Magnolia stellata ‘Jane Platt’.

This is labelled Pittosporum anomalum ‘Raven’ but it looks more like a Melicytus species with its tiny white flowers? I need to ask the donor. I do not know P. anomalum.

The Styrax area uplifting has been carried out very expertly by Jaimie & Michael.

Stachyurus macrocarpus (BSWJ 14678) is now rather splendid.

Our largest Magnolia nitida appears to have died. An iconic Record Tree from an original Forrest collection. Jaimie said it was defoliating a month ago but now virtually leafless with just two flowers. The odd green shoot from the stem so it might yet put on new growth again. Michelia do drop their old leaves after flowering but I have not seen M. nitida do this before. What is the cause? Old age – perhaps? Dry summers – more likely perhaps? A very cold east wind caught other evergreens about this time last spring and this may be a delayed reaction? We have one other decent big plant and a couple of youngsters which are now getting going. Jaimie says he did once see a total defoliation like this.

You wait years for these young Rhododendron sinogrande to actually flower and, as here, they disappoint.

Stachyurus chinensis on the Main Ride is also 80% dead but this was expected. The plant is 40 years old, has over-flowered and over-seeded for decades, and has now run its term.

2023 – CHW
A tour with Geraint Richards, Richard Trant and Barcham Nurseries who gave us an Aesculus indica.Magnolia ‘Genie’ just out.

Then a torrential downpour of biblical proportions so photography had to wait.

First Spanish bluebells out in flower. I spotted a few violets just out beside them.

Magnolia ‘Apollo’ on the drive a bit battered by the heavy rain.

Beside it a young Magnolia ‘ Cleopatra’ with slightly darker colours than the one in Kennel Close.

Camellia reticulata ‘Fee de L’Aulne’.

Magnolia x loebneri ‘Wildcat’ a bit bedraggled now after the rain.

Camellia ‘Optima’ by the side door with just small flecks of pink.

2022 – CHW

On a visit to the nursery it was good to see that we are now only selling peat free compost.

Magnolia ‘Pickard’s Schmetterling’ in the nursery.

Magnolia x loebneri ‘Wildcat’ has a little pink to it when first out in the tunnels.

Loropetalum ‘Carolina Moonlight’ was new to the catalogue last year.

New this year is Loropetalum ‘Ruby Snow’ with a sensational leaf/flower contrast.

Telopea x speciosa ‘Braidwood Brilliant’ in flower.

Magnolia ‘Sentinel’ making a decent tree.

Magnolia ‘Darkest Purple’ x Magnolia ‘Betty Jessel’

The first flowering of Magnolia ‘Toro’.

2021 – CHW
I have been trying to name the seven ancient Camellia japonicas growing on the walls outside the back yard and along under the Stable Flat referring back to what is listed in the James Veitch & Sons 1892 catalogue of camellias. These plants have been pruned many times over the last century and probably arrived here in 1902 from Reuthes nursery as part of a large batch. Sadly, no individual names were recorded.The first has been called (by Philip Tregunna) Camellia ‘Mathotiana’ (syn. Mathotiana Rubra). It is a late season flowerer as it should be. The flowers are variable in shape which is also true of what I am looking at here. It is in the 1892 catalogue and ties in with modern reference books (nearest rubbish bins).

The second might well be Camellia ‘Mathotiana Rosea’ which was bred by the Veitch nursery in 1874 (touching the right of the arch facing in).

The third one is a semi double white with crimson flecking which might be the one on the Veitch lists called Camellia ‘Duchess d’Orleans’ (today known as ‘Bella Romana’). That is only a guess and there are few flowers left today. Pretty close to ‘Tricolor’ in reality and clearly sports a lot! ‘Tricolor’ is on the 1892 lists.

The fourth one is very probably Camellia ‘Mathotiana Alba’, a Ghent raised sport from ‘Mathotiana Rosea’ in 1858. This too is in the Veitch catalogue.

The fifth one is a deep red which holds itself half open for a long time in bud and opens as here. It might well be Camellia ‘Imbricata’ which is described as carmine-rose or a fine deep rose which I guess this is. The reference book photographs agree.

The sixth has no flowers at all at present.

