9th January | The Garden Diary

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CONTRIBUTORS:

FJW 1955-2007

CHW 2015-

JCW 1897-1939

CW 1940-1955

2024 – CHW

The first daffodils largely eaten by pheasants.

The first flower is out on Magnolia campbellii ‘Strybing White’. Surely an all time record for early flowering?

Another mature plant of Camellia x williamsii ‘John Pickthorn’ looking at its very best.

A week on and Camellia x williamsii ‘Celebration’ is suddenly full out beside George’s Hut. No colour a week ago.

2023 – CHW
First flowers showing on Camellia x williamsii ‘Mary Jobson’.

First flowers just out on Daphne ‘Jacqueline Postill’. A bit later than usual.

First snowdrops just about out 2 days ago. The big clumps on Bond Street are much further on already.

2022 – CHW
Everything sodden but little damage in the garden after yesterday’s deluge.The start of the laurel cutting on the way to Rookery Gate.

Daphne bholua ‘Mary Rose’ is still not fully out unlike all the other bholuas which are at their absolute scented best.

Rhododendron mucronulatum rather battered but still a good show today in the sun.

A rather unnoticed clump of snowdrops above Bond Street are the first clump to be fully out this year.

The near white flowered Camellia x williamsii bred by my father with its first few flowers. A little pink in the buds.

Camellia x williamsii ‘Jury’s Yellow’ just starting.

2021 – CHW
Frosty but clear. A little ice still on the lake but only on the periphery. The two swans have reappeared and taken back their territory. Their one cygnet sulks in a corner.

Still plenty of flowers out on the ancient Camellia sasanqua ‘Narumigata’ on the top wall.

The vireya rhododendron species Rhododendron sororium is nearly over in a greenhouse. Yellow flowers with red stamens.

A youngish and new Camellia ‘Volunteer’ is full out. The flowers fade as you can see here and change colour. As good an early red camellia as ‘Takanini’.

First colour on the yellow form of Rhododendron ‘Bo Peep’. About on time despite the cold spell.

This large and rare Symplocos dryophylla has been dying slowly over the last few years above Rogers Quarry. Dry summers probably but our other plants are nestled in even more shelter. The last bits of green leaves at the top have gone and it is for the bonfire and stump digger now this spring. Seedlings are coming on.

Camellia ‘Cornish Snow’ and Camellia reticulata ‘Mary Williams’ now out below Donkey Shoe.

The Caerhays raised and registered Camellia ‘New Venture’ just out (japonica x ‘Gauntlettii’). A large flower which will open out flatter.

Rhododendron lutescens now has plenty of flowers but they are quite sparse on the old bushes.

Just one decent flower on Camellia x williamsii ‘Debbie’ below Burns Bank so far.

2020 – CHW
With more time today I examine new things in and around the other greenhouses.Rhododendron nobleanum ‘Album’ bought from Millais in the autumn is just coming out. Pink in bud though! Tregothnan had this form on the main drive and Lord Falmouth often showed it over the years at autumn Garden Society dinners.

New things for us to plant out in the next two years:

Persea indica (BSWJ 12535) – another new and hopefully hardy species.

Quercus chapensis – seed from the 2015 oak conference in China and gifted (as a plant) to us by Margaret Miles in 2018.

A new species of unnamed Eriobotrya from N. Vietnam – also a gift from Margaret Miles. Very red leaves which may or may not hold through the winter.

Turpinia formosana – a gift from the Taiwan Forestry Institute. It would seem Asia has already taken cuttings!

New things which are coming on for sale on the Burncoose website.

A nice batch of (I assume) seed grown Michelia maccleurei. Perhaps Asia has won the propagation battle here?

A batch of Magnolia nitida.

Our stock plant of Camellia transnokoensis. We have lost plants outside in cold spots here before and during the 2018 ‘Beast’. Trewithen’s old plants have survived in more shelter.

A whole batch of new (to us) Podocarpus species from which we sold a few small plants at Hampton Court.

A nice batch of Lithocarpus pachyphyllus seedlings.

An even better batch of Berberidopsis beckleri cuttings.

