15th May | The Garden Diary

FJW 1955-2007

CHW 2015-

JCW 1897-1939

CW 1940-1955

2026 – CHW (images to follow)

Tom Hudson sends me this pictures of Xeronema callistemon in full flower but also in the teeth of the wind above the Minack Theatre 4 miles from Lands End. Burncoose have stocked this very tender New Zealand plant but I do not remember ever seeing it in flower in the nursery.

Olearia cheesemanii at the entrance to Burncoose Nurseries which is so covered in flower that there is hardly a leaf showing.

The Wisteria hanging over the wall above the Rockery is just going over.

Rhododendron neriiflorum although nothing like the size of the plants seen at Kennedy Castle in Galloway.

The variegated Cornus kousa ‘Wolf Eyes’ has been overtaken and dwarfed by the now dominant root stock. I need to take the saw to this to preserve what is left.

To Tregrehan for a Great Gardens meetings.

Clematis forsteri in full flower.

Magnolia sieboldii x M. insignis.

Magnolia sieboldii x M. insignis and Parastyrax species nova. Interestingly the Tregrehan Parastyrax is white. Ours has pink veining and pink tips to the individual flowers. Melliodendron is similarly variable in colour.

Gunnera insignis from Mexico in flower.

Tom has no idea what this is!

Brassaiopsis fatsioides in flower.

The best form of Rhododendron nuttallii that I have ever seen. Yellowish in bud opening white.

Cantua buxifolia with its last few cascading flowers.

[Need to find name for this at B]

Oreopanax anomalus growing through the roof of the Tregrehan glasshouse.

Rhododendron royalii which long since died of disease here.

2025 – CHW

Photinia parvifolia about to flower.

The peculiar x Laburnocytisus ‘Adamii’.

A young clump of Azalea ‘Persil’ above Crinodendron Hedge. (1 of 3 dead).

And beside it an even better clump of Azalea ‘Silver Slipper’.

Podocarpus lawrencei ‘Purple King’ may have very dark old leaves but the new growth is delightful.

The peculiar Osteomeles subrotunda is about to flower profusely.

Rhododendron ‘Mrs Lionel de Rothschild’ is not flowering very much this year.

No idea of the name of this ancient clump of deciduous azaleas at the top end of Hovel Cart Road.

2024 – CHW
A Great Gardens meeting at the Minack Theatre near Lands End. With the roadworks on the A30 at Zelah nearly took a 2 hour trip to get there. The Minack are the latest addition to membership of the Great Gardens largely thanks to Claire Batten and Jeff Rowe from Penberth Plants who now manage this outstanding garden above and around the cliffside theatre itself. The garden is open to the public separately from the theatre and there are guided garden tours each day. The Minack hosts a National Collection of Aeoniums growing outside. Another National Collection is in the Wisely glasshouse. Extraordinary South African plants and Proteas which you might only normally see on Tresco.It was a foul day with a westerly gale and we got drenched and seasick trying to climb down the outside seating in the auditorium which is very steep. The meeting room at the very bottom of course.

A wall of Lampranthus.

Drosanthemum candens.

Here is most of the Aeonium collection which survived the snow and endless rain of the winter and spring. Not everything made it.

Aeonium ‘Phoenix Flame’

Aeonium ‘Du-Rozzen’.

Aeonium ‘Velour’.

Aeonium ‘Cornish Tribute’.

Aeonium ‘Pomegranate’.

Aeonium haworthii.

Aeonium ‘Schwarzkopf’.

Aeonium cuneatum.

Aeonium leucoblepharum

Aeonium ‘Merry Maiden’.

Aeonium arboreum.

Aeonium ciliatum.

Aeonium sedifolium.

Aeonium tabuliforme.

Aeonium ‘Torchbearer’.

Aeonium ‘Ballerina’.

After the 2 hour meeting the weather had calmed down a bit. Still plenty of salt spray.

