2024 – CHW
The 1897 planted Magnolia stellata on the lawn is covered in bud.
Camellia vernalis ‘Dawn’ (‘Ginryu’) not out yet but full of bud.
Cytisus ‘Porlock’ in full flower on the lawn.
Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ and Cotoneaster horizontalis outside the Drawing Room.
I have never seen Cotoneaster horizontalis so covered in berry.
Sadly Kerry Burns died recently. His father was the estate painter and Kerry retired about 10 years ago as a gardener. His son appears to be having a large bonfire and clearing out the house.
Narcissii already emerging.
The prostrate growing Camellia sasanqua ‘Waterfall White’.
I have looked every day but only now does the fifth ancient Camellia sasanqua have flowers high up in the sun. This is the largest flower of any of any of the five.
Phormium ‘Rainbow Maiden’ and Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna growing well together.
Lizzie found and cut the very first Camellia japonica ‘Sode-Gashuki’ flower outside the front door. The warm sunshine this week has caused the buds to start opening.
2023 – CHW
First flowers seen on Camellia x williamsii ‘J. C. Williams’. Very high up and not worth photographing. A wet and windy week in prospect although there is precious little autumn colour this year even before these forthcoming gales.
First flowers seen on Camellia x williamsii ‘J. C. Williams’. Very high up and not worth photographing. A wet and windy week in prospect although there is precious little autumn colour this year even before these forthcoming gales.
I have never seen this dwarf, creeping, groundcover camellia in flower before. In fact I didn’t even know it was there until fairly recently. 12-15 foot in the round but no more than 2-2½ feet tall. The ICS ‘Splendid Sasanquas’ book makes no mention of a single pink flowered Camellia sasanqua with this sort of growth habit. It looks a bit like C. sasanqua ‘Plantation Pink’ when the flower is open but ‘Plantation Pink’ has an upright habit as we know. The immature flowers are nothing like ‘Plantation Pink’. I need to send these pictures to Caroline Bell. I guess this plant was planted out in the early 1960’s. Until recent clearings took place the plant could have been in full shade which may be why it is only now flowering.
Nyssa sinensis ‘Jim Russell’ has good colours even though newly planted.
Mature small trees of Camellia sasanqua ‘Narumigata’ in the Rookery are looking good today and, as usual, covered in dopey wasps.
2022 – CHW
Cornus capitata with ripe fruits, flies and wasps galore.
Cornus capitata with ripe fruits, flies and wasps galore.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Dazzler’ now full out.
Disanthus cercidifolius in flower and with the finest autumn colours. At last we have one growing well after many disasters over the years. I am not sure I have even seen these peculiar flowers before?
Azalea ‘Kirin’ with early flower.
‘Golden Scalycap’ (Pholiota aurivella) I think? On beech stumps and roots.
Euonymus morrisonensis with open seed capsules and just the odd orange seed left inside.
2021 – CHW
Sweet chestnuts covered in fruits but the seeds themselves are small this year and mainly not worth attempting to roast.
Sweet chestnuts covered in fruits but the seeds themselves are small this year and mainly not worth attempting to roast.
Camellia taliensis now full out in flower.
Daphniphyllum oldhamii (CWJ 12351) flowering away.
Seed from Aextoxicon punctatum as new flower buds form.
Self-sown tree ferns appearing on the top ride in Forty Acres wood.
Seed on Carpinus betulus ‘Purpurea’.
Seedpods on Euonymus tingens.
Gigantic fungi in Forty Acres – perhaps Lactarius decipiens (a milkcap)?
2020 – CHW
Visited Burncoose on a drizzly day last Friday.Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and Camellia x vernalis ‘Yuletide’ are a good combination.
Visited Burncoose on a drizzly day last Friday.Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and Camellia x vernalis ‘Yuletide’ are a good combination.
Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ outside the nursery cash point. A harbinger of winter.
The groundworks for the new loading bay and larger covered area outside the main packing are now well underway in the wet. Phil Knuckey in his element!
Bergenia ‘Morgenrote’ in flower.
And Bergenia ‘Overture’.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Narumigata’ out in the nursery as well as at Caerhays.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Alba Plena’
Camellia sasanqua (white No. 3 from Caerhays) plants propagated here. They take a few years to grow into a saleable size.
These are Camellia sasanqua (pink No. 1 from Caerhays).
Camellia sasanqua ‘Show Girl’ fades quickly in colour as you can see here.
First flower this year on Camellia x williamsii ‘Donation’. Earlier than most other x williamsii today in our tunnels.
Last flowers and some seed heads on Abelia chinensis. Rather a nice effect.
Rather splendid autumn colour on Rhodotyphos scandens which I had not taken in before.
Arbutus unedo ‘Rubra’ with fruits.
Eucommia ulmoides with good autumn colour.
Ripe fruits now on Diospyros lotus. We saw them forming a month ago.
Fothergilla major strutting its stuff.
A surprise unseasonal flower on Rhaphiolepsis umbellata.
Grevillea juniperina sulphurea just in flower.
Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’ earning its name!
Hebe franciscana ‘Variegata’ (‘Silver Queen’) still in full flower today.
Yesterday evening the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced another national lockdown from next Thursday, 5th November, for a month (at least).
