2023 – CHW
Back to Max Kendry’s garden in the lovely village of Loxley in preparation for the third day of the first Ashes Test Match at Edgbaston.
Euonymus japonicus ‘Aureus’ in full flower.
A tremendous show of flowering on Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’.
2022 – CHW
A garden tour on behalf of the National Garden Scheme charity (eleven paid but only six turned up).
Sad news that Lawrence Banks of Hergest Croft garden has just died. One of the RHS titans of the woody plant world and a family friend for many generations of gardening.
Rhododendron ‘Crosswater Belle’ is tender with us and temperamental. Better pink colouration in sun than in shade. Our clump needs more shelter from cold winds.
One year old and new female cones on Araucaria bidwillii.
Styrax wilsonii is a shrubby species. Flowering much better than last year unlike other species which are doing the reverse.
Carpinus japonicus with fruit cones turning pinkish already.
Cornus kousa ‘Ed Mezitt’ with its first flowers and reddish new growth.
Cornus ‘Venus’ the knockout plant on our Chelsea stand with its bracts finally turning pinkish here before dropping.
Rhododendron auriculatum just out.
Styrax wuyuanensis is only just starting to come out. Most S. japonicus and S. formosanus forms nearly over.
A small flowered form of Rhododendron maddenii below Donkey Shoe just showing.
Rhododendron fortunei subsp. discolor just out in the Main Quarry.
Tropaeolum ciliatum suddenly out in flower on the castle wall.
2021 – CHW
First trip to Hook Norton Brewery for 16 months. Zoom board meetings replaced by reality. Could it be profitability in May after 13 months of severe losses?Another clump of Rhododendron nuttallii.
First trip to Hook Norton Brewery for 16 months. Zoom board meetings replaced by reality. Could it be profitability in May after 13 months of severe losses?Another clump of Rhododendron nuttallii.
Three Rhododendron yuefengense out in the old Orchid House Nursery bed. Two plants have caught the wind and have smallish and pale pink flowers. The third has much larger flowers opening dark pink as you can see.
On 22nd July last year I photographed Camellia ‘Kitty’ with a flower. Today it is full out with flowers shedding everywhere underneath this 1960s planted large shrub. Pinkish when it opens fading to white. A late flowerer like this will be a welcome addition to the catalogue.
Picea pungens ‘Spek’ with its fantastic light blue new growth.
Cotoneaster confusus just going over.
The clump of three Hypericum lancastriense has taken a cold winter hammering with dieback but is now reshooting vigorously. Needs a good pruning.
2020 – CHW
Flowers on Tilia maxiczowicziana. Yellowish with a faint red flash on the bud and on the stamens. Not seen before and attractive by Tilia standards.
Flowers on Tilia maxiczowicziana. Yellowish with a faint red flash on the bud and on the stamens. Not seen before and attractive by Tilia standards.
On Sunday I was looking at a Facebook video of John Marston’s garden overlooking Barnstaple. He had a large 12 year old Aesculus californica full out. This prompted a look where I discover our plant is only just coming out. Not as vigorous or upright as John’s tree yet but just as scented. White flowers at first which develop a pink hue. The California buckeye is an excellent species.
A third Carrieria calycina in the Isla Rose area. Leaves similar to the one in Kennel Close but not the original and older one.
We missed this tree holly with Tom the other day below Slip Rail. No idea really but conceivably Ilex latifolia? A gift from Windsor planted in 1991 and now a 30-40ft upright tree.
The wonderful red new growth on Reevsia sinica which is now growing well after a dodgy start.
Catkins on Quercus semicarpifolia which I have not noticed before.
Another two buds (one last year) on the extremely rare and tender Magnolia tamaulipana which I photographed like this last year. I missed the actual flower which cannot have been out for very long while away at Hampton Court in early July. Mr Eisenhut’s book only has my picture of the bud so he clearly had never seen it either in flower!
Styrax wuyuanensis is also flowering very sparsely this year as I show RJW the Styrax collection. There was not that much to see and several are over already – far too early!
2019 – CHW
The Caerhays charity fete opens with a little drizzle but clears up. Not beach weather and some may have stayed at home fearing rain but circa 2,000 people did not. A very relaxed family day out with excellent musical and choral performances. A huge effort which paid off.The Royal Marines band.
The Caerhays charity fete opens with a little drizzle but clears up. Not beach weather and some may have stayed at home fearing rain but circa 2,000 people did not. A very relaxed family day out with excellent musical and choral performances. A huge effort which paid off.The Royal Marines band.
An unusual performance on the lawn accompanied by a group.
Morris dancers?
A choir in the yard by the game larder.
Mevagissey Male Voice Choir.
An albino python.
The Tidball family.
Mevagissey Ladies Choir.
Acapella.
Lizzie drawing the raffle prizes. Not a single winner was present (as usual). The bar ran out of beer but cider still available!
A day well organised by the committee and our staff which was enjoyed by everyone. Karol will have better pictures taken from the roof.
Fledgling swallows above the dog kennel were untroubled by the Caerhays fete and observed proceedings with indifference to everything other than the next parental feeding.