Xeronema callistemon (Poor Knights Lily) in full flower outside in May. This is a plant which Burncoose used to stock and I have only ever seen it in flower once before. Here a huge clump with iris like leaves.

Lupinus lepidus is dwarfish growing and flowers in May. I saw it at Bonython but it thrives here.

Huge Leucadendron argenteum used to grow here but was killed in the 2018 Beast. The replacements are thriving all around.

This wonderful clump forming South Africa plant is Moraea huttonii. You could be forgiven for thinking it was an iris!

Polygala fruticosa ‘Africana’.

Erodium ‘Bishop’s Form’.

Melaleuca diosmifolia in full flower.

Crassula coccinea.

Erica cerinthoides – the heath from South African which Burncoose has sold on occasion.

Echium gentianoides was a startling blue.

Thymus citriodorus ‘Archer’s Gold’ covering a seating area. When you sit you get the scent or, today, a wet arse!

Aeonium canariense.

Metrosideros excelsa about to flower in the teeth of the wind.

The garden above the theatre.

2023 – CHW
I was invited as Chairman of the Great Gardens of Cornwall to formally open the new Court Garden at Trebah. A £400k project. The walled garden was once a tennis court and underneath the new gardens are ground heat source pumps supplying energy for the visitor centre. Around 60-70 people attended and Robert Dudley Cooke, Chairman of the Trebah Garden Charitable Trust, kicked the festivities off with a long speech. Mine was shorter and produced a few laughs at the account of a coach load of German tourists walking straight though an Arnhem veterans and US 29th Infantry (who set off from Trebah for D Day and Omaha Beach) outdoor memorial service at the bottom of Trebah garden some years ago. The ribbon cutting with garden shears was a failure and I had to resort to scissors.

A hedge of Libertia grandiflora leading up to Trebah House.

2022 – CHW

Tilia tuan var. chenmoui (TH 1075 from Keith Rushforth 2016) just leafing up.

Tilia chingiana with its drooping new growth shoots.

Quercus ‘Belle d’Aquitaine’ now with its faintly coppery young leaves.

Crataegus aestivales – the eastern Mayhaw, from Alabama, Florida and Virginia making a decent tree.

Tilia caroliniana subsp. heterophylla was a gift this year from Nikki Applewhite.

Aesculus glabra ‘April Wine’

Acer campbellii subsp. frangipanense (BSWJ 8270) planted in 2010 with wonderful bronzy new growth and flower spikes now showing.

Rhododendron ‘Mi Amor’ at its very best – scented beyond belief and presumably a Rh. nuttallii hybrid with Rh. lindleyi? (Hillier’s does not say).

Malus hupehensis in the Isla Rose Plantation has made a decent tree in only five years. It stands out today covered in flower.

Magnolia liliiflora ‘Raven’ is nearly over but has flowered well.

2021 – CHW
Magnolia ‘Sunburst’ at its best. (Magnolia x brooklynensis ‘Woodsman’) x (Magnolia ‘Gold Stars’ x Magnolia stellata Rubra). By yellow magnolia standards not near the top but this small tree is now putting on a very decent show by the Fernery.

An extraordinarily difficult to load consignment from Burncoose Nurseries to the Channel Islands which left earlier this week. 15-18ft tall aloe trees with delicate branches were a nightmare even with the telehandler. Twenty-seven pallets in all with two more lorry loads to go.

Vaccinum dunalianum caudatifolium (from Crûg) is newly planted in the Auklandii Garden. Interesting new growth.

Rhododendron falconeri now in flower but much less of a show than last year.

On 1986 garden plans I find this (to me) unknown Vaccinum species is supposedly Vaccinum padifolium. However, the description in Hilliers does not match. Another one for Susyn Andrews to identify next weekend.

Fallen old red leaves below Nothofagus fusca. This tree was collected in New Zealand by Sir Harold Hillier and given to my father.

View 15th May 1897 – 2020