The seventh is reputed (again by Philip Tregunna) to be Camellia ‘Preston’s Rose’. As we have seen earlier in the year the plant exhibits pink paeony flowers and sports to much paler but similarly shaped flowers at the top of the bush. I have to say that I agree although ‘Preston’s Rose’ is not in the Veitch 1892 listings (nearest the round tower of the Stable Flat). When you google it, you prove the point, so we all seem to agree Philip was correct.

Asia might now put nametags on the five varieties we are fairly sure of while they still have flowers as plenty of future cuttings here. Mystery nearly solved. I attach three pages of the Veitch catalogue.
Veitch catalogue

2020 – CHW
I speak at length to a close friend who has been in bed with a touch of the corona for five days. Now is the critical phase but, thankfully, he seems to be on the mend.A frenetic day trying to write to all our shooting clients asking if they are prepared to honour their shooting deposits due (mainly) on 1st June. If they will not then they leave the whole risk of rearing birds for the season entirely with us and we will have to adjust the numbers we raise in line with what they tell us. Just another example of the enormous cancellations paperwork trail. Justine is inundated with calls from our holiday let clients wanting to cancel (refund) or delay/postpone their holidays. The wedding cancellation/delay issues are a nightmare for Sue too but at least these can be dealt with from home. The first demands for rent holidays or postponements from tenants creates a lot of work too and the maintenance team have had to be furloughed (health issues) so the gardeners have had to fit a new electric pump on the sewage treatment plant at Portholland which is overflowing. No electricians or engineers available of course but we do collect a pump left outside the shop for us. It is the smaller day to day issues and problems which mount up but still have to be dealt with somehow.Meanwhile Edwina and I have knocked up a few articles for the Caerhays website which will go live soon. One is about climate change or the lack of it in the garden here over the last 120 years. As we stand today climate change is the least of our worries.The package announced by the chancellor yesterday for the self-employed gets the usual treatment from the bastards at the BBC. Not an incredibly quick response to a very difficult financial/fairness issue but merely more opportunity for those ‘left out’ to gripe and criticise. Many self-employed businesses could actually carry on working perfectly safely but it appears much of the country think they are ‘entitled’ to a government paid holiday. The ramifications of this for the future work ethic and social security handouts is enormous. As Corbyn’s farewell stated yesterday he has now got all the nationalisation which he wanted. The greatest setback in history for the free market economy without (yet) a communist takeover. Why do not the BBC do a Trump and at least blame the Chinese a bit before Boris nationalises them too!Off to Forty Acres Wood in the sunshine to see if the yellow magnolias were out. Unbeknown to me the overnight frost in the centre of the wood had browned everything off. Little on the ground to see at 7am this morning.On the main bank I find clumps of unusually pale wild violets.

Magnolia ‘Manchu Fan’ is well up the bank and had largely escaped.

The rhododendrons, lower down, had not.

Dacrycarpus dacrydioides is making good headway as a small tree (Podocarpaceae family).

Magnolia x loebneri ‘Powder Puff’ had caught it!

This part of Forty Acres Wood was a 1991 replanting after the hurricane and is about to have its second thinning.

Mainly 30 year old beech with lots of old squirrel damage but I find a young ash badly infected with ash dieback and half dead. All the ash will have to go in the thinning.

Magnolia ‘Butterflies’ still had some unfrosted flowers in Penvergate but was not as yellow as normal.

This pale yellow magnolia has lost its label but I did catch it a couple of years ago with a name.

Paulownia fortunei was out high up. The flowers are white but had been frosted.

Magnolia officinalis ssp. biloba still in tight bud thankfully.

An elderly Magnolia x soulangeana has fallen over but still flowering well. It may well layer itself in the crown and carry on.

Another (magnolia) branch crashes into a young magnolia which has just survived. Lots of winter storm branch damage to clear up in this area with a few deads.

Another good young Magnolia ‘Apollo’.

Yet another new one flowering for the first time. This is Magnolia ‘Scented Gem’. Fairly crappy flower but gorgeous scent.

Magnolia ‘Golden Gala’ just coming out but a few days from its best.

As was the champion tree of Magnolia ‘Yellow Bird’.

