2024 – CHW
A period of settled weather for a change.
Zanthoxylum coreanum covered in ripe red peppers.
The unnamed Camellia x williamsii below Tin Garden are just out high up.
A rather wonky Sorbus and other plants placed out for planting last week in Giddle Orchard.
2023 – CHW
First flowers out on Camellia japonica ‘Sodekakushi’ by the front door.
First flowers out on Camellia japonica ‘Sodekakushi’ by the front door.
Michael has arranged for the old Rain Gauge to be repaired and restored. During lockdown we spent hours trying to find one similar to the two I remember from childhood on the lawn. We drew a blank but then found one of the old ones sitting in a garden shed. There are two dials. The smaller dial at the top measures inches and the larger dial measures parts of an inch. Since Michael showed Lizzie and I how it worked just over a fortnight ago we have had 2.45 inches of rain.
We can now record rainfall in this diary rather more accurately. A simple machine. Odd that noone makes or sells something as simple as this anymore.
Sarcococca saligna just out in flower.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Variegata’ outside the front gates.
A good young plant of one of the ancient white Camellia sasanqua by the side door.
Camellia vernalis ‘Yuletide’ now in flower outside as well as under cover at Burncoose.
2022 – CHW
Camellia x williamsii ‘November Pink’ has half a dozen flowers out and most buds are showing colour.
Camellia x williamsii ‘November Pink’ has half a dozen flowers out and most buds are showing colour.
Self-sown tree ferns at various stages of growth in the Main Quarry.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Variegata’ with a good flower: leaf contrast. The best I have seen this.
Sarcococca saligna nearly over before November.
Colour showing on Camellia ‘Nobilissima’ by the front door.
2021 – CHW
More of the leylandii hedge in Kennel Close gets incinerated.
More of the leylandii hedge in Kennel Close gets incinerated.
First flowers out on Camellia sasanqua ‘Sparkling Burgundy’. Colour showing too on C. sasanqua ‘Dazzler’.
Excellent autumn colour on Meliosma veitchiorum.
Planting and wire netting surrounds in place above Higher Quarry Nursery.
The secondary flowering on Rhododendron concatenans is again impressive.
Autumn colour has dropped quickly on Lindera umbellata.
Deer damage on a stem of Lindera sericea.
2020 – CHW
Sunshine through a colourful young beech tree. Wind and rain threaten so enjoy it while you can.
Sunshine through a colourful young beech tree. Wind and rain threaten so enjoy it while you can.
And the same up through a Liquidambar styraciflua. Spectacular! This tree was originally a gift to my father from Lord Falmouth. Visiting later they both found it stolen. This is the replacement.
Quercus insignis with its dangerous autumn new growth just appearing. The largest tree of this tender species which I have seen at 20-25ft is beside a pond at Llanover Garden in Monmouthshire. The Welsh are currently in full lockdown with supermarkets instructed to sell only essentials (ie booze) but not children’s clothes or bedding for the winter which are deemed to be non-essential. A socialist dictatorship. COVID levels in Monmouth are about the same as Cornwall.
Acer capillipes past its best.
Aralia chinensis in flower which I do not recollect seeing before.
2019 – CHW
The BBC say the country is bathed in sunshine! Caerhays has had an all-day gale with incessant rain. Drips from the skylight in the Billiard Room during the estate meeting (four hours) this morning while the builders fiddle with the new gutters. Venturing out in the afternoon I capture the tone of the day:Even the pampas grass on the islands has nearly been blown flat.
The BBC say the country is bathed in sunshine! Caerhays has had an all-day gale with incessant rain. Drips from the skylight in the Billiard Room during the estate meeting (four hours) this morning while the builders fiddle with the new gutters. Venturing out in the afternoon I capture the tone of the day:Even the pampas grass on the islands has nearly been blown flat.
The sea is positively evil.
But Tamarix ramoisissima flowers away regardless. It is the only autumn flowering species of the three which Burncoose offer.
An oyster catcher is sheltering beside the drive and shows no inclination to move back out to sea.
Even the swans and two cygnets are sheltering on the bank.
2018 – CHW
Fruits on the popular Sorbus folgneri ‘Emiel’ which is now in the Burncoose catalogue. This is an excellent find.
Fruits on the popular Sorbus folgneri ‘Emiel’ which is now in the Burncoose catalogue. This is an excellent find.
‘Strawberries’ on Cornus ‘Gloria Birkett’. These are quite small in comparison to those seen on Cornus capitata seen 10 days ago. ‘Gloria Birkett’ is a cross between C. capitata and Cornus kousa.
The seed pods on Stewartia rostrata have dried and split open in the recent warm spell.
The gales took away all the autumn colour on Acer palmatum ‘Osakasuki’ leaving just a few on the tree and most beside the drive.
A clump of three Larix kaempferi starting to turn colour properly.