Our staff will return to being on furlough and we will lose the main month of the shooting season with no recompense.
The morning is spent trying to reorganise what is left of the shoot.
History will record this as an especially bad day for the country with yet more bankruptcy, misery and hopelessness. The Covid levels in Cornwall are tiny!
Our staff will return to being on furlough and we will lose the main month of the shooting season with no recompense.
The morning is spent trying to reorganise what is left of the shoot.
History will record this as an especially bad day for the country with yet more bankruptcy, misery and hopelessness. The Covid levels in Cornwall are tiny!
2019 – CHW
Thick fog and drizzle today where you could scarcely see 100 yards especially in the village.Camellia ‘Noblissima’ has been out by the front door for a couple of days. I need to check how this compares to recent years? About seven flowers full out so far.
Thick fog and drizzle today where you could scarcely see 100 yards especially in the village.Camellia ‘Noblissima’ has been out by the front door for a couple of days. I need to check how this compares to recent years? About seven flowers full out so far.
Vinca major with a flower growing through the lower branches of Picea omorika.
Vitis coignetiae colouring nicely as it grows (yet again) through the Rhododendron ‘Cornish Red’ beside the lawn.
The last of the old Camellia sasanquas through the arch is now out about a month after the first ones showed colour. These flowers are larger than the others and a few rather damp and scarcely alive wasps are going after the nectar.
2018 – CHW
The sunlight through the autumn leaves of the champion Acer palmatum ‘Sango-Kaku’ (‘Senkaki’). Quite a spectacle.
The sunlight through the autumn leaves of the champion Acer palmatum ‘Sango-Kaku’ (‘Senkaki’). Quite a spectacle.
More unusual fungi. No mushrooms on the lawn this year despite the drought but lots of unknown and interesting growths through the garden.
The fruits are now ripe on Rubus lineatus. It has taken a long time for them to ripen and they are by no means large or yet all ripe.
Saw the first two woodcock today and so did the keepers. The first fall of birds in these nights of full moon. Some frost today in the valley.
2017 – CHW
Hoheria populnea ‘Alba Variegata’ in full flower but very late in the year. H. populnea was out ages ago. This is a borderline hardy plant with lots of green reversions but, when cut today in a vase, looks fine indoors. Here it is tucked away by Georges Hut. The best show I have ever seen from it as November begins.
Hoheria populnea ‘Alba Variegata’ in full flower but very late in the year. H. populnea was out ages ago. This is a borderline hardy plant with lots of green reversions but, when cut today in a vase, looks fine indoors. Here it is tucked away by Georges Hut. The best show I have ever seen from it as November begins.
Camellia oleifera is now full out. This original shrub is now around 25ft tall and seedlings occur naturally here and there in the garden. A much underrated species which is perfectly hardy with us.
2016 – CHW
Below the tower today with lots to see.Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Gold Rush’ has turned a brownish yellow in this autumn. An odd colour in marked contrast to its spring yellow but attractive all the same.
Below the tower today with lots to see.Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Gold Rush’ has turned a brownish yellow in this autumn. An odd colour in marked contrast to its spring yellow but attractive all the same.
A prunus is showing up nicely beside it.
The Podocarpus salignus which had blown over and were cut down in the spring are shooting vigorously from ground level.
What odd roots Araucaria araucaria has. Knobbly and grey.
The last large Cotoneaster franchettii has some berries but this old shrub is on the way out too. The birds spread the seed widely and there are seedlings here and there.
What a colour on this hydrangea! Unworldly.
This hypercium, a gift from Roy Lancaster, is not on the planting plan. It first flowered last year. The flowers are very late and slightly inverted. It may well be Hypercium lancasteri reintroduced in 1980 (after Forrest found it in 1906).
2015 – CHW
A further catch up on some autumn colour at the very top of the garden before I start on the worst job of the year – Christmas cards! (Hundreds.) Since we still have not had a major westerly gale there is more intact than usual.
Maakia hupehensis. Planted in 1991 this tree is now showing excellent bark and although the autumn colour is nearly over you can still get a flavour from the remnants. Maakias are awful plants in the nursery and always look manky in pots and are slow to get away when planted.
Kalopanax septemlobus is a superb yellow with just a few leaves on the ground. Perhaps the best autumn colour of anything in the garden today. Again a 1991 planting to replace a grafted M sargentiana robusta which grew and died here. The kalopanax must be nearly 30 feet tall in 24 years.
Euonymus alatus takes some beating too but on a much smaller and more compact scale. Strangely the three other plants in shade and wind by the Top Lodge are still green. This one is mollycoddled in a hot spot.
1994 – FJW
Flower out on November Pink.
1968 – FJW
Uncle George stated in the middle of the assizes that he would not be mocked.
1966 – FJW
4 flowers out on Nov Pink.
1934 – JCW
Just as in 1930. No real frost yet. Most of the fuchsias hold on.
1930 – JCW
Some good flowers on Magnolia grandiflora. I saw my first flowers of R momenthum yesterday. The fuchsias and the lapagerias remain good.
1926 – JCW
Very little water in the Tin Garden tanks even now. Hydrangeas have come on a little in the moisture. Sasanquas on the Billiard Room have been good but east wind smashed them. Perhaps the best thing in the place is the foliage of Magnolia delavayi.