distichum
Cornus walteri is dropping its green leaves without them turning colour. A huge suckering and self-layering small tree on a bank. The pheasants have already eaten the few black berries there were this year.
Cornus walteri
Cornus walteri
Cornus walteri
Cornus walteri
Cornus walteri
Cornus walteri
Cornus walteri
Cornus walteri
Cotoneaster franchetii still covered in berries.
Cotoneaster franchetii
Cotoneaster franchetii
The largest monkey puzzle against a blue sky.
monkey puzzle
monkey puzzle
Prunus ‘Jo-nioi’ catching the sun by the cash point.
Prunus ‘Jo-nioi’
Prunus ‘Jo-nioi’
Leaf drop nearly complete on Magnolia ‘Caerhays Belle’. A bit earlier than last year I think.
Magnolia ‘Caerhays Belle’
Magnolia ‘Caerhays Belle’
Good colours on Wisteria floribunda ‘Violacea Plena’ (‘Black Dragon’).
Wisteria floribunda ‘Violacea Plena’
Wisteria floribunda ‘Violacea Plena’
A nice show of flower now on the paler pink Camellia saluenensis by the ladies loo.
Camellia saluenensis
Camellia saluenensis
First two flowers out today on Camellia x williamsii ‘Rosemary Williams’ by the Georgian Hall.
Camellia x williamsii ‘Rosemary Williams’
Camellia x williamsii ‘Rosemary Williams’
We discover that from Wednesday next week only Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight will be in Tier 1 at the end of the month’s nationwide lockdown. Tier 1 is deemed medium alert but shooting can restart guided by the ‘rule of six’. Posterity may be interested to read what ‘medium alert’ means we can actually still do:Tier 1: Medium alert
In tier 1:
• you must not socialise in groups larger than 6 people, indoors or outdoors, other than where a legal exemption applies. This is called the ‘rule of 6’
• businesses and venues can remain open, in a COVID secure manner, other than those which remain closed by law, such as nightclubs
• hospitality businesses selling food or drink for consumption on their premises are required to:
• provide table service only, for premises that serve alcohol
• close between 11pm and 5am (hospitality venues in airports, ports, on transport services and in motorway service areas are exempt)
• stop taking orders after 10pm
• hospitality businesses and venues selling food and drink for consumption off the premises can continue to do so after 10pm as long as this is through delivery service, click-and-collect or drive-through
• early closure (11pm) applies to casinos, cinemas, theatres, concert halls, museums, bowling alleys, amusement arcades, funfairs, theme parks, adventure parks and activities and bingo halls. Cinemas, theatres and concert halls can stay open beyond 11pm in order to conclude performances that start before 10pm
• public attendance at outdoor and indoor events (performances and shows) is permitted, limited to whichever is lower: 50% capacity, or either 4,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors
• public attendance at spectator sport and business events can resume inside and outside, subject to social contact rules and limited to whichever is lower: 50% capacity, or either 4,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors
• places of worship remain open, but you must not attend or socialise in groups of more than 6 people while there, unless a legal exemption applies
• weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on numbers of attendees – 15 people can attend wedding ceremonies and receptions, 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies, and 15 people can attend linked commemorative events
• organised outdoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes can continue
• organised indoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes can continue to take place, if the rule of 6 is followed. There are exceptions for indoor disability sport, sport for educational purposes, and supervised sport and physical activity for under-18s, which can take place with larger groups mixing
• if you live in a tier 1 area and travel to an area in a higher tier you should follow the rules for that area while you are there. Avoid travel to or overnight stays in tier 3 areas other than where necessary, such as for work, education, youth services, to receive medical treatment, or because of caring responsibilities. You can travel through a tier 3 area as part of a longer journey
• for international travel see the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office travel advice for your destination and the travel corridors list

2019 – CHW
The lower leaves on the record sized Magnolia x veitchii are a delicate yellow as another rainstorm threatens. I have never taken this in properly before. Higher up they are definitely a darker yellow.

