Mary Kaiser (nee Jobson), her daughter Sarah, and granddaughters Cora and Carter in the Tin Garden shed. A whistle stop tour of Cornwall for the family based in Bermuda and USA.

The Symphoricarpos albus clump on the lawn was cut down to get rid of the ivy within it. It has reshot more from root suckers than the cut main stems.

Pinus wallichiana is now developing a flaking trunk.

A double flowered orange Hemerocallis in the frames which is incorrectly labelled.

Machilus yunnanensis with its reddish new growth.

Asia’s plant of Hoya carnosa is now enormous and covered in flower in the greenhouse.

Camellia costei with reddish new growth in the greenhouse.

And Camellia parvilimba is the same.

Syzygium australe has a very distinct leaf formation.

2023 – CHW

An incredibly sad day. Nicky who had featured in countless diary photographs and blogs shuffling around plants. Clearly ill last night the vet said his heart had given out and he had to be put down aged only 7. Seven years and around 500 days shooting together. His hips and back legs were terrible as a puppy and I suppose I always knew that he was not destined for a long life. Buried, with the others, on the lawn.

Magnolia grandiflora now well out below the lawn together with M. delavayi.

Fuchsia magellanica ‘Lady Bacon’ really is quite a sight.

Dying 10-12 year old rhododendrons in the drought.

The next door clump are nearly there too.

A newly dead camellia by the Fernery.

Hydrangea ‘Hobella’ nearly full out and not yet wilting like so many of the others.

The large clump of Rhododendron nobleanum on the drive is shrivelling and dying as well when one looks closely.

2022 – CHW

I have been visiting Ventnor Botanic Garden in June/July for around 20 years and have watched it move from council ownership to becoming a charitable trust. Despite its obvious popularity with summer visitors and the improvements to its shops, catering and outside events I am afraid that in horticultural terms it is regressing and parts of it are becoming terribly overgrown and uncared for.

The faintly woke claim on the blackboard at the garden entrance has much to say about biodiversity and nature but is clearly also a tacit admission that the place is becoming scruffy and untended.

A botanic garden surely has a duty to inform the public about its rare plant collections. This means labelling. I have not seen any new labelling of anything for around 10 years when there was last an effort to clear an area and start a new collection of temperate or southern hemisphere plants below the entrance.

The collections of grevillea, melaleuca and callistemon are now a jungle where the fittest and largest growing species have killed off the rest. The eucalyptus collection has suffered in gales, is covered in fallen deadwood, and could do with complete pollarding so people could see (with labels) what the collection actually consists of. The New Zealand native lawn is now more of a tent than a plant area and needs urgent rejuvenation. There were labels once when I visited with Susyn Andrews to identify New Zealand native plants but long vanished in the undergrowth.

The whole echium area is crying out for a new start and the circa 15 year old specimen olive plantation is, frankly, a disgrace. The specimen trees in the lawn area are, in the main, labelled but it takes time to hunt them down.

If you have recently been accepted as having a Plant Heritage national collection of palm trees you could at least label them as such? The Tree Register lists quite a number of other record trees at Ventnor and most of them do not have proper labelling either.

We all know how the public steal and move plant labels but I could show you 20 labels on the agave bank alone where the plant is long dead and/or the label is obviously on the wrong plant. Nearly all the mature agave (not to mention the Puya and Beschorneria clumps) have been flowering and then dying in recent years. Where are the replacement plants to come on?

The one bit of new planting nearest the sea and above the children’s play area which I only came upon last year for the first time is a disaster. Burncoose magnolias being decimated by rabbits. Two new jubilee planted magnolias have wire netting guards but none of the others. The recently planted camellias just below look ghastly. It is too hot and dry in this part of the garden to grow camellias or magnolias unless there is irrigation. There are good camellias in shade elsewhere.

The expanded plant sales area (even with a few echiums to sell this year) is much better but the plants are too large and far too expensive for casual visitors (£39.95 for a 10L romneya). So many things could easily be grown from seed or propagated in house.

Staff all friendly and helpful but having to pay for everything (entry and from one shop) at the café till is absolutely daft quite apart from being unhygienic. The serving area was pretty confused and chaotic even with a small queue. Terrible layout for staff working behind the counter.

I saw six volunteers or staff working in the garden. A charming old man who was removing dead bits who agreed about the labelling. All tinkering at the edges rather than getting stuck into real clearance, improvement and regeneration.

Without someone getting a serious grip many rare herbaceous plants are and already have been swamped and killed and there is no sign of regeneration and new planting where it is needed most. The entrance used to have scores of well labelled tenderish herbs. All swamped now by a few thug plants and no labels remain.

No idea what the criteria are for being a ‘botanic’ garden but Ventnor is losing it on the plant front and on the education/learning side. One could understand this of the council but surely the current charity trustees could do better! Dare I write to the chairman of the trustees?

