6th January

…plant was one of Jimmy Smart’s hybrids from Marwood Hill which the late Laurence Banks thought might have been lost at Marwood. First flower not properly formed I fear. No…

10th August

…1910. The flora which were found earlier in the year in Tin Garden were much more in keeping with what one would have expected in a meadow hedgerow.On the banks

26th October

…Dicksonia antarctica nestle in the quarry well protected from most winds and happily self ‘seeding’ up the banks. One tree fern is simply attached to the damp rock face and…

17th September

…before! 2021 – CHW Another visit to the greenhouses to see what was out in flower or in berry. After the grass cutting on the banks the autumn cyclamen (Cyclamen…

15th September

…white seeds on the pot grown Cordyline banksii. Cordyline banksii Viburnum tinus ‘Lisarose’ in full flower. It normally performs in December – March. A good lot of home grown climbing…

12th September

…drought the expected button mushrooms. button mushrooms Cyclamen already showing up over the grass cut only a week ago on the banks outside the front door. Cyclamen First time flowering…

7th September

…has fared a little worse but has survived. Nearer the top of the banks above the greenhouse and in full sun. Cercidiphyllum japonicum ‘Strawberry’ A young Sorbus hedlundii (ex Roundabarrow)…

9th May

…rare for us to see self-sown seedlings emerging but after last summer’s heat copper beech, birch and conifer seedlings have appeared on mossy banks above the fernery. self-sown seedlings self-sown…

23rd August

…clethras 2020 – CHW One of the greatest benefits of not cutting the banks outside the front door this year is only now apparent. A flock of 50 to 70…

27th July

…Magnolia ‘Caerhays Splendour’ A carpet of Knapweed in flower on the banks. Knapweed Very large flower heads on Rubus ichangensis. Last year the fruit was only ripe in November. Rubus…

6th July

…with the new ‘Flora of Cornwall’ book this is Umbilicus rupestris (pennywort or navelwort). I have mistakenly called it liverwort in the past. It grows on damp banks and on…

15th July

…5-6ft tall. Olearia nummularifolia Olearia nummularifolia Olearia nummularifolia 2020 – CHW This plant, Centaurea nigra or Lesser Knapweed, is really why we have decided not to cut the grassy banks

14th July

…much sign of myrtles yesterday at Osborne house despite their love of hot dry banks and self seeding. Perhaps too cold for Amomyrtus luma but plenty at Ventnor. Myrtus communis…

16th June

…‘Royal Purple’ 2022 – CHW A garden tour on behalf of the National Garden Scheme charity (eleven paid but only six turned up). Sad news that Lawrence Banks of Hergest…

13th June

…landscape trees planted in the Trevanion deer park above the beach are doing well. landscape trees landscape trees First cut of the grass on the banks outside the front door….

8th June

…Azalea indica colours near the Top Lodge. At least half a dozen different plants. Most are sparse flowerers but one or two are covered. Two great banks of plants. Azalea…

20th May

…now full out. Rhododendron ‘Mrs Lionel de Rothschild’ Rhododendron ‘Mrs Lionel de Rothschild’ Rhododendron yakushimanum looking good as well in a clump on Burns Banks. Rhododendron yakushimanum Enkianthus campanulatus ‘Red…

8th April

…officer’s performance rather sums it up.I attach a communication from Lawrence Banks with photographs. We had been corresponding on the naming of one or two of his magnolias. We have…

20th March 1897 – 2020

…We were given a plant of this last year by Lawrence Banks. Strobilanthes rankanensis Strobilanthes rankanensis Illicium simonsii full out by the tennis court at Tregrehan. Attractive dark bark and…