John Burford has made and replaced the metal fencing at The Vean which was smashed down last winter by a falling branch from a pollarded Quercus ilex. John has a major heart operation only a month ago in Bristol but has not missed beating at all 9 of our days shooting so far this year.

A young Magnolia (laevifolia x champaca) x (laevifolia x maudiae) with its first (out of season) flower. A gift from Raf Lenaerts in January 2023 and now growing in the former camellia foliage area.

Finally the new clearing above the old dog kennels is ready for replanting after the trees and old Camellia japonicas have gone. Room for 6 or 8 new magnolias here!

As yet very small seed clusters on Aesculus wilsonii.

Cotoneaster ‘Blaze’ with nearly ripe berries.

Cotoneaster gonggashanensis with large striking red berries.

Cotoneaster erratus with more berries than ever before.

Cotoneaster parneyi (not to be confused with C. lacteus) with berries still unripe.

Remarkably quick regrowth on the hydrangeas cut back hard only 5 weeks ago on the drive.

2023 – CHW
Heavy rain and wind but it is still very warm.

Loads of seeds on Styrax wilsonii this year.

Hoheria populnea ‘Variegata’ just out.

The clump of Rhododendron ‘Yellow Hammer’ is now making a good show.

Eucryphia lucida ‘Pink Cloud’ often has the odd flower but is now full out.

Seed and flower buds on Camellia taliensis. Should be flowers in 2-3 weeks.

2022 – CHW

Only a few house martins left. The majority went last week when the wind was in the North. A very successful breading year for them. Two egrets around the lake.

The Blue Cedar was planted by H.R.H. Prince Charles on 24th April 1984 below the Nobby. It has done well in a rather exposed, but prominent, situation.

The Queen Mother’s magnolia (seedling) was planted by her near George’s Hut on 11th April 1981.

I have now written to H.M. King Charles III offering condolences from the family and estate.

Euonymus myrianthus is a large tree and it is hard to see if it is setting any seed after the drought? The seed heads lower down are shrivelled but perhaps not higher up. We photographed this tree in flower in the spring and it is now a new item for sale on the Burncoose website.

Hidden away is the rather sad sight of a drought struck Rhododendron sinogrande ‘Lord Rudolph’. Dead soon with no new growth at all.

A huge, late summer leaf drop under the largest Quercus acuta after the drought. It’s very ‘thin on top’ today compared to normal years. Leaf drop of old leaves is normally in May.

Just a few solitary seed pod with only a couple of seeds in it on Magnolia x soulangeana ‘Picture’ x Magnolia soulangeana ‘Pickards Sundew’.

A strange leaf structure to the old leaves on Berberis temolaica.

2021 – CHW
Captain George reports that a fisherman had seen a pair of choughs above the cliffs between the Lookout and East Portholland.Borde Hill have sent an email announcing that their Emmenopterys henryi is flowering again. This, and photographs, are attached here. Ours is of a similar age and 80ft tall but has never looked like flowering (nor has our original plant of Emmenopterys wilsoni). Having seen the Borde Hill plants growing in full sun in a hot dry location I am not really surprised. Ours are in woodland with dappled shade towards the top of the garden.We now have two flail cutters rather than one flail and one Allen scythe. The second grass cut in the garden is nearly complete.

More pictures of butterflies on Escallonia bifida from Jaimie grass cutting in this area.

2020 – CHW
The rare plant fair went ahead at Tregrehan yesterday with distancing, masks, contact tracing and no catering. The attendance was about a third of what we have come to expect from the late May fair and takings were similarly reduced. Nevertheless a good turnout in the circumstances and a most excellent array of rare plants from all the usual nurseries. We all enjoyed meeting each other again after so long without shows or events!

Nick Lock with his stand of rarities from which I made 10 early purchases.

The Burncoose stand with Justin preparing to get into full flow with the customers.

What I think was a hummingbird moth feeding on Clerodendron bungei on our stand. It hovered and lowered its tongue/proboscis into the flower.

On the Crûg Farm stand:
Roscoea purpurea f. rubra ‘Gurkha Red’

Cardiandra alternifolia amamiohshimensis – hydrangea relative

Cardiandra formosa ‘Xitou Survivor’ – hydrangea relative

The peculiar herbaceous Sambucus ebulus

On the Tregrehan stand:Brassaiopsis hispida (£50 each!)

On Nick Lock’s stand:Euonymus bungeanus with pink seed pods

Buddleia heliophylla

Paul Bonavia:A huge stock plant of Tibouchina urvilleana (we were selling Tibouchina orangensis)

Treseders Nursery:Cuphea ignea

Other spectacular plants of interest at the fair:Erica cerinthoides

A very fine Brugmansia suaveolens

Nerine masoniorum

Pseudopanax ‘Chainsaw’

This was labelled Rostrincula decipiens. I think it is Rostrincula dependens?

Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Capri’

Persicaria ‘Purple Fantasy’

Hedychium coccineum – probably a named form

Westringia fruiticosa ‘Variegata’

2019 – CHW
Glyptostrobus pensilis ‘Wooly Mammoth’ was only planted this year and lost its leading shoot in transit. It has however grown another. This is a very slow growing small tree which we saw in maturity last May in Nymans garden at about 20-25ft after 80 or so years.

Odd secondary flowers on Berberis wilsonae which is deciduous. I have not seen these before in autumn as the leaves are about to go yellow.

The evening sunlight catches the tops of the three 1913 planted Acer palmatum ‘Sango kaku’ (‘Senkaki’) which are already a beautiful autumnal yellow.

Cornus kousa var. chinensis ‘Wisley Queen’ already plastered with ripe ‘strawberry’ fruits. We must have got on top of the squirrels as they delight in these and I once saw a dozen stripping one large Cornus capitata tree.

2018 – CHW
Cercidiphyllum japonicum ‘Strawberry’ displaying its superb autumn colour on a drab day. The best of the foliage effect is probably now rather than in the spring.

2017 – CHW
Tom Hudson gave us this pink lapageria two or three years ago. To my surprise it has suddenly produced four pink flowers; most at the very tips of the new growth. What a lovely pink it is too!