2016 – CHW
Jaimie’s team have cleared through Kennel Close, re-staking, removing wires and tidying up for the spring. It all looks good and the plants do too.

In the process they have found a Cornus kousa with huge fruits on just one limb and a Magnolia ‘March till Frost’ with plenty of secondary flowers.

2015 – CHW

Americans shooting today with what looks like a couple of Russians on the list. Cannot wait!

Time is short so just a touch of autumn colour for you today:

Halesia carolina (Snowdrop Tree) is not billed as anything special as regards autumn colour but this plant does turn quickly yellow before the leaves go brown. In fact you can see all three phases of autumn on the same branch. No seed yet on this young tree.

Touching it is Cornus nuttallii ‘Pink Blush’ which I did not see in flower this year but which does indeed have rather splendid mixed autumn colour for a cornus. A very columnar growth habit which is just as well as the halesia is spreading fast.

The centurion clump of Rhododendron schlippenbachii has an unexpectedly splendid autumn colour which I have not noticed or appreciated before in younger plants. Across the path is the equally deciduous Rhododendron albrectii which offers nothing.

Hidden away behind these deciduous rhododendron species is another which I had forgotten. A large plant of Rhododendron mucronulatum which came as a bare root plant from Edward Needham at Tregye many years ago. An odd and irascible man who spent much time collecting in the Himalayas. There are two similar plants at Burncoose from the same era which have much lighter pink flowers than the Caerhays originals. Unlike the old plant featured last week this one has a full flush of dark flowers. You might argue that this is not a second flowering but actually an early flowering. However I would argue that the colour is not the same as it will be after Christmas so it must be a secondary flush of flower albeit of some size.