17th June

…Peruvian species which the reference books say is indigo-black in flower. Rather bluer here and a rather nice thing which is supposed to be a late season flowerer. [I now,…

21st June

…or 6-7cm across. What about that for a flowering tree in a woodland garden in mid/late June. AND the gorgeous purple/black autumn colour to come. It is a no brainer…

15th July

…smell is disgusting. Jaimie says ‘cat’s piss’ but we have never had a cat! Ehretia dicksonii Ehretia dicksonii Seed forming in Symplocos dryophylla which will eventually turn blue-black and Asia…

7th July

…cucumbers! Magnolia rostrata Magnolia rostrata Attractive new growth on a young Rhederodendron macrocarpum. Rhederodendron macrocarpum Rhederodendron macrocarpum Schefflera alpina has extraordinary brown or nearly black new growth. I have never…

2nd August

…drop before they ripen and turn black. Prunus padus ‘Colorata’ Tilia kiusiana still not quite out. Tilia kiusiana The wind has taken out the top of our best young Embothrium…

8th August

…is speeding its final demise. Aesculus wilsonii This young (grafted) Magnolia ‘Caerhays Belle’ tried to flower last November and the buds turned to black mush. Despite the few setting seeds…

18th August

…‘Magical Beauty’ Allium ‘Millennium Lavender Bubbles’ Allium ‘Millennium Lavender Bubbles’ Geranium ‘Hocus Pocus’ with near black leaves. Geranium ‘Hocus Pocus’ 2020 – CHW Sloes forming up nicely but only just…

24th August

…for the Charity Clay Shoot on Saturday. water meadows Scaffolding goes up to paint the windows on the towers. Scaffolding Compare these dry parkland pictures to 1976 and you can…

30th August

…ripe reddish turning black seeds. If it did not propagate so easily from cuttings there might be a point in collecting them. The foliage is starting to go purple and,…

8th September

…plenty of clusters of berries which are turning blue-black. Cornus hemsleyi Cornus hemsleyi Conversely, the equally shrubby Cornus torreyi has just finished flowering. Cornus torreyi A few flowers high up…

27th October

…what a tractor is doing in the watermeadows (cutting rushes) brings me to the rather dull Cornus walteri and its trusses of black berries. The tree is still in full…

2nd October

…old dead snakebark maples with the usual black fungal infections at the bases. dead snakebark maples Secondary new growth on the tops of Lithocarpus lepidocarpus planted in 2008. Euonymus hamiltonianus…

18th October

…both flowers and berries. Callicarpa shirasawana Callicarpa shirasawana Acanthopanax aff. sessiliflorus with its globular succulent black fruits hanging on the leafless tree. Acanthopanax aff. sessiliflorus Acanthopanax aff. sessiliflorus Photinia niitakayamensis…

14th October

…Path has finally got going. We lost the other young plant by George’s Hut. What spectacular black autumn colour this new species has! We have yet to see any flowers…

13th October

…moupinensis with large black fruits. The first time we have seen these on a young plant. Cotoneaster moupinensis The seeds I photographed earlier on Sorbus wilsoniana have now turned an…

9th October

…seed tassels. Carpinus caroliniana ‘Red Fall’ Carpinus caroliniana ‘Red Fall’ First black fruits ever on Crataegus chlorosarca. Crataegus chlorosarca Crataegus tanacetifolia covered in yellowish fruits. Crataegus tanacetifolia Crataegus tanacetifolia Crataegus…

7th October

…a form/specimen as the one which died here this year or Tom’s plant seen yesterday) covered in ripening seeds. They were black and ripe rather earlier last year. Schefflera macrophylla…

5th October

…the Himalayas with red fruits which will eventually go black according to the reference books. This is one of the few Viburnum species with paniculate flower clusters which I have…

29th September

…– CHWA Cercidiphyllum japonicum planted in 1991 below Slip Rail is moving from a gorgeous yellow to having tinges of black. With the sun on it it is quite a…

9th September

…covered in secondary flowers. Rhododendron ‘Blue Tit’ Rhododendron ‘Blue Tit’ Ficus pumila with a large crop of ripe blue/black figs. Far more than I have ever seen before on this…