An already saleable batch of Bletharocalyx cruckshankii grown from seed from Tregrehan in only autumn 2018.

Another batch of Lithocarpus pachyphyllus seedlings one year older with distinct bark markings.

Along the top wall today.Newly bought in magnolias from Belgium and all new varieties to us. They need another year’s growing on in these frames before planting out and have recently been potted on.

Another batch of larger named magnolias to go out into the garden in the next two months. All neat and tidy!

Hydrangea serratifolia shows up well on the top wall as a vigorous evergreen but no flowers on this plant as yet. It looks quite different in leaf to the Burncoose one or the one in the recently fallen palm tree in the Chilean Garden area at Tregothnan. A variable species. This one bought in from Mark Bulk.

Jaimie has planted out five new Hedychium varieties along the top wall. Three are still in leaf today.Hedychium flavum (from the nursery)

Hedychium greenii (from the nursery)

Hedychium [?] (a gift from Jaimie’s garden before he moved to Spring Cottage recently)

2019 – CHW
Squirrels have been biting off camellia buds on one specific plant on the drive then dismembering them on the ground to get at the flowers and nectar/pollen therein. Fairly unusual but I guess one would seldom notice unless it was this obvious beside the tarmac. A few days ago I saw similar bud drop under a laurel which I wrongly assumed was wind damage.

First poorly shaped flowers on Camellia ‘Adolphe Audusson’ by the Four in Hand.

First actual flower buds on a wild daffodil. Sadly nibbled.

2018 – CHW
Polyspora longicarpa (WWJ 11604) is now full out and looking very fine for the time of the year.

Myrtus communis seedlings have germinated in a stack of conifer wood.

2017 – CHW
Camellia x williamsii ‘Beatrice Michael’ full out at Tin Garden but the flowers have been bruised by rain.

Camellia ‘Takanini’ (seen two to three weeks ago) is now full out in Kennel Close.

2016 – CHW
I had been meaning to see if any of the Michelia doltsopa were out following a prompt by Pam Hayward and the Rhododendron, Camellia & Magnolia Group website before Christmas. Now there are a few on the plant which gets the most wind to the north of Georges Hut. Normally out in March or April these few flowers have clearly blown open. Nevertheless they look fine but no scent although I did see some flies moving during my trip today.

The first time I have seen Tetrapanax papifera in flower although most of its leaves have blown off in the gales as usual. Hillier’s say it is supposed to flower in the autumn so not an early bird! The plant is right beside Georges Hut between the two big michelias. Certainly an oddity which confirms my dislike of these plants from Taiwan.

1982 -FJW
A very stormy and wet winter – moors more a river waiting to go to sea than anything else. But Blandfords Garden had 3ft of snow. The weather keeps him going whatever time!1958 – FJW
A V early year, most of Saluenense Camellias out – Nobleanum good. Mucronulatum by Red Linny excellent. Sutchuenense Hybs above Mary Christian nearly over. Magnolias too far forward.

1925 – JCW
Clematis cirrhosa has a few flowers, a very few Coum, bits of Rho’do as in 1917. R mucronulatum is the best and then R venustum. H mollis is really the best thing, snowdrops showing since Christmas.

1920 – JCW
Just as the above but less of excepting for the Hamamelis which is better. Cotoneaster salicifolia is nice and Bob’s heath is opening.

1917 – JCW
Some C Coums open, Hamamelis mollis very good, bits of R Lutescens, dahuricum mucronulatum, Thomsonii, nobleanum, Venustum and Racemosum section, Thomsonii x Arboreum are starting. The Engine House Camellia 1 flower out.

1915 – JCW
Coum is fair, some nice blood red Arboreums on the Beech Walk side, R mucronulatum is nice, snowdrops show, some Lapagerias left, a few C sasanqua, one or two trade Camellia including the early white near the Engine House which has been out a month.

1914 – JCW
Some Clematis fasciculiflora open, nice lot of Coum, Cirrhosa very good, not much else.

1900 – JCW
Some Aconite up.

1899 – JCW
Victoria breaking ground.