Bowkeria verticillata from South Africa is now 15ft tall and wide with its white calceolaria-like flowers. A wonderful show today in the sun.

Polygala myrtifolia, another South African shrub, flowering well (myrtle leaved milkwort) and it even had a label!

Coleonema pulchrum, confetti bush, glowing in the sun. South African.

Arctotheca populifolia, beach daisy, was swamping all its neighbours. Dandelion flowers and leaves (but hairy). South African origin and a thug of a plant in any border.

A gigantic Freylinia lanceolata, honey bells – here its woody trunk which we have never seen on our stock plant at Burncoose by the mist houses where it is a shrub not a South African tree.

Picconia excelsa – Canary Islands olive – is a huge ilex-like tree which we tried and failed with.

Diospyros glaucifolia – a species I have not seen anywhere else. Tiny white/green flowers just showing which I have seen full out before.

Aesculus californica at about 30ft. Not that many flowers and I am not convinced that the label was correct (as I have said before). Looks more like A. wilsonii or the other late flowering species.

The UK champion tree of Pittosporum bicolor from S. E. Australia. Never realised it could grow to 40ft.

A 30-40ft tall Dacrydium cupressinum (another champion) whose branches and leaflets have no drooping at all? A change in maturity for this tree? I have seen larger on Tresco that did not look like this and still had drooping branches. It may be Dacrydium but label wrong I suspect.

Quercus x hispanica ‘Ambrozyana’. Hillier’s say x hispanica is mislabelled and it should be Q. x crenata ‘Ambrozyana’. Semi-evergreen, leaves white underneath.

A tree sized Corylus columna which I have not spotted before. The Turkish hazel which I once grew by Lower Quarry Nursery at Caerhays but cut down as too dull for this location. I was wrong when looking at this bark and branch structure.

Quercus rubra with a wonderful trunk too.

Rabbit damage on a recently planted Magnolia x loebneri and no rabbit guards on what is left of the dry and starved magnolia planting (ex Burncoose). Plants look dreadful.

A very good crop of walnuts on Juglans nigra – black walnut.

Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriniana has attractive bark and slightly different shaped leaves. Flowers long gone. Bark a bit different too.

Juglans ailanthifolia – Japanese walnut – also with well advanced walnut formations as we have seen recently in a young tree at home.

Eucalyptus archeri – alpine cider gum – with wonderful bark as I have seen before. Not a single eucalyptus species in flower that I spotted while we have two at home.

Unlabelled but a huge mature tree of Asimina triloba just coming into flower. None of our small trees are mature enough to have decent bark like this.

Maclura pomifera – Osage orange – as a small tree with some insignificant flowers and nasty prickles on the stems.

Arbutus x alapensis – champion tree of the ‘Texas madrone’. Superb bark just starting to split lower down near ground level. Visitors have carved graffiti into the trunk, sadly; little realising how important a tree this is.

We are attempting to grow Ceratonia siligua below Slip Rail. Michael brought back seeds from France and, to my surprise, they are starting to grow away.

Echium fastuosum with its attractive seedheads.

Pyrus x michauxii – hybrid pear and champion tree originating in the Levant as I have seen before with flower and fruit.

Brahea armata – Mexican blue palm – these two plants have doubled in size since I last saw them on this very hot top bank.

Jubaea chilensis – Chilean wine palm with peculiar hairs growing from its leaf edges.

If the label is in the right place this is Nolina nelsonii with a 10ft tall yellow flower covered in bees. When I look this up Nolina are Mexican evergreen perennial shrubs related to yuccas which makes sense looking at the flower spike. Label correct but the two next to it were not as on non-existent plants. Not exciting until it flowers.

My favourite Ventnor plant is perhaps Prumnopitys taxifolia growing under the carpark. It has shot away since I last saw it and is now a small tree of 10-12ft rather than a drooping mounded shrub of 4-6ft as I remember it. Label now lost inside the branchlets but I think it used to say Prumnopitys andina which may be why I muddled the two species originally. Much more green new growth and leaflets than usual on its orangy twiglets and plenty with no leaflets as well (i.e. as usual).

2021 – CHW
Serena and Neil visit with Lamorna who has doubled in size in a month.

Euonymus morrisonensis now fully in flower.

Examination of Manglietia insignis by Lamorna.

Cotoneaster ‘Exburyensis’ about to flower.

Last and not very yellow flower on Magnolia ‘Lemon Star’. First flowers out in early April!

Aesculus californica full out. It has been quite slow growing compared to some of the other species.

Eucalyptus simondsii finally in flower. Saw the swelling buds months ago.

Buddleia loricata nearly out by the garden entrance.

2020 – CHW
Somewhat to everyone’s surprise after starting to nest so late in the season the swans have today produced three cygnets off the nest. We saw the nest get flooded in the recent rain and both parents frantically building it higher.

A trip to the nursery in some rain.
About halfway through potting up this year’s camellia liners.

