Azalea ‘Hinodegiri’ and Rhododendron bauhiniiflorum on Hovel Cart Road.

First flowers on Azalea ‘Ledifolia Alba’ on the drive.

Azalea amoena and Rhododendron kiyosumense.

Azalea ‘Shin Sekai’ and Rhododendron schlippenbachii.

Rhododendron schlippenbachii and Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki’.

Rhododendron schlippenbachii and Rhododendron ‘Emma Williams’.

Cornus ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’ with its white bracts at about half-size as yet.

The first deciduous azaleas emerging into flower beyond the Four in Hand. Early by anyone’s standards which bodes badly for Chelsea cut flowers.

Rhododendron ‘Elizabeth’ full out now at the Four in Hand and quite a sight for visitors.

Rhododendron oreodoxa var. fargesii – a few flowers on one of the young plants.

Pittosporum adaphniphylloides with flower buds ready to open up. This plant has grown away particularly quickly.

Young plants of Rhododendron decorum out unusually early. The much older plants nearby often flower in July/August.

Rhododendron decorum and Magnolia ‘Genie’ out together.

2021 – CHW
A blackbirds’ nest in Jaimie’s garden. Without the successful use of Larsen traps the magpies would probably already have had these.

I forgot to photograph the 50 or so magnolia flowers cut for today’s yellow magnolia lecture in the garage (eleven booked but only nine turned up). Here are a couple of vases of leftovers.

The large clump of Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Geisha Girl’ by the tower is in full flower today but I wonder if I have it correctly named. The flowers are orange and not peach-apricot as they should be, but I think they will yet fade in colour.

The dwarf Rhododendron russatum in the Rockery.

Magnolia ‘Yellow Lantern’ by the playhouse from a distance.

Syringa pinnatifolia just opening.

Hydrangea lobbii has indeed been killed by the February cold.

Magnolia veitchii ‘Isca’ and Rhododendron ‘Cornish Red’ seen from the lawn.

Still plenty of flowers on Camellia ‘Lady Clare’ a good three months after the first one appeared.

And the same on Camellia ‘Noblissima’ which first showed in November.

2020 – CHW
The BBC tell us it is disgraceful that some hospitals are actually washing their protective kit rather than throwing it away every time after use!Most of it looks pretty washable at high temperatures to me.This might even save the NHS money and, with heat in the wash, it must be about as safe as we are always told that washing your hands is!

But it is still ALL the government’s fault of course and, now Starmer is in on the politics, the two can feed off each other as in the Remoaner era.

Listening to BBC and other journalists questioning the government and officials at 4.30pm every day have you noticed that the great Laura Kuenssberg and Robert Peston et al ask multiple questions to which they never listen to the answer (which has often been given already in response to someone else)? Nor do they care about the answer really! All they are doing is showing their self-importance and trying to score anti-government political points to make news and newspaper headlines. It is almost a competition to see how rude they dare to be to outdo each other and become a bigger celebrity of impending doom. The arrogance and hypocrisy is quite breathtaking masked as investigative journalism.

One lives in hope that the government will become even firmer in its handling of the BBC licence fee issue later this year as a result of all this negativism. No wonder Boris had banned ministers from being interviewed on the Today programme until recently.

One swan is back on the lake. A mother and two very mature cygnets left about 10 days ago. Normally the parents drive the cygnets away out to sea in the autumn but this last crop stayed all winter. Will the mother return? Is the newly arrived swan her former mate? It will be interesting to see what happens next as they should be building a nest very soon.

Enkianthus campanulatus ‘Vesta’ is the first one out of the three Vs (‘Virgo’, ‘Venus’ and ‘Vesta’).

Rhododendron ‘Linda’ on Hovel Cart Road with the other groups of williamsianum hybrids.

Camellia reticulata ‘Lila Naff’ still full out and quite late.

First flowers out on Rhododendron ‘Michael’s Pride’ below Donkey Shoe.

Magnolia ‘Mighty Mouse’ flowering better than ever before. This is a tiny dwarf plant with tiny flowers despite its rather good name (Minnie Mouse is already the name of a Michelia).

Rhododendron haemaleum var. atrorubens is another real rarity although Dr Davidian, the former great rhodo professor, was uncertain of its status and identity according to the pocket rhodo handbook.