2017 – CHW
The record sized Acer palmatum ‘Senkaki’ are starting to turn their superb autumn yellow.
The record sized Acer palmatum ‘Senkaki’ are starting to turn their superb autumn yellow.
A young Aesculus wangii shows no sign of the onset of autumn.
2016 – CHW
Amazing autumn colours in the nursery today.Quercus rubra – a dull day but a clear red outside.Oxydendron arboreum – a bold red.
Amazing autumn colours in the nursery today.Quercus rubra – a dull day but a clear red outside.Oxydendron arboreum – a bold red.
Nyssa sylvatica – such a delicate yellow.
Quercus coccinea – in the tunnel but still a good red. Better than Quercus rubra or not? Smaller leaf certainly here but the jury is out.
Fothergilla major – what a collection of colours! Astonishing.
Eucommia ulmoides – a dull yellow and green but nice close up.
Diospyros lotus – another yellow of some merit.
Callicarpa kwangtungensis – mauve/violet fruits as well as dappled colours on the fading leaves.
Callicarpa bodinieri ‘Profusion’ – nothing beats these bronze/purple fruits but no autumn colour yet.
Firmania simplex – an odd autumnal ‘white’ on some leaves.
Celastus orbiculatus – as bold and striking a yellow as any climber in autumn.
2015 – CHW
A fine day but blustery so more Camellia sasanquas to inspect at the top of the steps in the Auklandii Garden. There are three of the twelve different varieties out in flower here planted in 2005 which have made large plants in a short time. These ‘Paradise Collection’ sasanquas, as they were known, were originally destined for Tresco but the soil there was deemed unsuitable and they hung around in Trewidden nurseries before I bought the lot. This was before Tregothnan started their (now) National Collection of Camellia sasanquas which are a most impressive young avenue of smallish plants alongside the road running along the top of the arboretum from the main house. There are about 30 Paradise varieties here in three or four clumps and I have never had time in the busy shooting season to look out for them properly. The three are:
A fine day but blustery so more Camellia sasanquas to inspect at the top of the steps in the Auklandii Garden. There are three of the twelve different varieties out in flower here planted in 2005 which have made large plants in a short time. These ‘Paradise Collection’ sasanquas, as they were known, were originally destined for Tresco but the soil there was deemed unsuitable and they hung around in Trewidden nurseries before I bought the lot. This was before Tregothnan started their (now) National Collection of Camellia sasanquas which are a most impressive young avenue of smallish plants alongside the road running along the top of the arboretum from the main house. There are about 30 Paradise varieties here in three or four clumps and I have never had time in the busy shooting season to look out for them properly. The three are:
Camellia sasanqua ‘Snow Flurry’ (similar but better than ‘Winter Snowman’ seen last week) – the plant is full out and the semi double flowers are intricate and delicate before they shatter in the wind after only a few days.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Winter’s Interlude’ has just one light pink flower at the very top of this eight to nine feet tall bush.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Winter’s Charm’ is another delicate pink but only one flower again as yet. Unlike all the other varieties this plant is heavily laden with large seeds which are just turning red. The effort of this seems to have deprived the plant of any energy to produce more buds. Perhaps an early rogue flower? Time will tell.
1997 – FJW
Delias great embroidery finished – begun on June 10th 1972.
1990 – FJW
Flower full out on November Pink.
1945 – CW
Camellia oleifera out and picked 2 day opening buds. Also Rho royalii yellow hybrid good by Donkey Shoe. Rho Yellow Hammer nice. Hardly a sign of Decorum or its hybrids. Mag officinalis fell down on 26th behind big Fastuosum Bamboo 51 ½ ft high. Very bad storms. Camellia sasanqua very nice.
1939 JCW
Been very dry for almost 2 months with one wet spell. Fuchsias still untouched. Eucryphias cordifolia and bilidari still have flowers. Cyclamen and lapagerias good. Enkianthus in Auklandii garden fine colour. Camellia sasanqua white outside stables full of flower. Acer Mt Usher (?) on left of Tin Garden path has been very nice also.
1931 – JCW
Election day as regards declaration, see Oct 29th.
1928 – JCW
Some Sasanqua’s open, some roses and some lapagerias. Cyclamen nice, Magnolia delavayi still have flowers and good ones. Fuchsias good. One nice flower on Delavayi’s Decorum, more to come.
Most Nyssa sylvatica types just colour yellow, at least in a climate without autumnal freeze. Selected clones but can have amazing colouration in flaming red. Nyssa sinensis is more reliably colouring red, often irregular with some leafs already red, others still green. The tree is but even more demanding a humid soil.
This oak is the red oak, typical for vast areas of eastern North America. It colours a dull red with green or more yellowish brown. The scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea, has much deeper lobed leaves with fewer lobes and shorter lamina. Similar is Qu. elipsoidalis.