The first Cyclamen peep out on the lawn.

An odd combination of Quercus ilex and Luma apiculata beside the tower.

Plenty of flower buds showing up already in Magnolia ‘Delia Williams’.

Hydrangea aspera ‘Robusta’ just coming out. Huge leaves in this excellent growing year.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Early Sensation’ has now turned a good pink.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Polar Bear’ has just a pink tinge.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Polar Bear’ and Hydrangea aspera ‘Villosa Group’.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Skyfall’, some flowers still pure white, some older ones pink tinged.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Skyfall’ fronts Ginkgo biloba. An unusual but interesting combination. One plant is 5 years old; the other 100+.

2023 – CHW
Hedychium densiflorum ‘Assam Orange’ out a bit later than the other gingers this year.

All trees now felled in the Rookery so the clean up can start. Nearly all the stumps already grubbed out to burn. Despite the volumes of rain in the last 6 weeks the soil is still very dry 18 inches from the surface. Ross has worked quickly and (nearly) all the trees have missed the trees and smaller shrubs which we intended to save.

The woodwork on this tiny old greenhouse rotted away years ago. Costly to paint and repair. The solution (as at Burncoose with our propagating houses) is to bend steel rods and turn the structure into a polytunnel. Cheap, durable and better for the plants.

Hydrangea aspera ‘Kawakamii’ (from Formosa BSWJ 7025) flowering better in its second year but still not fully out yet. Rather earlier than H. aspera ssp. robusta by the Rockery which is not even showing flower heads yet.

Surprisingly Rhododendron ‘Winter Intruder’ is reshooting vigorously. The whole clump would benefit from a haircut. Need to remind Jaimie as there is quite a bit here to cut back and a few dead heads.

Hydrangea aspera subsp. strigosa (BSWJ 15152) just coming out. These autumn flowering hydrangea species are a revelation even if the naming may be a bit questionable/ confusing with some. There are a few more varieties in propagation from Tregrehan I think.

2022 – CHW
Prize giving at the annual GWCT Clay Shoot in the back yard.

A virtually leafless Magnolia sprengeri ‘Diva’ var. ‘Burncoose’. If it survives there will be severe die back and pruning to do.

Magnolia ‘Star Wars’ with many tertiary flowers as usual.

A fallen branch from Magnolia sargentiana robusta with ripe seeds now popping out of the seedpods.

Acer henryi with autumn colours in August. Worrying!

Magnolia sieboldii with fat, plump, ripening seeds and scorched leaves.

Syringa x diversifolia, planted only this year, has surived and grown well.

The large Dicksonia antarctica on the main ride with shrivelled small fronds many of which have already turned brown.

2021 – CHW

Work is coming on well with the conversion of the three barns at Trevarrick which I have not seen for six or seven weeks.

2020 – CHW
A trip around the garden with Andrew Leslie from Ethy. He kindly brings a plant of his newly registered Magnolia ‘Martha Joan Leslie’ (Magnolia ‘Rose Marie’ x Magnolia ‘Blushing Bride’).

The peeling bark on Rhododendron stenaulum (moulmainense) is one of its best features. The group have recovered well after a light pruning following the March 2018 Beast from the East which removed all its leaves.

One seedpod on Magnolia tamaulipana appears to be swelling up. Needs watching.

Some ripe seed on Symplocos dryophila which Asia needs to collect and sow at once (up by the Acer griseum). It is already dropping and there are not that many seeds.

Schefflera delavayi has doubled in size in a year and now several flower spikes are emerging. The light orange indumentum on the new growth is excellent.

Hoheria sextylosa is putting on a good show here. Other plants have little flower and this too is a legacy of the dieback from The Beast.

Hedychium densiflorum flowering on the top wall. Planted in the spring with several others which are not, as yet, flowering.

The Tibouchina paratropica which I bought at Treseders Nursery in lockdown is flowering nicely and in profusion. A new species to me with pink flowers but typical hairy Tibouchina stems and leaves. Certainly one to propagate.

2019 – CHW
Quillaja saponaria (soap bark tree) is now 8-10ft tall but rather floppy in growth in the Rookery. Not the right place for it at all. Far too much shade for this Chilean rarity which is supposed to flower in April. I do not ever remember seeing it in flower in the nursery. Supposedly tender but well sheltered here.

