A young Nyssa sinensis ‘Jim Russell’ finally performing as it should.

First flowers out about a week ago on Camellia sasanqua ‘Narumigata’ near the Magnolia ‘Mr. Julian’.

Weinmannia trichocarpa finally in its place in the Rookery camellia piece.

Just one rather poor flower on the ancient trailing Camellia sasanqua ‘Tanya’.

First flower showing on the Camellia x williamsii ‘George Blandford’ nearby. No sign of any colour on the Main Road where the original plant is located.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Hugh Evans’ suddenly the best show in the garden.

2023 – CHW
To the Eden Project for a session at the Anthropy conference attended by 1700 people with 500 speakers. Briefly I was one and the topic and speakers in our one hour session are below. We were on the graveyard shift from 2-3pm but surprisingly, 27 people turned up and most chairs were full.

In this session we will delve into the concept of “dynamic stewardship” in respect of our built heritage and culture.
Panellists will discuss its crucial role in ensuring the preservation and sustainability of our cultural heritage in the 21st century. Dynamic stewardship embodies the belief that our built heritage, either privately or publicly owned, must adapt and evolve while retaining its intrinsic essence and uniqueness that is special to Britain. Participants will engage in insightful discussions and share their thinking and approaches to strike the delicate balance between conserving our cherished heritage and allowing it to thrive in a modern, changing world. The session aims to emphasize the importance of recognizing the significance to the country of such sites, as well as the need for creative strategies that can breathe new life into our heritage, making it not only resilient but also relevant to current and future generations.

Speakers
Andy Beer
Director of Operations & Consultancy – National Trust

Richard Brass
Chairman – Arts & Culture Impact Fund

Julie Finch
CEO – Hay Festival

Dominic Hare
CEO – Blenheim Palace

Lady Violet Manners
CEO & Founder HeritageXplore

Charles Williams
Owner – Caerhays Estate

Plenty of time to have a quick look around the garden and Mediterranean Biome.

Pseudopanax arboreus just coming into flower below the entrance to Eden.

Malus mandshurica with fruits.

Cunninghamia lanceolata with cones developing.

Eucalyptus gunnii looking good in the sunlight.

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’. We have just planted one at home.

Brahea armata in the Mediterranean Biome. Our plant above the greenhouse is doing fine outside so far.

Lavender dentata or French lavender in bud.

Fruits on Danae racemosa in a cut flower display.

2022 – CHW
The very first flower this year on the hard pruned pale Camellia saluenensis. The darker form has yet to show.

Erica lusitanica flowering amid a bank of Rubus tricolor.

Magnolia ‘Caerhays Belle’ with its leaves just turning.

Plenty of flowers still opening on Magnolia grandiflora.

Cotoneaster franchetii and the autumn colours on Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Gold Rush’.

First mass of flowers on the unnamed Camellia x williamsii on the drive before Hovel turning.

2021 – CHW
A picture of Camellia sasanqua ‘Paradise Blush’ sent from Tregothnan.

Jaimie is starting to collect the seed from some of the rhododendron crosses which he made in April/May.

Startling colours on Mallotus japonicus. The veining on the leaves stays green while the leaf turns yellow.

The very ancient (80 to 100 years?) and original Rhododendron valentianum has finally died on Burns Bank. Burncoose still has a good mature plant and we have a young one still in the Rockery.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Hugh Evans’ now full out above Rogers Quarry.

A honeybee in a flower of Camellia taliensis.

Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’ (‘Senkaki’) strutting its autumn colours in the sun.

Nyssa leptophylla has developed its autumn colours nicely over the last two to three weeks.

2020 – CHW
Billy was put down last night at 9pm aged 15½ years. The trip of a lifetime when he was bitten by an adder on a grouse moor near Blanchland and ran for his life 18 to 20 miles (in a similar number of hours) to the outskirts of Newcastle crossing the A1. He survived and the lump on his foot from the bite was there until his death. A wonderful innings from a legendary rabbit, squirrel and woodcock dog who ran and ran but would never enter a cover or pick up anything but a live pheasant unless he felt like it. He got back from Durham three weeks after the Newcastle trip with Trevor Green where he sat on his haunches and howled with joy at being back. Trevor’s kennel was probably not to his liking! Serena called round to pay her respects. Billy grew up with both Serena and John and was son of the identical Gilly who was run over on the main road at Burncoose circa 13 years ago while off on a shagging expedition after a day’s shooting. The number of times Billy was retrieved from the village shop in Stithians doing the same thing on quiet days showed they had very similar genes!

First flower out and many buds on Paulownia tomentosa ‘Lilacina’. Same as last year in November.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Sekiyo’ nicely out.

As are some Camellia sasanqua ‘Narumigata’.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Setsugekka’ is now 5ft tall. Just a hint of pink on the bud. A large flower for a sasanqua.

Tropaeolum ciliatum got bashed by scaffolding but is still in full growth today.

2019 – CHW
Roger Grose and Frankie Tregunna installed the splendid new cut granite gateposts today at Tin Garden to provide the entrance to Dad’s memorial planting which we will complete next March.

In the process they dig up an old iron pipe which once connected the castle water supply to the old tank in Bramble Field. This was fed from the pumps in the river above Portholland until the 1960s. The tank fed all the Caerhays village too and was situated at the highest point to give the necessary gravity flows.

We had laid a new pipe from the mains supply in the road to the tank (and so on to the castle) when we cleared the Tin Garden area last February.

Another oak tree fell in the gale last Friday/Saturday below White Styles.

Garden Society members were reporting similar severe damage in their gardens at the dinner the night before last.Caerhays exhibited seed of Magnolia nitida, seed of Photinia beauvardiana var. notabilis and fruits of Cotoneaster moupinense.

The best plants shown at the dinner were:

 Sorbus hedlundii

 Euonymus myrianthus

 Cobaea pringlei (John d’Arcy)

 Diospyros lotus (Kew)

 Diospyros kaki (Kew)

 Malus transitoria (Hergest Croft)

 Malus yunnanensis ‘Autumn Glory’ (Hergest Croft)

 Sorbus megalocarpa var. cuneata (Hergest Croft)

 Polyspora sczwanica (Penrice Castle)

 Crataegus x lavalleei

 Camellia sasanqua ‘Early Pearly’ (Tregothnan)

2018 – CHW
Picea brachystyla has bold silvery undersides to its needles. I had not picked up on this before. Compact habit. One of the conifers from our ‘endangered in the wild’ Chelsea exhibit.

Stewartia x henrya really is exceptional in autumn. The best of this genus for autumn colour here by far.

Pieris flowers are fully formed rather earlier than expected. I wonder what this may tell us about the coming winter weather?

2017 – CHW
Seed collecting and evergreen cuttings week. Bliss! Over 50 unusual plants in the propagation system.A good crop of greenish seed on Crabiodendron yunnanense but we go for cuttings instead. Asia may yet collect the seeds later but we have succeeded with cuttings before.

The seed of Nothofagus fusca have shed all over the path. Rather small single seeds in a small’ beech mast’ pod. We need to lay down a sheet of plastic to collect these as they drop another year or perhaps try it now.

Good seed pods on Enkianthus serrulatus. Not many and all gathered. No other enkianthus nearby so should come true if they germinate.