19th September

…about its parentage. Mahonia fortunei ‘Winter Prince’ Young plants of Mallotus japonicus have positively enjoyed the drought and grown on well this summer. Proper flowering this year. I have admired…

20th September

…Secondary flowers on Viburnum rhytidophyllum which I had not expected after such a heavy crop of flowers in the summer. Viburnum rhytidophyllum Rhododendron ‘Bowjingles’ flowering in a nursery bed. A…

7th June

…and smelling delicious. Only its second year of flowering. The flowers here are much larger than on the 25 year old original tree. Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’ Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’ Magnolia…

11th September

…from the trunk after the wet summer. So hard to get this tender species established except in total wind shelter on all sides. Magnolia nitida Magnolia nitida Seed heads swelling…

17th June

…Arboretum at Batsford which is a jewel! In marked contrast to my views on Ventnor Botanics last summer which stirred up a public furore this arboretum is extremely well cared…

7th March

…M. ‘Black Tulip’ Magnolia ‘Vulcan’ x M. ‘Black Tulip’ Magnolia ‘Summer Rose’. 2022 planted. Magnolia ‘Summer Rose’ 2024 – CHW The review of younger newer magnolias continues (now in Area…

5th September

…wrong to say a month ago that the summer drought risk had passed. No rain for three weeks and several young hydrangeas, rhododendrons and azaleas now dead. Rain perhaps on…

14th March

…× persicoides ‘Spring Glow’. Prunus × persicoides ‘Spring Glow’ Prunus × persicoides ‘Spring Glow’ Magnolia ‘Summer Rose’ now full out. Magnolia ‘Summer Rose’ Magnolia ‘Summer Rose’ Sorbus aff. ligustrifolia just…

16th March

…below M. ‘Lanarth Surprise’ Finally dry enough to place out the large rhododendrons from 2 nursery beds into the large area cleared of camellia foliage plants last summer. The largest…

26th May

…buds in Kennel Close turns out to be Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’. Label has vanished. Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’ Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’ Aesculus woerlitzensis is nicely in flower. I do not think…

3rd June

…plan obscure but it looks starlike!). Attractive the way the bracts twirl about. Cornus kousa ‘Summer Stars’ Cornus kousa ‘Summer Stars’ Azalea ‘Moidart’ is a gentle colour growing in the…

16th May

…fraseri The largest Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’ in flower at 30ft+. Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’ Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’ Rehderodendron kweichowense (WWJ 12019) flowering for the second time ever and rather more profusely….

25th June

…crassifolia come from Ecuador. Magnolia fansipanensis comes from North Vietnam’s tallest mountain. If you are still confused so am I!] Magnolia crassifolia Magnolia crassifolia Magnolia crassifolia Magnolia ‘Summer Solstice’ was…

31st August

…grass snake in the Rockery. Possibly killed by pheasant poults? Many sightings of adders this summer and several dogs bitten walking on the cliffs in Cornwall. At the GWCT clay…

3rd July

…latifolius finally making some real growth after two dry summers. Indocalamus latifolius Betula medwediewii ‘Gold Bark’ was newly planted out this year below the dog kennels but already it has…

7th July

…with Max Kendry before the cricket at Edgbaston. Bourton House Garden was described by Adam Frost in a BBC Gardeners World programme as “probably one of the BEST summer gardens…

23rd July

…especially). Gorwell is S/SW facing with thin soil which gets a good baking in the heat of summer especially in his walled gardens. Much to ponder, look up and research….

31st July

…from a nearly beech stump I assume? Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’ Hydrangea ‘Taube’. Hydrangea ‘Taube’ Hydrangea ‘Joseph Banks’ was cut down to the ground last summer but still plenty of flower….

1st July

…ramosissima Rhododendron viscosum x ‘Midsummer Mermaid Blue’ flowering nicely with bluish new growth. A Glendoick cross planted in 2017. Rhododendron viscosum x ‘Midsummer Mermaid Blue’ Rhododendron viscosum x ‘Midsummer Mermaid…

26th August

…Drought last summer I fear as the COD. As we know there is still much confusion in the naming of Polyspora species. Polyspora axialis Polyspora speciosa (WWJ 11934) next door…