Clandeboye Lodge Hotel and Gardens.
Bull and chicken sculpture with the inevitable health and safety notice.
Beech tree arches are an interesting feature.
The Stable yard at Clandeboye Estate and Garden which is now run as a trust and not always open to the public. Fergus Thompson has been Head Gardener here for 26 years. A remarkable garden of many parts. Pinetum to Parkland to formal.
Rhododendron loderi ‘Gamechick’.
Nothofagus betuloides which used to thrive at Caerhays until the 1990 hurricane.
The view over the 3 lakes from the front of Clandeboye House.
Nothofagus nitida is very similar to N. dombeyi but this is nitida we decide.
The amazing 200 year old (grafted) weeping beech. (Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’). The lower branches develop large growths which will ultimately also develop roots when they touch the ground. Quite the biggest and best specimen I have ever seen.
Despite looking like a Crataegus this is in fact the very rare and dwarfish Fraxinus xanthoxyloides var. dumosa.
Nothofagus procera (alpina as it is now called) with beech mast forming. A much bigger leaf than Nothofagus obliqua but the bark is very similar.
A very fine Quercus semecarpifolia with a spreading and multi-stemmed habit quite unlike the Caerhays plant or the one at Penrice Castle.
Zelkova serrata clipped into a conical shape. Quite a novelty for a Zelkova.
Brachyglottis russ[?] which I had not seen before.
Pseudopanax ferox in maturity with fully mature leaves. As large a mature plant of this species I have ever seen.
The view up the shrub border just outside the walled garden.
The front of the Clandeboye House.
The bee house in a walled garden which apparently used to house a young Russian bear after the Marquis had shot its mother. The bee house was imported.
Then to the 54 acres of National Trust Rowallane Garden and Claire McNally, the head gardener. 4½ staff. Absolutely first class garden.
Azara lanceolata smelling gorgeous at the entrance to the walled garden. I have never seen this better in flower. Even better in flower than Azara dentata?
Rhododendron ‘Shilsonii’ – a multi-stemmed record tree in the walled garden.
Phyllocladus trichomanoides var. alpinus as a large tree in the walled garden. Our small plant will take years to reach this sort of size.
Koelreuteria paniculata just coming into leaf.
The deciduous Helwingia japonica which I had never seen before. Burncoose stocks 2 species of Helwingia but they are both evergreen – H. chinensis & H. himalaica.
The original Chaenomeles x superba ‘Rowallane’ is a vivid scarlet or is it orange/ red? A chance seedling originally found at Rowallane. We saw the Hypericum ‘Rowallane’ nearby but it was hardly shooting as yet.
Ercilla volubilis flowering its heart out on a wall. Better than I have ever seen it before even at Ilnacullin during a previous Irish garden trip.
Populus maximowiczii was superb. Astonishing flower tassels. A record tree at Rowallane and something we definitely need to add to the Caerhays collection. Never seen before.
Looking across to the Rhododendron triflorum series plantation. Basically Rh. augustinii, Rh. yunnanense and davidsonianum on a rocky mound which must get very dry.
A Viburnum species which I need to try to identify. Shrubby but not very large. Viburnum trilobum I am fairly certain.
Rhododendron albrechtii – a particularly dark flowered form and much darker than the ones in the Aucklandii Garden.
A selected form of Rhododendron augustinii which may have once been named. Not a leaf to be seen.
The oldest Carrierea calycina in the country. Not a huge tree and not looking too well. It flowers once in 3 years in a boggy wet spot over rocks.
Gaultheria glauca ‘Album’ just going over. I do not find this name in the reference books but I wrote down what was said.
Berries still on a huge clump of Cotoneaster x watereri or Cotoneaster frigidus.
An unnamed Rhododendron williamsianum hybrid. A callimorphum cross perhaps judging by the leaf shape?
Edible fruits on Mahonia russellii which Clare tried and seemed to enjoy.
Rhododendron glaucophyllum subsp. tubiforme. I need to check the name is correct. Very similar to Rhododendron tephropeplum.
Malus toringo subsp. sargentii as a huge mature rounded bush.
The view down beside the walled garden.
Rhododendron wallichii which I mistakenly thought was Rhododendron davidii from a distance.
A seedling Rhododendron sinogrande with split trumpets on a single flower. Fairly horrid! I wonder what the Rosemoor judges would have said last weekend?
Rhododendron pocophorum which I had never seen before.
We identified Rhododendron hunnewellianum which was not known Claire or labelled.
Rhododendron mallotum very fine but with smaller leaves than I would expect.