2019 – CHW
Some newish magnolias in Kennel Close.In a magnificent Michelia year Michelia ‘Touch of Pink’ (it is purple really) stands out.

At last a young Magnolia nitida which is getting away with its red new growth showing already.

Magnolia ‘Angelica’ – second flowering.

Magnolia ‘Spring Rite’

Magnolia ‘Paul Cook’ – third year of flowering – planted 2014.

Magnolia ‘Black Tulip’ x ‘Deep Purple Dream’ – a really good deep colour in a small rounded flower.

Magnolia x brooklynensis ‘Titan’ – first flowering and not quite what I would expect from a x brooklynensis hybrid. ‘Titan’ is a brand new one to us so perhaps it is correct?

Magnolia ‘Anya’ – buds recurved.

Magnolia ‘Sentinel’ – smallish buds but very floriferous on a small plant.

Magnolia ‘Amethyst Flame’ – this really is not at all bad with a whitish rim to the tepals.

2018 – CHW
This camera got dropped recently and is performing badly as you will see.By far the worst frost damaged genus after hoheria is drimys. Here Drimys winteri largely defoliated and with what will soon be complete leaf drop. A severe prune back in a month or so to rescue it I fear.

Camellia ‘Nuccios Jewel’ is just coming out. A good new thing to propagate.

A white Rhododendron calophytum seedling just showing. Not quite true to name really but good enough here.

More Rhododendron calophytum – a better pink form here with the leaves the right shape but still smallish flowers.

An elderly (40 to 50 years) Camellia reticulata ‘William Hertrich’.

Camellia ‘Midnight Variegated’ – the variegation is on the outside of the outer petals and only evident on fallen flowers.

An elderly Rhododendron sutchuenense. Not as good as the young plant seen earlier in the week.

Camellia ‘Extravaganza’ with irregular red flecking in some but by no means all the flowers. Similar in habit to ‘Mrs D W Davis’. Perhaps the best new camellia to emerge since the cold and snow. Aptly named too!

Camellia cuspidata finally full out.

Rhododendron impeditum ‘J C Williams’ just starting to flower.

Camellia ‘Miss Charleston’ rivals ‘Dr Burnside’ as the best double red Camellia japonica. The latter is more popular today with the public but undeservedly so. It flowers much later than the Dr too.

Rhododendron arboreum ‘Sir Charles Lemon’ just coming out. Except Sir Charles should be white flowered! The leaf indumentum is correct but not the flower. Definitely Rh. arboreum but I was ‘sold a pup’ many years ago by someone!

Osmanthus delavayi just out below Donkey Shoe. These plants were replacements for an elderly hedge which died off of old age here. They were too old to cut back to reshoot (20ft plus).

2017 – CHW A nice young clump of Camellia tsai below the Rookery in full flower. A bit late out for this but full shade here.

Magnolia ‘Burncoose White’ (or ‘Tennis Court’) – the near white form of mollicomata is flowering profusely in the Rookery. Now that the Bond Street plant has split in half this will be a good substitute. Planted only in 2009.

Beside it is a magnolia which on the plans is shown as ‘Pegasus’. Clearly it is not! Perhaps a ‘Charles Raffil’ or a ‘Princess Margaret’. I think the original plant died and was replaced but the label has vanished.

2010 planted Magnolia ‘Apollo’ just coming out. We now have three or four of these good New Zealand hybrids of a similar age. Another good magnolia we seem not to have planted with all the others in the early 1990s after the hurricane clearances.

Magnolia x loebneri ‘Ballerina’ – the third of these x loebneri forms in the last three days. Less tepals here perhaps but certainly nice enough. All of them make an excellent impact. So we still have to find ’Donna’ and ‘Mags Pirouette’ for a full comparison of all of them.

A wild collected seed Magnolia cylindrica just coming out. The reddish stripe at the base of the flower is hardly yet visible. Our original ?1950s cylindrica is smaller growing and pure white.

One of the original white arboreums on Burns Bank. The second plant beyond this is about to die of old age at 60ft. Too dark now to catch this.

A young Camellia reticulata ‘Captain Rawes’ bought from France is flowering for the first time below Burns Bank. Different in colour and shape from the Tregullow plant in the Auklandii Garden. Stamens much smaller and less visible and more of a partial semi double.