2022 – CHW

Many more dead flowers to pick off on the iris which is looking worse than ever today. The good news is that we present to the judges (up to 150 and 200 RHS committee members and plant trials judges) with pictures of the plant rather than the plant itself tomorrow. The pictures are better than the reality in the pot. We are allowed to swop the chosen plant for a better one but think we will do this tomorrow first thing when it goes on public display with the 20 other finalists (thankfully) next door to the Burncoose stand.

The best plant on our stand is Cornus ‘Venus’ with gigantic bracts. Can we get enough plants to supply the impending rush of orders? Only by the autumn.

Meanwhile Carol Klein films on the stand. Something about primulas which, as I reminded her, she had filmed four years ago. She had a monumental sneezing fit so it all took a while.

Leo, Justin, Christine, Molly and I with the stand all finished much earlier than usual.

2021 – CHW

Susyn Andrews and Brian Schrire are finally able to get here to sort out the final identification of the holly collection. In a long but happy afternoon we catalogue every holly in the garden and await a few more formal confirmations of identity once Susyn gets back to her notes and files some of which may still be at Kew. Then my holly article will finally be ready for publication.

We start with the puzzle that has plagued us for decades and caused endless confusion. Four of the five ancient ilex are confirmed as Ilex dipyrena and the fifth as Ilex kingiana. Here is the trunk of one of the Ilex dipyrena.

We locate four other Ilex kingiana of varying ages, but mostly 60 to 80 years old, in Area 03 together with evidence of others on old plans which have since died.

These are pictures of the two elderly and gnarled Ilex dipyrena above the greenhouse which only have any leaves at great height.

We then move on to look at other plants and self-sown seedlings in the garden which turn out to have more or less characteristics of both I. dipyrena and I. kingiana to a greater or lesser extent. I. kingiana seeds heavily as here but we did find green berries under a younger plant of I. dipyrena thus demonstrating that cross pollination can and has taken place.This pictures shows Ilex kingiana in berry with a strong influence of I. dipyrena in the leaf shape.

Ilex latifolia in flower below Slip Rail with its identity confirmed.

Here we see Ilex x altaclerensis ‘Gold King’ reverting to Ilex x altaclerensis ‘Hendersonii’ all over the tree. In fact half the tree has green leaves. Both are female clones as you can see.

Ilex ficoidea in bud.

The old original Magnolia sieboldii subsp. sinensis.

We had always thought this to be Ilex x altaclerensis ‘Camelliifolia’ but Susyn identifies it as Ilex x altaclerensis ‘Wilsonii’. We guess the ‘Camelliifolia’ which was growing nearby must have snapped off at the base in a gale.

Malus x micromalus with pink buds as it should have. In previous years I had missed the buds and was slightly worried about the identification.

Ilex perado subsp. perado in flower.

Magnolia wilsonii (DJHC 98369)

Viburnum setigerum just into flower.

This is Ilex corallina (not Ilex verticillata) as demonstrated by the leaf ‘drip’ shown black here on an old leaf.

Then we find what we have stupidly missed on previous holly hunts. Quite how I am unsure. Above Rookery Nursery are three final Ilex cyrtura exactly where they should have been on old maps. We do indeed have this species which grows rather better at Trewithen.

The other major name change is that our second supposed Ilex cornuta is in fact Ilex cornuta ‘Burfordii’.Ilex opaca (we have two upon finding a second one below Hovel Cart Road) had its identity confirmed.

In the Rookery we find a variable big leafed ilex which is clearly a natural hybrid between Ilex perado subsp. platyphylla and an Ilex x altaclerensis variety. This needs further examination of the specimens collected.This is a homegrown seedling of Ilex kingiana in Penvergate which also has traces of Ilex dipyrena and merits further research.

Samples from the Trevanion holly and adjacent ‘Williams’ holly have gone with Susyn for final confirmation of their identities.

2020 – CHW
It is interesting how the authorities are responding to the most mild attempts to release us from lockdown and to prevent the normal economy of the countryside from moving forward.

Our holiday lets manager has had attempts to make spoof holiday lets bookings on our website to see if we would accept them. Also more formal calls from trading standards asking what our holiday letting policy is? If a family can get into a car and drive where they like (behaving responsibly) why should they not end up in a holiday let or a caravan site? Naturally we will not accept holiday let visitors until we properly can.

The beach café, which is open only for takeaways with lots of new rules, risk assessments and compliance with the specific government form which must be displayed to the staff and customers alike, has been reported to the authorities by a competitor café. A taste of the ‘new’ Britain which had been expected. The inspector and the police who turned up to investigate found it difficult to fault the new arrangements but we will see what develops.

Has the complainant not been visiting their local village shop for groceries during lockdown? What is the difference between takeaway food at a beach café and a village shop?

Still the government will not respond to the National Trust, Historic Houses Association and Kew Gardens who wrote earlier this week asking for a limited and controlled opening of their gardens. As Chelsea week comes to an end this looks increasingly bizarre especially with parks and parklands now open. The problem is that government rules ban ‘ticketed events’ and garden visitors generally buy entry tickets. By the end of next week I can see no point in opening the garden here with only a fortnight to go before we would have closed anyway. It is an early flowering season and the garden is nearly over.