I always tell people that I have tried and failed with Quercus suber several times here over 20 years. I now discover a poor plant, also in far too much shade, which needs urgent restaking. The bark is shaping up nicely but the tree is about to collapse as you can see. Planted 2010.

Pterocarya x rehderiana ‘Fern Leaf’ (now Pterocarya stenoptera ‘Fern Leaf’ according to the latest Hillier’s) is now 20ft tall and making good headway. A present from John Hillier 10 years ago. Attractive bark now as well. We have another much younger plant in Kennel Close. No flowers or seeds here yet and no suckering new growth either.

Polyspora axialis from Crug Farm has joined the dodo. It never looked much like the P. axillaris we have bought and planted from Stervinou nurseries in France as far as its foliage was concerned. Drought last summer I fear as the COD. As we know there is still much confusion in the naming of Polyspora species.

Polyspora speciosa (WWJ 11934) next door is doing well and now 8-10ft tall three or four years on from planting as a large plant. No sign of any flower buds as yet. Rather a floppy branching habit due to the weight of its huge leaves. Time to prune the nearby laurel.

Hoheria sextylosa just coming out on its lower branches but not at the top of this 20-25ft tree as yet. This one is below Donkey Shoe.

A clump of seven Hydrangea paniculata ‘Vanille Fraise’ on the drive just starting to turn in colour from white to a gorgeous pink. Superb plant which I think usurps the plethora of new paniculata varieties appearing from Holland in recent years which are beginning to enter the Burncoose website.

2018 – CHW
A few days ago I suddenly saw what I thought was a Persea japonica tree flowering away as a Schima. On closer inspection this 15ft tree is labelled as P. japonica (twice) which is clearly incorrect.Schima species are notoriously difficult to identify and name properly even when in flower.To confuse matters the planting records show for this area a 1998 planting of Schima liukuiensis from Chris Chester at Rosemoor and given to us in 1997. There is also a record of a 2009 planting of Schima wallichii about where the plant is labelled P. japonica.On the left is a twig from the real and true Persea japonica and one from the schima (labelled P. japonica) on the right.

This is a flower bud on the mislabelled plant and some leaves. The inflorescence is still too high up to photograph properly.

This is the plant I had thought might well be Schima wallichii but, in fact, it is identical to our old original Schima khasiana. Neither are quite out in flower and the buds are not quite showing any white yet.

Here is (left to right) P. japonica, Schima ‘?’ and Schima (probably) khasiana:

And the same again with the leaves turned over:

The problem is that the Schima (probably) khasiana has been in place since at least 1998 and the schima on the planting plan as wallichii is much younger and probably dates from 2009.

Is it possible that the incorrectly named Persea japonica is in fact Schima liukuiensis? The only person who might enjoy this complex and dull subject (apart from me) is Tom Hudson. I thought Schima liukuiensis was not in any reference book that I have but, in the small print, I see it is now called Schima superba although the picture in ‘New Trees’ does not really match our plant.

The next step is to assemble all our schima in flower and photograph them. In theory we have S. khasiana, S. wallichii and S. argentea or that is what they were planted as anyway.

2017 – CHW
A trip to examine what is setting seed this year but I get distracted!

Hypericum lancasteri has grown massively since last year and is full of flower with more to come. We put in three plants together and there is already quite a clump.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Vanille Fraise’ is turning colour where the sun catches this immature but impressive clump which is largely in shade. The close ups reveal how pink the bracts can get. The pure H. paniculata which we looked at earlier this week also goes pink in the sun. Is ‘Vanille Fraise’ really that different?

The suckers on Tetrapanax papyrifera ‘Rex’ have grown apace in the last two months and the largest is nearly as tall as the original and now a dead stalk. One sucker is at least three yards from the original plant.

Magnolia globosa has three, as yet unripe, seed pods. Larger than last year’s and important to collect in a couple of months.

Styrax hookeri has many large seeds already. Ripe in four to six weeks I suspect?

Gevuina avellana is plastered in flower from top to bottom of this 30ft plus clump. Are there male and female flowers? Yes I think this shows this. No sign of any of the black nuts or seeds which we saw this time last year on this ‘Chilean nut tree’ or ‘Chilean hazel’.