Rhododendron glanduliferum (ex. Leisong Shan, Shuizhou) suddenly putting on serious new growth. It appeared dead 3 weeks ago.

The main clump of Rhododendron macabeanum does not look too bad. Watering saved it.

Seed heads formed but not yet ripe on Stewartia pteropetiolata.

Not all the big leaf rhodos have made it. This one was a survivor only 3 weeks ago.

The crowns which will form next year’s new growth on Gunnera manicata in Old Park look fine even if many leaves have collapsed and gone black in the drought.

2025 – CHW

To Burncoose for the annual tree survey.

Bignonia capreolata with the first set of flowers that I have ever seen.

Camellia ‘Winter’s Charm’ with its first flowers in a tunnel.

Camellia sasanqua – the ancient single white form.

Viburnum cinnamomifolium with an unseasonal flower.

Seed heads forming on Heptacodium miconioides.

Grevillea ‘Gold Touch’ with flowers.

Tetracentron sinense with its catkin-like seed tassels.

Osmanthus armatus with early (but sparse) flowers in Burncoose garden.

The Burncoose pond is still very low despite a week’s rain.

Ilex aquifolium ‘Pyramidalis’ with early berry.

Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Stephi’ in flower.

2024 – CHW
The forecasters give us a week of Indian summer and not before time. Colder at night but 20°c today.Still waiting for the Eden Project to harvest the knapweed seeds on the castle banks so we can get them cut at long last. As you can see the cyclamen are being smothered.

Vitis coignetiae has turned red earlier than usual.

Astonishing growth on the supposedly very tender Calliandra surinamensis. No flowers here but plenty in August on the nursery stock.

Grevillea ‘Bronze Rambler’ is living up to its name and covered in flower buds. An outstanding plant for covering a steep bank.

In July I hunted high and low for Styrax americanus to take flower pictures for the RCM Group yearbook article. It was in the Isla Rose Plantation all along.
Final flowers on Escallonia resinosa.

2023 – CHW
Roy Lancaster’s article in the latest Plant Review (formally the unwoke Plantsman) sparked my interest. It is on unusual species of Aucuba and mentions Caerhays twice.Roy’s introduction of Aucuba omiensis (from Mount Omei) with its huge leaves is now deemed to be a subspecies of Aucuba chinensis by Chinese taxonmoists or simply a form of Aucuba chinensis. Roy begs to differ and it is hard not to agree with him. This is one of our smaller plants of the tree-like Aucuba omiensis that he gave us. The largest one here is now a UK Record Tree.

Aucuba aff. chlorascens (BSWJ 11815e) is not mentioned in Roy’s article but names may have changed. Not listed in Hilliers (grows behind the pollarded Magnolia ‘Pegasus’).

Roy’s article mentioned Aucuba filicauda growing ‘above the house at Caerhays’. When I look I find 4 rather grown in plants of Aucuba himalaica var. dolichophylla beyond the playhouse. I fear a crossed wire here.

Nevertheless, all 3 of these rare and relatively new introductions to the UK do need propagating and including in the Burncoose catalogue. I suspect two of the three already are but need to check with Asia. I think we may have planted out 2 other species mentioned in Roy’s article – A. confertiflora and A. himalaica var. oblanceolate. If so they have either died, been eaten by deer or I have forgotten where they are in the garden?

2022 – CHW
The Queen lies in state in Edinburgh having been driven yesterday from Balmoral where she died on Thursday.A very premature autumn in the garden as expected after the drought and more drought deaths show up.Secondary flowers, as usual but early, in Rhododendron ‘Norfolk Candy’.

Autumn tints now on Cladrastis kentukea.

Drought strikes two 20 year old Rhododendron auriculatum. New growth from this year dead. After rain some reshooting much lower down the stem. Years to recover and flower again and not a pretty site while they do.

Seeds not yet ripe on Magnolia globosa.

A solitary secondary flower on Rhododendron ‘Jock’.

Rhododendron diaprepes finally has enough strength to flower late.

Several drought casualties beside it.

2021 – CHW
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Vanille Fraise’ white, pink and brown.

Sadly, our best Hydrangea sprengeri ‘Diva’ does have dieback to cut out as I feared a year ago after that dry summer.

A leftover of COVID on a camellia!

Mountains of seed on Styrax japonicus ‘Emerald Pagoda’ but nowhere near ripe yet.

Symplocos aff. sumuntia by the Engine House has many more seed heads than last year but they are not yet juicy, black and ripe.

The last (poor) flower on Clethra kaipoensis.