We have become a ‘cannot do’ society.

A farm tour to look at the spring lambs and a video filming session today.

A good bit of layering on Rhododendron ‘Lem’s Monarch’ which we turned into a 10 minute topical tips film for the Burncoose website. Then a vlog of five rhodos for the Caerhays (would be) visitors to see on the small screen.

Rhododendron loderi ‘Venus’ is not flowering well this year and the leaves always seem to look a bit off colour like this. Here are the flowers in three stages from bud to full out. Quite a colour change.

A new crossbred batch of ewes designed to produce ‘longer’ commercial lambs as you can see here above Tubbs Mill in a group of circa 100 ewes with early March born lambs. One hermaphrodite lamb – what will the ministry of BAME classify that as! An excellent crop of lambs.

Sixty Dorset cross ewes with ninety-two lambs above the cliffs. These were born three to four weeks later and will not be shorn for a month or so. Hamish, the farm manager, said he would have gone mad by now if he had been cooped up for eight weeks.

An ancient clump of Azalea ‘Narcissiflorum’ on the drive are just coming out. Double hose-in-hose flowers and new into the Burncoose catalogue this year. No scent as yet.

An excellent show at the entrance to Hovel Cart Road.

The usual crop of yellow poppies on the bank below. I used to call them Icelandic poppies (as seen at Chelsea) but I have been corrected by Clare on this!

Syringa ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ is purple in bud, opening purple-lavender and then fading (as here) to pale lilac-pink. A double flower. Sadly the plant is nearly dead below the tower. Planted about 1991.

The incubators hatched just under 80% of the 12,000 eggs earlier this week to give us 9,562 live chicks. A good performance for a large incubator with 36,000 eggs in it. The final setting of eggs for this year on Friday or Saturday. Then the laying hens will be sold elsewhere as we never want to see this stock again in our future breeding programme.

A fledgling blackbird makes an unsteady appearance in a Mahonia.

Deutzia subulata given to us by Roy Lancaster and planted in 2007.

Abies firma is a new species to us planted at Donkey Shoe to replace an old Abies grandis which split in two two years ago. Very different new growth to the old leaves. The tree is starting to take off.

Daphniphyllum oldhamii with flowers which are fairly insignificant amid the yellowish new growth.

The first flower cluster ever on this six to eight year old Schefflera macrophylla and the usual velvety new growth. The larger one in Forty Acres has been flowering away for some years.

I have missed the first flower on Magnolia ‘Porcelain Dove’. Plenty of buds to come.

What I have always known as Rhododendron catawbiense ‘Album’ tucked away by the Aucuba omiensis.

Flowers still on Magnolia acuminata var. subcordata ‘Miss Honeybee’.

The Michelia doltsopas are now back into full leaf thankfully.

2019 – CHW
Mrs Williams and Mrs Clarke hiding (exhausted) in the shade outside the exhibitors ‘tent’.

Mary Berry and a BBC producer using our stand for filming. I have met Mary before and she is exceptionally pleasant.

We were also filmed by the BBC with a comedian, Ben Miller, who had a problem with the dry sloping bank in his garden. Soon (after six retakes) I sorted him out with our Burncoose logo in all the shots and four decent plants. Sadly I have no pictures.

2018 – CHW
While I have been away at Chelsea, Jaimie has been busy keeping up to date in the garden here. Enkianthus ‘Wallaby’ has proven to be rather a shy flowerer but I fear we have it planted in too much shade.

Jaimie has mulched the main Rhododendron williamsianum clump and removed the wire netting from around the group as they are now large enough to stand on their own two feet.

2017 – CHW
Judging started at 7.30 but they only get to us at 9.45. Not a long session and a quick vote without much fuss which is hopeful.Then the media frenzy with our celebrity, Gemma Arterton, and her sister who is even prettier. Gemma is perhaps best known as the Bond girl in ‘Quantum of Solace’. At least 50 press photographers and camera crews assemble half an hour before the photo call at 10.45.The bar is opened by our sponsor, Guy Hands, a little before this with a flurry of pink champagne. Gemma stays for nearly an hour and the press go mad. So does the drinks party and I have to retire under a tree to recover before the Queen arrives and the gala evening with yet more champagne.

John Hill from Burncoose Nurseries, Gemma Arterton, Gabby Evans from the Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme, Charles Williams from Burncoose Nurseries, Hannah Arterton and Guy Hands from Terra Firma

Alan Titchmarsh visited The Great Gardens stand at Chelsea to promote their new book ‘The Great Gardens of Cornwall – The People & Their Plants’.In the picture are, from left to right: Lorna Tremayne (Heligan), Alan Titchmarsh, Lucinda Rimmington (Caerhays), Tim Hubbard (the author), Charles Williams (Caerhays) and Jonathon Jones (Tregothnan)