The accumulation of sand blown from the beach onto the road has been removed by Bob with the telehandler. We now look forward to the restricted parking and no parking signs which have finally been approved by Cornwall Council after a 3 year struggle.

Despite the frost last week Rhododendron keysii still intact and undamaged.

Another plant of Rhododendron ririei just opening. A darker colour than the one seen recently.

Camellia x williamsii ‘Mimosa Jury’ just starting into flower and certainly early.

2023 – CHW
First daffodils out in Kennel Close.

More laurel hedge cut back below the Main Ride.

First flowers on Camellia x williamsii ‘Caerhays’.

First flowers out exceptionally early on Michelia ‘Fairy White’. A bit of frost damage.

Flowers now showing properly on Magnolia campbellii by Tin Garden.

Leaf blowing below Burns Bank.

2022 – CHW
An unexpected bit of storm damage down on Bond Street.

The second magnolia in the garden showing colour. Not surprisingly this is again Magnolia campbellii ‘Strybing White’. Originally from New Zealand and planted here in 1990.

Camellia ‘Hiraethlyn’ with just a hint of pink.

2021 – CHW
A month earlier than usual, and entirely due to lockdown, Asia and I spent yesterday picking out larger plants from the frames to plant out in different parts of the garden when it dries up a bit. We shifted a great deal and had the first planting session in the November lockdown. Even more to do this year than for several years with a distinct shortage of space apart from Old Park and Forty Acres Wood. I have perhaps overdone the ordering and propagation during the March to July lockdown out of boredom and a desire to cheer up with something pleasant and more productive.

Camellia x williamsii ‘Hiraethlyn’ was bred at Bodnant and has a slightly elongated shape with just hints of pink on the outside and inside of the outer petals. Slightly frilly edges to the petals. Three years from being a cutting. Not sure where this came from but a good thing.

A flower on a two year old rooted cutting from Tregrehan of Camellia yushienensis. Another new species to us here.

Piles of plants for Kennel Close and the Georges Hut area.

Another pile for behind the greenhouse and the new area above Crinodendron Hedge.

Magnolias for Forty Acres – mainly less exciting (breeding wise) new additions to the national collection. Around 60 new magnolias overall to go out now. We have grown these on for a couple of years. Potting annually in a shaded, plastic top covered but open sided frame built decades ago. Another 30 or so are still too small to go out this year and a further crop of 40 to 50 yet more new named and grafted varieties which arrived last November from Holland, Belgium and Switzerland or as gifts from gardening friends and Burncoose have yet to be potted on. These are mostly two to three years away from being big enough to plant out. Very few buds to be seen this year on any of the younger magnolia plants. Far less than on last year’s batch.

A few more flowers now out on the Tin Garden Magnolia campbellii which you can actually see in better light.

Flowers now out low down on Camellia x williamsii ‘Mary Jobson’ and the scent is good today.

2020 – CHW
I looked at Magnolia campbellii var. alba ‘Strybing White’ last Sunday and there was no sign of any colour. Now, after three days of sunshine, the first evidence of undamaged flowers has started to appear.

Meanwhile the rather pale campbellii near Tin Garden has seen a couple of its flowers begin to open.

We looked at the flower buds of Fatsia polycarpa around Christmas time. These are not yet fully open but certainly pretty impressive for this time of the year.

2019 – CHW
The oddly bicoloured Rhododendron irrorata anthosphaerum just coming out below the Main Ride.

Rhododendron barbatum now fully out with Edward Farmer and Thomas Methuen-Campbell looking on admiringly. It is scentless but that did not stop them trying.

Rhododendron sutchuenense full out too above the borehole.

2018 – CHW
Look at how much woodpeckers have been enjoying the rotten centre of this old sycamore tree.

2016 – CHW
As expected Magnolia ‘Star Wars’ has several flowers showing a rather pale colour. Not as far out as its sister, Magnolia ‘Red Lion’, pictured a week or so ago.

Magnolia zenii above the greenhouse has one decent flower out. A good month earlier than we looked at this with Jim Gardiner last year in the first week of March.