I think there are now 20+ different yellow flowering magnolias on display today in Kennel Close alone. You have seen most of them this year already. Here is the small flowered Magnolia ‘Maxine Merrill’ which is putting on a good show as a small tree.

I have my doubts about Photinia macrophylla being true to name. So far it appears deciduous with small leaves.

Magnolia ‘Sunray’ is a fair tree now too.

A plant of Azalea ‘Caerhays Lavender’ with its gorgeous new growth but, as yet, no flowers out.

I had forgotten that we have a new species of Photinia above the Auklandii Garden. This is Photinia nussia which is half evergreen and has just dropped its old leaves to reveal the new growth. Quite red at first, as you see from some basal shoots, but it quickly fades. We now have at least ten different species of Photinia.

Magnolia ‘Honeybelle’ now full out with fully open flowers opening flat.

Magnolia x brooklynensis ‘Titan’, now that it is full out, does seem to have enough yellow in the flower for it to be probably be true to name.

Magnolia ‘Hot Flush’ looking superb.

Photinia davidiana is virtually leafless. The old leaves have just dropped but the new growth has yet to appear in the main.

This is the record tree of Photinia prionophylla which has nasty spikes. It has remained fully evergreen and the new growth is emerging only higher up and is green.

2019 – CHW
Rhododendron reticulatum in the Rockery. A very old plant which is deciduous most years but only partly so after this mild winter. This species can be a variety of colours from purple to reddish purple and with or without central blotches. Rhododendron kiyosumense (search elsewhere in the diary to see) is also a form of reticulatum but the Japanese recognise several related species from different Japanese regions.

Magnolia ‘Sunset Swirl’ is another from the same ‘stable’ or parentage as ‘Daybreak’, ‘Yuchelia’ and yesterday’s new variety in the nursery. These few appear before the yellows really get going and give the magnolia season continuity.

We need some photographs of Acer macrophyllum for the website as this rare species is shortly to be offered by Burncoose. A 2011 planted tree has its first inflorescences here.

Asia needs to remind me of the name of this peculiar evergreen climber growing outside the back yard and now in full flower properly for the first time. [Boquila trifoliata]

2016 – CHW
Out of the blue a request for a garden tour by a Northamptonshire landowner who arrived in a small blue helicopter which he flew himself. The wind was against them and they were a little late over the 1hr40m flight. We did two tours either side of lunch while the co-pilot refuelled at Bodmin airport. He was keen on trees, involved with Kew and is clearly expanding his arboretum although his estate has yet to have a house built on it (by him) and he currently lives elsewhere. An interesting contact not least because he has a grouse moor in Weardale.

Camellia ‘Dream Castle’ has recovered from its rather drastic haircut and has produced its first two flowers since the pruning. A risk which was worth taking.

An unnamed FJW cross between Rhododendron ‘Elizabeth’ and Rhododendron ‘Charles Michael’ is rather nice below Slip Rail. Two plants here which I had not seen in flower before. The cross is indeed a halfway house between the two parents with neither predominating. Jaimie is keen on it!

A Rhododendron sinogrande type planted in 1991 from Tom Hudson is very fine along from Georges Hut and I cannot see how I have missed this up to now. Although pale in colour it has a very distinct red eye as you can see. Perhaps it is a newer species? We can ask on Tuesday. [The answer was that it is the rare Rhododendron suoilenhense]

Magnolia ‘Yakeo’ is good value as a small growing magnolia and here in full sun. It had secondary flowers last autumn and is not dissimilar to ‘Caerhays Surprise’ at least as regards the flower.

The magnolias on the drive are, as usual, a fortnight later than the rest of the garden and quite superb today although Magnolia ‘Caerhays Splendour’ is now just over here. The campbellii alba seedling has lasted for weeks as has its parent.

Magnolia ‘Goldstar’ has emerged rather more and is a good colour this year. Hardly a small tree as its parentage would imply.

Off he flies again from the Nobby at about 3.30pm. A four hour visit!

2015 – CHW
Estate bi-monthly meeting (a particular difficult one) lasts all day and then the fete meeting in the evening. The film crew have finished filming above the beach which has seriously annoyed our garden visitors with road closures. No time for the garden at all sadly.