29th April | The Garden Diary

FJW 1955-2007

CHW 2015-

JCW 1897-1939

CW 1940-1955

2025 – CHW

Roy Lancaster sends me a picture of our recent ‘happy gathering’ at the Hillier Arboretum with David Jewell.

The Lady’s Slipper Orchid (Cypripedium reginae) has been planted near the entrance to the Aucklandii Garden in full shade. A welcome gift from our visit to Spinners Garden.

In our absence last week the flower on the Parastyrax species nova has hardly moved at all.

The shrubby Staphylea bumalda has not grown well here in 3 different places but at least this one is flowering.

Viburnum erosum.

Viburnum formosanum.

Viburnum harryanum.

Viburnum coriaceum in berry and in flower.

Viburnum wilsonii.

Rhododendron hotei.

Rhododendron ‘Mi Amor’ just out with its huge flowers.

Rhododendron zaleucum.

The last show on the nearly dead Rhododendron ‘Veryan Bay’.

Magnolia ‘Daphne’ now at its best.

A young Magnolia x brooklynensis ‘Woodsman’ has its first flowering. Our old trees died recently here and at Burncoose.

Dad’s Rhododendron ‘Red Centurion’.

The recently cut down Exochorda macrantha are reshooting vigorously from the base.

Hibbertia aspera in full flower.

2024 – CHW
Mount Stewart is rightly said to be the greatest garden in Ireland. Largely the creation of Lady Edith Londonderry between 1921 and 1959 it today belongs to the National Trust and attracts 250,000 visitors a year. 18 gardeners and 160 acres. Mike Buffin, the head gardener and garden advisor for NT gardens in the north, showed us around.We lunched in the main house with Lady Rose Lauritzen who still lives with her husband in part of the house. The main Chinese influence on Lady Edith was not Forrest but Kingdom Ward. The rhododendron collection is aging and getting rather grown in especially after lockdown neglect and a major loss of labels. Much to do to start new clearings and remove saplings and increase overhead light. Mike gets this and, encouragingly, Mount Stewart has its own nursery growing replacement plants. We saw a huge bed of Rh. thomsonii grown from seed.The front of Mount Stewart House.

Click here for all the photos of visit to Mount Stewart and then to the Grey Abbey later in the day.

2023 – CHW

A long night without a sleeper car after the Garden Society Dinner in London and a Brightwater Holidays garden tour for 42. Then opera in the hall!

Holboellia latifolia ssp. chartacea grows from a single stem up into the top of the adjacent Camellia x williamsii ‘Delia Williams’. Easily the best flower I have ever seen on the any Holboellia species.

The spectacular new growth on the original pale and darker forms of Camellia saluenensis cut down last summer by the ladies loos.

Prunus ‘Jo-Nioi’ nearly over after only a week.

A young Magnolia ‘Judy Zuk’ with flowers.

A similar young plant of Magnolia ‘Green Bee’.

Exochorda tianschanica.

New growth on Ailanthus altissima ‘Purple Dragon’.

Rhododendron hanceanum (Wilson 4255) at Rosemoor last weekend. Here are the details of this rare and original plant which still grows above the top wall.

2022 – CHW

Steve Dance took this photograph of Camellia ‘Spring Festival’ (C. cuspidata x unknown pollen parent) at Rosemoor near Lady Anne Palmer’s former house. Has it been clipped into shape or does it just have a very erect and upright habit when mature? Jennifer Trehane’s book confirms that it does have an upright habit. Bred in California in 1976.

Steve also took these pictures of Magnolia (Michelia) champaca in a glasshouse at Kew in early April. We have just ordered plans from Nick Macer but perhaps doubtful hardiness?

This is the last of the potential original Wilson 50 azaleas for Polly Cooke to help try to identify. A group of three elderly plants up from the Green Gate. We now have quite a file for Polly in this early flowering year.

The final bit of tree clearing outside the Kitchen Garden towards Giddle Orchard.

The stream has also been dug down around 4ft to its original level.

You can now clearly see the extent of the wall repairs so far completed and how much more is necessary to rebuild and re-slate the top of the walls.

Last time the walls were cement and stone capped.

Quite a lot of intact slates have been dug out and put aside from the tree clearance but nowhere near enough to replace all that is missing/broken from tree damage and wall collapses.

Tree stumps to kill off around the old middle greenhouse too.

A huge pile of timber and the stock fence back in place.

2021 – CHW
Spraying around the plants in Kennel close today Jaimie spotted:Carpinus tschonoskii producing its first ever flowers.

Quercus bushii ‘Seattle Trident’ with its superb pink new growth.

Salix magnifica also with its first flower here.

At last, the east wind has gone.

A session with Asia to pin down the names of the 16 camellias planted in 1977 behind Donkey Shoe that were cut down to reshoot six years ago. Perfect cutting material here for the autumn. Of the 16 only 11 have survived (one was moved) and the old plans take a bit of working out with the reference books to get the names of what are left absolutely right and labelled accordingly. One remains unlabelled and not on any of the plans and one of the reticulata varieties disliked being cut down and died. The other missing plants may have been killed off when those around them pinched all the light.

Camellia ‘Julia Hamiter’

Camellia ‘Bob’s Tinsie’

Camellia ‘Ada Pieper’

Camellia ‘Wilbur Foss’

Camellia ‘Dear Jenny’

Camellia ‘Cecille Brunazzi’

Camellia ‘Grand Slam’

View 29th April 1897 – 2020

3 thoughts on “29th April”

Patrick Bernard says:

12th May 2023 at 9:29 pm

Camellia spring festival has a natural pyramid shape.
Marie-Louise Agius says:

8th May 2015 at 10:30 pm

Ha – I have lost three out of three Aesculus wangii planted out!! what age does it start producing the monster conkers? is Tom’s anywhere near doing so I wonder…
1. Charles Williams says:
  
  12th May 2015 at 4:04 pm
  
  He is here today so I will ask but no sign of flowers on his largest tree.

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