Picea mariana.

Abies homolepis.

Picea orientalis.

Cephalotaxus fortunei.

Picea likiangensis.

Magnolia pseudokobus ‘Kubishimodoki’ just out.

Magnolia ‘Caerhays Surprise’ on The Vean drive.

Jamie Trounce has dealt with the dead elms on The Vean drive and the lambs are enjoying playing about in the branches.

Sciadopitys verticillata.

Taiwania cryptomerioides.

Picea glauca var. albertiana ‘Piccolo’.

First flower out on Magnolia ‘Peachy’.

2024 – CHW
Prunus jamasakura might just make it to the show. Some rain damage but some buds left.

Another second smaller tree has fallen onto the bridge above the lake and blocked it for a second time.

Severe recent storm damage on Bond Street. Several 40 year old Pinus insignis snapped off at about 10 feet from the ground.

The grandchildren enjoy a fire as much as all children do.

Prunus ‘Pink ‘Perfection’ on Bond Street should be just that for the show this weekend.

Euptelea polyandra has interesting bark. Just leafing up as a young plant on Bond Street.

The RHS now call Gunnera manicata invasive and banned. If you want to ban invasive things what about self-seeded pampas grass as here. Cortaderia selloana planted at your gateway was a sign that you were ‘swingers’ although I have never known quite why? Perhaps that is why the RHS hasn’t banned it yet!

Very last flower on Magnolia ‘Red Lion’, the sister seedling to ‘Star Wars’.

Syringa pinnatifolia in flower below the dump. Luckily I have the saw to cut off the usual root stock growths on this grafted plant.

Berberis valdiviana looking superb beside the lilac.

Scilla peruviana are the only things left in my very first garden as a child aged 5 which was created with George Blandford.

Magnolia ‘Caerhays Surprise’ looking good at The Vean.

The story of this year – Rhododendrons smashed to bits before they are even out by rain and hail.

Sometimes hard trimmed rhododendrons respond well.

Three different seedling plants of Rhododendron kiyosumense (a close relative of Rh. reticulatum).

Rhododendron irroratum seedlings smashed to bits but the odd flower survives.

Magnolia ‘Sundance’ more or less smashed to bits as well.

Dipelta floribunda just coming into flower.

2023 – CHW

We had planned to try to register up to 6 new home bred and home created magnolia hybrids this year (one done) but the earlier frost in Old Park has done for 3 of them this year.

So all we can do is look back at last years flowerings of two of them:-

1. Magnolia sprengeri ‘Diva’ var. ‘Burncoose’ x Magnolia ‘F.J. Williams’.

2. Magnolia ‘Mr Julian’ x Magnolia campbellii var. mollicomata ‘Lanarth’ (to be called ‘Leonora’ after my Aunt Leo).

3. Magnolia ‘Atlas’ x Magnolia ‘Lanarth’ has been frosted out and the 5th new hybrid has no flower buds this year.

Should we try to register the two with the Magnolia Society International now or wait another year? Let’s go for it!

I now find a sixth new one in flower today. This is Magnolia ‘Atlas’ x Magnolia sargentiana pure and pictures are attached.

Attached is a wonderful ‘thank you’ postcard from Sir Roy Strong who visited Caerhays a week or two ago. ‘Puce pink in overdrive’ is an amusing way of looking at the garden and quite a compliment from a formerly controversial national character. This is a very good likeness!