25th October | The Garden Diary

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View 25th October 1897 – 2020

CONTRIBUTORS:

FJW 1955-2007

CHW 2015-

JCW 1897-1939

CW 1940-1955

2026 – CHW (images to follow)

Trying to get ahead of the storms I search for what passes for autumn colour here.

Rain has caused Ross to pull out of Drive Pen for this year. A good half of the area can now be replanted.

Acer japonicum.

Carpinus caroliniana ‘Red Fall’ as not terribly impressive.

Quercus palustris ‘Flaming Suzy’.

Stewartia monadelpha is poor this autumn.

Carpinus japonica is better.

Quercus libani with tender new growth.

Crataegus calpodendron has good colour.

Crataegus ashei with huge fruits but no colour.

Quercus affinis x Quercus laurina also with new growth.

Carpinus omeiensis has no colour change at all.

Sorbus aff. ligustrum with fruits.

Sorbus adamii fruits with wasp.

Crataemespilus grandiflora covered in fruit.

2025 – CHW

One of the keepers spots a Devils Fingers (Clathrus archeri) in a parkland setting. This is a rare fungi in W. and S. England which belongs to the Stinkhorn family. The spines are covered in slime and smelling of faeces, carrion or rotten meat which attracts flies which then disperse the spores. This is a unique and unusual method of spore dispersal.

An excellent vase of Camellia japonica ‘Takanini’ in mid-October.

Eupatorium ligustrinum on Bond Street. Mainly dead flower heads but still a few live flowers.

The recent Ross clearing on Bond Street has nearly made the vista from the drive to 40 Acres. Not much more to do.

Still plenty of secondary flowers on Rhododendron ‘Elizabeth’.

More of the swimming pool.

Carpinus japonicus with the seed cones now fully brown.

A huge tree has fallen in the Park.

2024 – CHW
Removing wires and uplifting young trees in the Styrax area.

The best show we have seen to date on Nyssa leptophylla (ex Roundabarrow). I have moaned for years how badly Nyssa perform in Cornwall both as regards flower and autumn colour.

Tristaniopsis laurina with even more flower than a month ago.

The Record Tree Acer almatum ‘Sango Kaku’ in the sun.

Sorbus sargentiana performing well.

2023 – CHW
Jaimie’s pictures of Camellia x williamsii ‘November Pink’ in the Main Quarry.

We saw a male plant of Ilex cornuta in flower a week or two ago. Here is a female with ripe berries.

Strangely shaped new growth and hairy stems on Callicarpa pilosissima (NMWJ 1450). No flowers or berries yet but plenty of new growth.

Cornus pumila with its autumn colour – not much!

Acer heldreichii hasn’t much to offer in the way of autumn colour either.

Magnolia ‘Silk Road’ with only a leaf left.

Cornus florida ‘Cherokee Chief’ with good reddish-purple colours.

Enkianthus campanulatus ‘Venus’ just colouring up but not yet at its best.

2022 – CHW
Interesting to see Datura sanguinea in full flower against a wall in the main nursery at Burncoose. Hot summers and milder autumns! Yes they are growing under a polytunnel cover over the camellia display bed but we never thought of Daturas as ‘outdoor’ plants 20 years ago.