6th February | The Garden Diary

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CONTRIBUTORS:

FJW 1955-2007

CHW 2015-

JCW 1897-1939

CW 1940-1955

2024 – CHW

Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ finally at its best.

Acacia longifolia had blown over. Now uprighted and in flower.

Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ now out. Acacia baileyana nearby is virtually over.

Another full bud on Magnolia ‘’Todd’s Fortyniner’.

Camellia reticulata ‘White Form’ suddenly out. Not completely white!

First flowers out high up on Magnolia zenii. So we now have 7 magnolias in flower!

First flower out on Camellia x williamsii ‘Delia Williams’. A little later than usual I suspect.

2023 – CHW
The Copper House safe.The family repurchased the dilapidated Copper House at Burncoose in 2020. Reroofing and renovating what was formally the estate office for the Williams Cornish Mining Company Ltd is now well underway.In the front room just inside the front door is a massive safe in a strongroom that can only be unlocked from a lever behind the bed in the bedroom above. In around 1964 the contents of the safe and all the mining archives were transferred from the Copper House to Caerhays.

John Trudgeon supervised the move and always said that the safe was completely empty.

The safe has two locks; one of which had rusted up. The keys had long since disappeared so 3 up country locksmiths quoted to get it open (c. £2000!) It took 3 visits by the selected locksmith to gain entry.

Then, with bated breath, the safe is opened for the first time in 60 years. All Trudgie had left for us was a half penny coin! Otherwise empty as you can see.

2022 – CHWThe strong NW winds which the weathermen have been warning about for a few days have now reached us from the north of the country. Wet but still mild here although snow flurries upcountry.The gigantic Camellia ‘Magnoliiflora’ overhanging the top wall.

First decent flower out on Rhododendron monstroseanum.

Unripe seed heads and foliage on Trochodendron araliodes – Taiwanese form. This is now a small spreading tree.

Magnolia ‘Todd’s Forty Niner’ a week on with a few flowers fully out. Todd Gresham’s 49th cross made in 1964 in California ((M. x soulangeana ‘Rouged Alabaster) x M. ‘Royal Crown’). The parentage is evident in the small compact form and shape of this variety planted here in 2007.

First few flowers blown out overnight on Magnolia zenii. Too high up to do justice to. Also planted in 2007 and now much taller than ‘49er’.

Similarly a few flowers on Magnolia campbellii ‘Valentine’s Torch’. Yellow as it opens fading to white. Again too high up to photograph properly. Originally from a graft gifted to us by Mount Congreve.

The original and largest 1913 Magnolia campbellii has four flowers blown out today but is still a long way from being properly out. Very little colour yet showing on the vast majority of buds.

2021 – CHW
Finally the end of the UK and Ireland champion tree of Osmanthus yunnanensis. As we have seen before one tree reshot after pollarding but the second did not. The cross section of the trunk shows obvious rot in its dotage. Look how quickly it grew and the trunk enlarged in the earlier years of its life. Very fine wood which a wood turner and polisher might well now make use of. Just the digger to remove the stump now.

Galanthus elwesii now full out.

Hydrangea lobbii has, not unexpectedly, caught a chill in the cold. The flowers have all dropped in protest. What do you expect if you try to flower (as we have seen) November to December?

‘Wild’ daffodils now full out on the bank at the Four in Hand.

A rather battered seedling of the normally creamy yellowish flowered Rhododendron grande here with excellent pink buds below Burns Bank. We saw another of these last year above the greenhouse. We thought then a natural cross with Rhododendron ‘Cornish Red’ or ‘Red Admiral’. The seedlings were originally gathered from beside the top frames where they had self-sown. One or two other similar forms of grande on Hovel Cart Road have been pinkish but not as pink as this. We had thought the greenhouse one might be worth naming and registering.

A camellia as yellow as this has a problem. I had suspected ring barking with a strimmer or some other damage to the trunk at ground level. In fact the plant has been blown nearly out of the ground and most of its roots have snapped. The whole plant is wobbly and needs a stake but even doing this may well be too late to save it now.

Rhododendron ‘Bo Peep’ now nicely out.

As now is Rhododendron arboreum subsp. cinnamomeum.

Absolutely gorgeous scent and full out today at 12-15ft tall is Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’.

Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ — Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’

2020 – CHW
First Burncoose budget meeting reveals excellent results for the nursery for the first nine months and a healthy budget for 2020/1.Amazingly Geum ‘Scarlet Tempest’ was full out on the immaculate herbaceous beds.

Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ was full out on top of the wall outside the old packing shed and smelling gorgeous. Not much variegation that obvious on the remaining leaves.

Sycoparrotia semidecidua full out with its peculiar flowers.

The Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Rex’ outside the old packing shed is now out in flower. The flower head and leaves look likely to be blown away in the gales forecast for the coming weekend.

2019 – CHW
First flowers on Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ about on a par to last year’s sighting.

Sycopsis tutcheri seems fully evergreen and now with red flowers which are actually petal-less stamens. This plant is in a huge pot by the greenhouse. The plant by Tin Garden looks much more deciduous and with smaller leaves but the few flowers yet seen there last year were the same. Hilliers say that S. tutcheri is in fact Distylum racemosum but admits to the fact that Chinese forms may be different from those from Taiwan, Japan and Korea. I would say that the plant in the pot is probably Taiwanese and the one already in the garden is Chinese. One for the experts to debate but the flower does look Sycopsis-like to me! Nothing in ‘New Trees’ to enlighten us further.

These snowdrops were dug in the green from The Vean 12 to 13 years ago prior to rebuilding work there. They were planted far too deeply and part of the clump is only now showing above ground with many of the flowers still in bud.

2018 – CHW
Snow today at the nursery!

Forsythia manchurica buds just showing colour.

Azalea stenopetalum ‘Linearifolium’ with odd flowers out of season.

Euonymus fortunei ‘Wolong Ghost’ is a new plant to us. Clearly a trailing or perhaps a climbing plant.

Supposedly Grevillea serrata but no one knows where it came from or from whom? Does not look like any grevillea I have ever seen.

Nice young cuttings of Lindera aggregata freshly potted.

Quercus insignis (grafted plant) looking in good condition.

We saw Cornus officinalis full out in flower last week. Here Cornus mas is just starting to show while C. officinalis is over already.

A large plant of Mahonia aquifolium with flowers just coming and still good red autumn tints on the leaves.

Ribes laurifolium full out already.

The new pallet packing shed is now finished on time!

2017 – CHW
Rhododendron ‘Cornubia Group’ is just out and looking good. Three plants planted in 2007. Two survive and are fine plants.

2016 – CHW
A truly filthy day with 15 hours of hail and rain with heavy wind. Lizzie goes briefly to a hunt meet at Treberrick and I venture out for an hour to join the rain soaked pigeon shooters at 4pm. Few are still firing so it is a waste of time and it is far too still. Three crows and two pigeons only but the four dogs are lively after a week’s rest from the end of the shooting season. Mr Billy runs incessantly jumping with energy and joy.

2015 – CHW
Richard Carew-Pole arrives for High Sheriff’s dinner at Caerhays with plants of Acacia [Michael?] and Stauntonia [?]. He has now moved out of Anthony House and Tremayne has taken over the estate.

1933 – JCW
A bad three weeks for bloom of any kind but it seems to be mending, mucronulatum would have been very fine but for the frost.

1923 – JCW
Much as in 1921, it has been a late year down to ten days ago and then to wet and damp.

1921 – JCW
Blood Red Arboreums at their best, Argenteum opening well, some Sutchuenense and in the 40 Acres under the wind R praecox just began to move. Barbatums good. One of the Prunus conradinae is perfect. Very few daffs.

1918 – JCW
Soleil d’or shows colour. Cyclamineus by the Gun Room just open. Some Barbatums open, nothing open in the Tin Garden. Some Molle Azalea swelling very much. Snowdrops and Aconite wane and so do Moupinense. Wilson and Korea seed came a week ago (some of it?). Sent some to Elwes, Loder, White, Cave, Rogers and Werrington, two packets sown here.

1914 – JCW
The first Soleil d’or just shows colour, a few Arboreum are starting. C. Lady Clare is very nice, a big move all round in the last three days.

1913 – JCW
A very early year. A C. reticulata open a week, about 12 to 15 kinds of Rhodo open including 10 species, plenty of daff made a good crop in the open last week. Many Ciliatums open, a flower of Mag halliana opening.

1912 – JCW
Our hardest frost since 1895 has broken, it cut out a lot of Rhodo’ buds, but did not do much harm else, snowdrops very good.

1899 – JCW
Made my first cross max x cycl.

1897 – JCW
A week of soft weather, Hepatica angulosa, Chimodoxa out, first Caerhays daff shows colour, white hoop petticoat out, minimus at its best, Blood Red Arboreum shows colour, C sardensis shows colour, Glory of Leyden all above ground well, Pitwatkin well above, Barbatum has one flower out.