2018 – CHW
The styrax tour and lecture day with only five attendees so we ended up doing a three hour garden tour looking at styrax and stewartia, rather than bothering with a long lecture.Stewartia pteropetiolata is only just coming out, with loads of flowers to come.
The styrax tour and lecture day with only five attendees so we ended up doing a three hour garden tour looking at styrax and stewartia, rather than bothering with a long lecture.Stewartia pteropetiolata is only just coming out, with loads of flowers to come.
Cotoneaster moupinensis is a new one to us with small pink flowers and berries forming on the flower trusses at the same time. Attractive new growth too.
Catalpa fargesii f. duclouxii was full out and looking splendid. The form I know at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight seems to have rather darker flowers than this but is in full sun there; whereas this is in partial shade.
The best survivor of our Rhododendron roylii hybrids is full out on Burns Bank. These Royal Flush hybrids used to be the best feature of the garden at this time of the year but they nearly all died out from a rust disease 20 to 30 years ago. Asia needs to propagate this rather nice form. The other survivor on the drive has pale yellowish-white flowers and is rather less impressive.
2017 – CHW
To Burncoose for the annual meeting with our main Dutch supplier. A low flower on a 25 year old Aesculus wilsonii full out in the sun.
To Burncoose for the annual meeting with our main Dutch supplier. A low flower on a 25 year old Aesculus wilsonii full out in the sun.
The bark on Styrax obassia is unusual. The flowers on this tree are still not out at Burncoose or Caerhays.
Styrax americanus nicely out or just going over in a pot. Very delicate small flowers.
First flowering in the nursery of Roscoea x beesiana. This variety is two to three weeks behind the other two which we stock.
Another first flowering with us of Nepeta grandiflora ‘Dawn to Dusk’. Very tall growing for a nepeta and not obviously a nepeta to look at.
Azalea viscosum is always a shy flowerer. This is a near white form unlike the pink one in the garden.
2016 – CHW
In the nursery again photographing new plants for the 2017 catalogue:Deutzia pulchra has long trailing flowers and will be a useful addition to the smaller growing deutzia range.
In the nursery again photographing new plants for the 2017 catalogue:Deutzia pulchra has long trailing flowers and will be a useful addition to the smaller growing deutzia range.
I am not sure about roscoeas which will be a rather new oddity for us. I really have no idea what they do or do not like and need to do some proper research. Frankly I dislike them but maybe I am biased against orchid like things!
Quite why we had no decent pictures of Carpenteria californica ‘Ladhams Variety’ I have no idea. There is a nice plant in the stock garden and I cannot see much difference with Carpenteria ‘Bodnant’ or Carpenteria ‘Elizabeth’ really. Flower size a bit and perhaps hardiness?
Iris siberica ‘Butter and Sugar’ is quite nice but a shy flowerer in a pot. My mother was very keen on these sibericas and there are still some outside The Rabbit Warren in a damp shady place.
Paparer orientale ‘Royal Wedding’, like all of these orientale poppies, is a short lived flop! Why they currently are so popular I cannot understand. A breath of wind or even a decent shower and the flowers are irreparably buggered!You can see I got bored with the photography!
2015 – CHW
The tiny frogs are still on the march to wherever but have now spread the whole way along the drive from the Back Yard to the Fernery. They are more spread out but still in huge numbers. Strange that birds are not gobbling them up but there is no sign of this. Perhaps they are poisonous? The whole lot are however moving up into the gardens and away from water.
More cornus today:Cornus kousa ‘Doubloon’ outside the Lawn is looking wonderful but I see no signs of any doubling in the flowers as the US book suggests but with no picture. Not far off Cornus ‘Eddies White Wonder’ perhaps but I have yet to catch up with this one.
The old plants of Cornus kousa below the Fernery are plastered in flowers. The original takes a bit of beating really.
There is an ancient and dying plant on the drive which has self sown itself copiously which we thought was Cornus bretschneideri. When we gave a seedling to Hillier’s they soon put us right and said it is Cornus controversa.
A pretty good form though but I wonder what the old one is near Georges Hut?Cornus florida ‘Rainbow’ or Cornus kousa ‘Gold Star’. I am simply not sure and the US reference book is of no help. We will just have to watch for flowers (none) and how the leaves change colour later.
Cornus kousa ‘Miss Petty’ is nice enough. Looks as though the bracts will get pinker splashes later.
Is this Cornus kousa ‘Samaritan’? Probably as its habit is very different to ‘Wolf Eyes’. But, since no flowers, is it florida ‘Daybreak’. I think not. How you can produce a definitive reference book with such poor and inadequate pictures beggars belief.
That even with you some Rhodos are tender…waht shall we say? of course, alle Indonesians like zoelleri, mcgregori or so are. Luckily breeding has made progress, ‘Taurus’ and that like are flourishing here too.
To Araucaria I have to comment that I am convinced that this is not bidwillii, this has a strong tendency to arrange leafletts on lower branches two-ranked, they are furthermore broader near the middle of the blade and often strongly varying in length, becoming much smaller towards the end of a growing-phase.
The brighter colour and relative(!) small fruits are further indicative of Araucaria angustifolia. I admitt that Araucaria is variable, when one reads that angustifolia leaves are softer than araucana, so this is not the case of leaves grown during summer in sun.