Magnolia x veitchii
Magnolia x veitchii
Magnolia x veitchii
Magnolia x veitchii
Magnolia x veitchii
Magnolia x veitchii
Late in the day Styrax japonicus ‘Pendulus’ is finally turning yellow.
Styrax japonicus ‘Pendulus’
Styrax japonicus ‘Pendulus’
Styrax japonicus ‘Pendulus’
Styrax japonicus ‘Pendulus’
The first flower showing colour (but not out) on Camellia x williamsii ‘George Blandford’.
Camellia x williamsii ‘George Blandford’
Camellia x williamsii ‘George Blandford’
A young Nyssa leptophylla giving us our first display of autumn colour in its first year after planting. Purchased from Roundabarrow nurseries.
Nyssa leptophylla
Nyssa leptophylla
Nyssa leptophylla
Nyssa leptophylla
Nyssa leptophylla
Nyssa leptophylla
Also the first yellow colours on Styrax japonicus from Taehuksando (BSWJ 14182) planted a year ago.
Styrax japonicus
Styrax japonicus
Styrax japonicus
Styrax japonicus

2018 – CHW
Adult foliage finally starting to appear on Xanthocyparis vietnamensis. A good three years since this was planted and, as I have said before, in a stupid place. It needs moving!
Xanthocyparis vietnamensis
Xanthocyparis vietnamensis
An old lead label on a huge mature Camellia ‘Mathotianum’ emerged as it was given a haircut. Very few of these 100 year old lead labels have survived the gnawing of squirrels over the years. Quite why they have found lead labels so attractive is difficult to say. The individual labels were laboriously stamped letter by letter into the lead. Today this plant would be called Camellia ‘Mathotiana’ (‘Mathotiana Rubra’). The original spelling of ‘CAMELIA’ on the label is presumably a mistake? Or is it? There is a fine story about JCW who, on hearing that Americans were calling or pronouncing camellias as ‘camelia’, insisted that camellia was spelt with two Ls and pronounced as we all now know!
Camellia ‘Mathotiana’
Camellia ‘Mathotiana’
Camellia ‘Mathotiana’
Camellia ‘Mathotiana’

2017 – CHW
The Camellia sasanqua clump below the greenhouse still full out – just double pinks today; the whites are over.
Camellia sasanqua clump
Camellia sasanqua clump
Camellia sasanqua clump
Camellia sasanqua clump
First flower on Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ rather earlier than usual. Three flowers only and just singletons.
Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’
Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’
Escallonia rubra var macrantha strangely full out by the greenhouses. At least that is what I think it is? Need to check with Jaimie.
Escallonia rubra var macrantha
Escallonia rubra var macrantha
Escallonia rubra var macrantha
Escallonia rubra var macrantha

2016 – CHW
A solitary flower left on the arum (Zantedeshia aethiopica) by the gents’ loos. Looking at the growth on the clump this may be the first of next year’s flowers rather than the last of this year’s. No frost at all yet anyway!
arum
arum

2015 – CHW

We do not think of wisteria as being good autumn colour but just look at this adorning the outside gents’ loo! The actinidia grows through it and is still green. This is Wisteria sinensis ‘Black Dragon’ but other older wisteria growing in ancient yew trees are just as colourful at present. Another nice surprise on a day threatening to wet the shooting party.

Wisteria sinensis ‘Black Dragon’
Wisteria sinensis ‘Black Dragon’
Wisteria sinensis ‘Black Dragon’
Wisteria sinensis ‘Black Dragon’

1979 – FJW
Philip brought in xmas cheer for the house.

1927 – JCW
The quarry cherry has a fair lot of flowers. The early Hamamellis mollis is open.

1927 – JCW
Much as in 1923.

1923 – JCW
We have had some frost as compared with 1922. Berberis polyantha is good now. Some Erica codonodes in flower. H mollis is moving but not showing colour. C sasanquas frosted. Erica darleyense not quite open.

1922 – JCW
Roses – lapagerias – hydrangeas – Erica darleyense are all fair. I saw the first bit of Hamamelis mollis, also the first few Camellia sasanqua. There is only one Maddeni hybrid open but it is very lovely.

1911 – JCW
Solanum not quite all out or C sasanqua, but we have had some frost. Roses hold on and the Erica codonodes are opening nicely. Clematis cirrhosa is good.

1909 – JCW
We have had two weeks of frost. Ice on the pond. A very rainless late summer and autumn. Very few daffs of any age moving. C sasanqua has been cut. Rho decorum is in flower now and has been all Oct and Nov. Lapagerias over.

1908 – JCW
The finest autumn anyone can remember. Daffs of most ages are showing. Roses the best I have known so late. Solanum good. Iris alata and stylosa open etc.

1902 – JCW
Camellia sasanqua by the stables very good. A few seedlings of all ages are up. A good lot of roses yet. Have renewed the lapageria border.

1898 – JCW
Many seedlings above ground, say a dozen. Some 3 yr olds about 10. A good few yearlings moving in particular the maximus x but no 2 yr olds.