2024 – CHW
Camellia lutchuensis has hardly opened at all in the last fortnight.
2023 – CHW
A series of pictures of big leafed rhododendrons suffering from drought, frost and lack of new growth last year all on Sinogrande walk.
Acer palmatum ‘Scolopendrifolium’ on the drive at Burncoose always holds its old leaves through the winter. An unusual habit for an Acer palmatum type.
2021 – CHW
Watching yet another Plant Heritage webinar on buddleia last night I was struck how far we could we could improve on the varieties which we currently grow and offer on the Burncoose website.
Longstock Park Nursery and Peter Moore have held the National Collection of buddleia since 1998. Seventy varieties of Buddleia davidii in the collection and 14 new varieties bred by Longstock are now available in the nursery trade.
We still offer the Nanho strain of supposedly dwarf growing buddleia but the US bred ‘Buzz’ varieties are smaller growing, more dwarf, and have larger flowers.
Buddleia ‘Black Knight’ and ‘Empire Blue’ have been superseded by ‘Buzz Indigo’ / ‘African Queen’ as good purples and by ‘Blue Horizon’ as a darker blue.
B. ‘Orchid Beauty’ has spectacular balls of flowers up the flower spike.
B. ‘Santana’ is better than our B. ‘Harlequin’ which reverts a lot to being unvariegated in its leaves.
B. ‘Buzz Velvet’ and B. ‘Sugar Plum’ are better than B. ‘Royal Red’.
A fair bit of naughtiness and cheating in the naming of new varieties too. B. ‘Hocus Pocus’ with yellow flowers (touched up in the adverts) sold by Hayloft is really just B. ‘Sungold’ (or so Moore maintains).
So a bit of thought, stock plant buying, and a new look at some trade liner lists to help us improve our offering to customers of better plants for garden growing.
Now the RHS Council are asking members to vote at the next AGM on a rule change which will allow Council to ‘appoint’ (in ‘exceptional circumstances’ of course but determined by them) and support for election NON qualifying NON RHS members. Previously, to be eligible for election to the Council, you had to be an RHS member for three years and have the written support of 10 well known RHS members to stand for election.
We can all guess what this means. The RHS will be taken over, as have other well-known public charities (RSPCA, RSPB, National Trust), by left wing thinkers with a woke and political agenda. More of Mr Weed’s ‘diversity’ drive here.
This is all portrayed as ‘routine’ RHS business but it is not! The beginning of unwelcome change where the RHS becomes a climate action group rather than sticking to its charter as a plant based charity delivering what its members have always wanted.
VOTE it out!
2020 – CHW
Off to the nursery for the first time in a month and I am immediately struck by the wonderful hellebores in flower.
Helleborus ‘Sally’s Shell’ has a delicate pink frill to the edge of the flower which fades a bit as you can see.
The two magnolias through the arch continue to come out despite the coldish snap and some northerly gales with heavy rain. Ridiculously and worryingly early.
First flowers on Rhododendron moupinense a little later than last year I think.
An enquiry from our friends in Holland with whom we had been selling camellia flowers in years past. Why are they so late they ask? Look at their anticipation of last week’s weather is clearly the answer but, for now, the high pressure has gone and we are back into wet, westerly and mild conditions.First flower high up on Camellia x williamsii ‘Mary Jobson’ by the side door. No scent yet.
Another day, another magnolia is out. Magnolia campbellii var alba ‘Strybing White’ is normally one of the first to show colour and is often frosted. Here, yet again, this is at least a month early. The flowers of this cultivar are a bit insipid with a slightly greenish/yellow hue as they first open. Nothing like as good as the true M campbellii var alba.
1933 – JCW
Very far behind 28. Forrest’s Camellias are the best flowers after the passing of the Hamamelis. 4 hardish frosts.
1928 – JCW
Later than 27 for Daffs, but many Rhodo’n hybrids and species show flower, some nice R sutchuenense open in the Old Park. Barbatum and the early Blood reds are good, also moupinense – lutescens – irroratum – mucronulatum. Prunus cerasus conradinae show colour.
1927 – JCW
Cyclamineus daff has been open for some three days, nothing else of that family. Camellia speciosa, oleifolia and the tea plant show flowers say 10 Rhodo ‘n species show flower of which lutescens, parvifolium and irroratum are the best.
1923 – JCW
Picked the first buds of Sutchuenense, most of the above are open, one or two cyclamineus open.
1922 – JCW
Pollen to be had off the following species R obtusum – moupinense – rubiginosum – neriiflorum – cuneatum – racemosum – scabrifolium – oreodoxa – cyanocarpum – mucronulatum – dahuricum semperivens – lutescens – baylei – sulfureum – micranthum.
1920 – JCW
Only one daff (cyclamineus) open so far, the blood red hybrids very good, irroratums have just begun to show their value, some arboreums in flower, Rho’n praecox was never better.
1915 – JCW
One cyclamineus is open the first bit of yellow, many beautiful scarlet Rhodo’s are open including R barbatum which only shows colour. Hamamelis mollis is really the best thing open.
1906 – JCW
Send eight or ten seedling daffs to Engelhart at Dinton, the first Soleil D’or came out, Narcissus Prince shows colour.
1905 – JCW
Picked the first seedling (Cyclamineus Max). Perhaps two or three open, nearly half the daffs above ground.
1904 – JCW
Yellow crocus open for a week or ten days, coums at their best, and snowdrops, a few seedling tets show colour, Soleil D’or well open and so Aconite.
1901 – JCW
I saw the first minor open. Snow and N.E wind.