Looking good today in the nursery:Lilium nepalense

Hoheria lyallii

Acca sellowiana ‘Gemini’

Roscoea x beesiana

Orders still coming in at the rate of 100 a day in lockdown. Everyone in the packing sheds is getting tired!Then back here for some filming for the weekly VLOG and topical tips for the website.

Lomatia ferruginea is absolutely laden down with flower this year after two dry summers. Normally it is one of the things which we know will be out and sell well at Hampton Court. The best thing in the garden today.

Neolitsea aff. polycarpa was simply too tall to stand upright when we planted it out this spring. So we simply chopped off 6ft and hoped for the best. After the rains came we finally have some reshooting.

The elderly clump of Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’ is already turning an autumnal orange after the heatwave.

Aesculus x mutabilis ‘Induta’ is already producing a crop of ‘conkers’.

2019 – CHW
This may be Magnolia virginiana ‘Havener’? It is an evergreen tree with an overall height of 12-15ft and 8-10ft across. Only two flower buds that I can see and they look too small to be ‘Havener’ according to the reference books. The flowers are supposed to be double with a pinkish tinge. We will see. Planted in 1992.

After three days away at Hampton Court the flowers are now well out on Magnolia yuyuanensis (formerly Manglietia). The three outer tepals are probably correctly sepals. They soon curl in on themselves so that the red outsides are not visible for long. The flowers are pendulous with purple anthers which fade quickly and finally open out upside down which is not exactly how they are shown in ‘Magnolias of China’. The flowers do not look much like those on Tom’s either so this may not be correctly named? However I cannot see any other Manglietia species featured in the Chinese book which looks closer. Perhaps the tree is young and well shaded so that the flowers will stand more upright in maturity? The scent is strong only in those half out and is essentially the magnolia sap scent with a hint or more of lemon. Still more buds a long way from being out.

The third bud on Magnolia sapaensis still not out. The other two now just seed heads.

Reevsia sinica had shed all its old leaves before the very attractive new growth emerges.

2018 – CHW
I had forgotten where we had put Styrax americanus and how late into the season it flowers. Looking very attractive today as a smallish shrub. Its nearest equivalent Chinese species is probably Styrax wilsonii.

Stewartia sinensis is at last full out and, this year, the flowers seem larger than I remember. The five long calyxes preceding the bud opening are quite clear here. It is a huge tree but you need to look up from underneath it to see the best of the flowering effect.

The old leaves on the primroses are going yellow and have flopped down flat on the ground. Even in full shade the plants are close to going dormant until spring having restored their energy from the leaf growth. No seed heads evident here but plenty nearby.

The bluebell seed heads are also already dry and ripe. They are shedding their seeds naturally. Fine now to begin grass cutting properly. Another small part of natural regeneration has taken place.

2017 – CHW
200 entrants in the Mad Hatters triathlon. Swimming, bicycling and running all over. Not a peaceful Sunday. Karol took a few pictures and here is a sample of what went on.

I discover a rhododendron labelled Rhododendron ‘Dragonfly’ which is a new name to me growing just beside where the original Rhododendron ‘Rebecca’ has just died out. I cannot find it in the obvious reference books but it bears more than a passing resemblance to Rhododendron ‘Pink Polar Bear’. Nearly over sadly.

I have also almost missed Chionanthus virginicus which has nearly finished flowering. Not much flower this year.

The new growth on Quercus cleistocarpa has always been ‘droopy’ but I have never noticed its initial coppery colouring before which is quite strangely attractive. Inflorescences are also to be seen abundantly even on lower branches of this huge tree. We have only very occasionally found any acorns though.

The trunk on Tetrapanax papyrifera ‘Rex’ seems to be dead but we have several suckers growing well away from the old stem and a cluster of new shoots near the base.

Eucryphia lucida is full out above the Auklandii Garden in full sun. Eucryphia milliganii is in bud and Eucryphia ‘Pink Cloud’ out as we saw last week. Eucryphias can flower over a range of weeks in July to September and they are not always consistent year on year.

2016 – CHW
The debate rages over the new Chinese laser labelling machine (£1,500) which Karol has located to make new labels for the whole garden (eventually). The question of what size and colour the labels will be and at what cost is a difficult one. Also what information to actually put on the label itself. We are not a botanic garden so do not need accession numbers for everything and cannot afford the time and effort to compete with Windsor who have a man on this full time. The planting date and full name spelt correctly may have to suffice but a meeting with all the participants is needed to agree how we sort this all out next week. It could be a lengthy but gigantic leap forward and might even help John Williams get to know his plant names rather better and more quickly in the future. Certainly it would help with everything new which we plant
out.

2015 – CHW

Our Seaview garden is a total dump but fortunately the former barman at the yacht club has cut down the worst of the jungle. The only half decent thing is a huge Hypericum Hidcote in full flower.