18th September | The Garden Diary

FJW 1955-2007

CHW 2015-

JCW 1897-1939

CW 1940-1955

2026 – CHW

Just two house martins left above the lawn at 12.00.

Six mature cygnets on the lake.

Clearance work on the islands complete for another year.

Magnolia ‘Caerhays Belle’ x M. ‘Felix Jury’ in rude health but still no flower buds for next year.

The same two mushrooms on the lawn 48 hours on.

Lapageria rosea ‘Flesh Pink’ has already dropped a few flowers.

The old Lapageria rosea with few flowers after the drought.

The second white ancient Camellia sasanqua is out.

The first Camellia sasanqua to flower now has decent flowers.

Tropaeolum ciliatum growing through a Fuchsia.

Tropaeolum ciliatum and Cyclamen hederifolium.

The third ancient Camellia sasanqua with darker pink flowers also just out low down.

Completion of the second cut in Kitchen Garden.

2025 – CHW
Jim Gardiner sends me two pictures of the fruits on his Elaeagnus umbellata ‘Le Vasterival’. Quite superb and something the nursery needs to try to obtain. The best E. umbellata I have seen grows in a hedgerow this side of Tresillian but the fruits are nowhere near as good or plentiful as this.

White fruits forming on Melicytus obovatus in greater profusion (and larger) than we have ever seen before. Remember this species is supposed to have male and female plants in close proximity to produce female fruits according to the leading work on Melicytus by New Zealand botanists. The nearest plant to ours is very probably 10 miles away. It would appear that our plant is indeed bisexual (hermaphrodite) and not dioecious as we had been led to expect. Could it be a gender bender? Don’t ask!

Windblown seed clusters on the younger Lithocarpus cleistocarpus above Hovel Cart Road. A few seem large enough to potentially be fertile. We have given a few away but have yet to germinate any ourselves.

More mushrooms on the lawn.

Cotoneaster confusus.

Wonderful colours on Disanthus cercidifolius.

Strangely curled leaves on Pittosporum glabratum.

Metapanax davidii with ripe seeds.

Seed heads on Clematis uncinata.

2024 – CHW

A bit more Indian summer but thunder and heavy rain by the weekend. As so often happens at this time of the year two branches split off the Pinus radiata below the Tower. Weight of ripening fir cones is the cause.

two branches split off the Pinus radiata

Euonymus oxyphyllus (BSWJ 10817) with a few ripe seed heads which I collect for Asia.

Another young Melliodendron xylocarpum finally starting to get going.

First fruits here on Viburnum fordiae.

The first time I have seen the beautiful peeling bark on our Huodendron tibeticum. The Burncoose plant has being doing this for some time.

Seed now setting on Schefflera rhododendrifolia. Asia needs to keep an eye on this.

The usual secondary flowers (plus a huge bumble bee) on Rhododendron ‘Norfolk Candy’.

2023 – CHW
Back at Burncoose again to hopefully finalise the 5 year Woodland Management Grant.

In the till area some startling Amaryllis belladonna or so they are labelled? Could they in fact be Nerine?

Different coloured berries on Pyracantha starting to colour up.

Cotinus ‘Grace’ turning colour nicely but not yet at its best.

We grow many different Corokias and Coprosmas very well but they simply do not sell by mail order or to nursery visitors.

Aralia elata ‘Variegata’ now with ripe black berries.

Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Heavenly Blue’ superb at this time of the year.

Callistemon ‘Red Cluster’ with secondary flowers.

Our new pictorial labelling in the nursery is getting better and better. 700 more new colour labels this week and a clever plastic holder with a wooden back which is safe for the public and not easily damaged by our own staff in vehicles.

2022 – CHW
To Burncoose and surprising numbers of camellias out in flower already in the tunnels on this very early (post drought) autumn.Camellia ‘Snow Flurry’ on show beside the till.

A tremendous show from the last of the Penstemons.

Our 30 year old borehole had partially silted up and we have finally had to drill a new one beside the old. Previously the borehole was 60 metres deep nut now we are down to 80 metres. Plenty of water at 30m too.

This is what comes out of the ground from 80m down into the granite bedrock.

The camellia tunnel looks healthy, nicely pruned of secondary growth, and covered in buds.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Hugh Evans’

Camellia ‘Kick Off’ in bud.

Camellia x williamsii ‘November Pink’ partially burnt in the heat.

Camellia x williamsii ‘St Michael’.

Camellia ‘Takanini’ is usually one of the very first japonicas to perform outside by Christmas. A good colour in September!

Camellia ‘Winter’s Interlude’ (c. oleifera hybrid)

One would expect Camellia sinensis also to be out in the garden quite soon now.

Excellent young and rare rhododendrons from our own propagation. Soon lots of new varieties for our catalogue.

29 pallets of trees delivered yesterday to finally restock out much depleted tree lines which have been fairly empty since last autumn when most sold immediately in the immediate post lockdown rush to plant.

The amazing and unusually early autumn colours on the leaves of Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’. You can see the flower buds amid the brown, yellow and red tints on the edges of the still green leaves.

2021 – CHW
Fruits and berries in the frames beside the greenhouses.Crataegus dahurica will be new in the 2022 Burncoose catalogue. Conventional hawthorn berries.