25th September

FJ Williams Profile Picture
FJW 1955-2007
CH Williams Profile Picture
CHW 2015-
JC Williams Profile Picture
JCW 1897-1939
C Williams Profile Picture
CW 1940-1955

2023 – CHW

Acanthus sennii in flower.

Acanthus sennii
Acanthus sennii
Copious seed heads on Pittosporum adaphniphylloides in the show tunnel.
Pittosporum adaphniphylloides
Pittosporum adaphniphylloides
Pittosporum adaphniphylloides
Pittosporum adaphniphylloides
Field grown Amaryllis belladonna below the show tunnel.
Amaryllis belladonna
Amaryllis belladonna
Osmanthus heterophyllus just out at Caerhays – the record tree.
Osmanthus heterophyllus
Osmanthus heterophyllus
First flowers that we have ever seen on Tristaniopsis laurina. Five years after planting out and two drought summers.
Tristaniopsis laurina
Tristaniopsis laurina
Tristaniopsis laurina
Tristaniopsis laurina
Tristaniopsis laurina
Tristaniopsis laurina
Acanthopanax aff. sessiliflorus covered in black fruit as usual.
Acanthopanax aff. sessiliflorus
Acanthopanax aff. sessiliflorus
Magnolia ‘Black Tulip’ with yet more secondary flowers. Two crops of these in reality.
Magnolia ‘Black Tulip’
Magnolia ‘Black Tulip’
Rhus chinensis just out in flower – a little earlier than usual?
Rhus chinensis
Rhus chinensis

2022 – CHW
Hydrangea aspera (from Lord Howick) in full flower today.
Hydrangea aspera
Hydrangea aspera
Hydrangea aspera
Hydrangea aspera
Rather small flowers this year on Gevuina avellana after the drought.
Gevuina avellana
Gevuina avellana
A few tail end flowers on Rhododendron ‘Pink Polar Bear’. They appear now after rain.
Rhododendron ‘Pink Polar Bear’
Rhododendron ‘Pink Polar Bear’
Flower buds nearly out on Camellia taliensis
Camellia oleifera
Camellia taliensis
In Tin Garden excellent secondary flowers on Rhododendron davidsonianum ‘Caerhays Pink’. I have not seen this on these plants before.
Rhododendron davidsonianum ‘Caerhays Pink’
Rhododendron davidsonianum ‘Caerhays Pink’
Huge ripe berries on Prunus laurocerasus which the pheasants are enjoying.
Prunus laurocerasus
Prunus laurocerasus
A good show of berries on several species of Crataegus:-
Crataegus wattiana – already shrivelling and over
Crataegus wattiana
Crataegus wattiana
Crataegus ellwangeriana ‘Fire Ball’ – best show so far
Crataegus ellwangeriana ‘Fire Ball’
Crataegus ellwangeriana ‘Fire Ball’
Crataegus ‘Combyi’
Crataegus ‘Combyi’
Crataegus ‘Combyi’
Crataegus chilensis – performing for the first time properly here and most impressive
Crataegus chilensis
Crataegus chilensis
Cupressus torulosa with numerous cones still green as yet.
Cupressus torulosa
Cupressus torulosa
The best show of berries so far seen on Cornus hemsleyi. The bush is now tall enough to escape clear nibbling lower down.
Cornus hemsleyi
Cornus hemsleyi
Cornus hemsleyi
Cornus hemsleyi
Also Cornus iberica with similar black berries.
Cornus iberica
Cornus iberica
Cornus iberica
Cornus iberica
Recent deer nibbling all too obvious on this drooping Prunus.
drooping Prunus
drooping Prunus
First flowering here in a young Clethra fabri (FMWJ 13037). Some drought damage to the plant and flowers. Upright flower spikes. If it survives another interesting addition to our Clethra collection
Clethra fabri
Clethra fabri

2021 – CHW
I forgot to mention that I last saw a swallow or a house martin here on 20th September. Our swallows in the dog kennel only fledged a very few days before that.A small lead valley to replace above the Georgian Hall where we had a bad leak into the archive room in the spring.
lead valley
lead valley
lead valley
lead valley
A leak above the museum shows a rusty metal girder in the roof. All we can do for now is mend the leadwork and replace the rotten timbers.
rusty metal girder
rusty metal girder
rusty metal girder
rusty metal girder
Dry rot that had been treated in a beam and is not ‘active’.
Dry rot
Dry rot
This lead pipe had bowed out and was leaking badly into the cellar. Now re-supported and refixed as it was originally.
lead pipe
lead pipe
lead pipe
lead pipe

A never ending series of minor leadwork repairs as the castle window painting nears completion.

Strangely a five minute radio interview with Radio Stoke about how to grow magnolias!

Clematis armandii with, as usual, a few autumn flowers on the castle front.
Clematis armandii
Clematis armandii
Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ just coming out at about 8-9ft in height in front of the drawing room where it was planted only a year ago.
Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’
Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’
Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’
Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’

2020 – CHW
The Chinese state TV have sent us a copy of the film (in English) which they made, partly here, about Camellias (CGTN Signature Flowers of China 1). You can view it here (one hour) by clicking on https://s-url.cgtn.com/m/DefJAA. There are four other programmes in the series of Signature Flowers of China which cover rhododendrons, roses, chrysanthemums and paeonies.Work is proceeding apace at The Hovel. We have a site meeting with Bill Collings of W F Collings who is clearly ‘a character’.
Hovel
Hovel
Hovel
Hovel
Hovel
Hovel
Hovel
Hovel
The very first flower this year on one of the Camellia sasanqua by the front door. Not much to write home about yet but a much earlier date than last year I think.
Camellia sasanqua
Camellia sasanqua

2019 – CHW
Amazingly early though it is the first flowers on Rhododendron nobleanum. I would not expect these out until November. The two flowers may have been blown open prematurely in the wind as the colours are very pale.
Rhododendron nobleanum
Rhododendron nobleanum
Sorbus ‘Hilling Spire’ with attractive yellow berries which are already dropping fast.
Sorbus ‘Hilling Spire’
Sorbus ‘Hilling Spire’
Sorbus ‘Pearly King’ with branches laden down with fruit. As you can see the fruits are rose-coloured at first then changing to white with a pink flush. Very garden worthy and attractive. Both these Sorbus were gifts to us from Trevor Green. The adjacent Sorbus ‘Golden Wonder’ is the largest of the three but has no fruits at all this year.
Sorbus ‘Pearly King’
Sorbus ‘Pearly King’
Sorbus ‘Pearly King’
Sorbus ‘Pearly King’
Sorbus ‘Pearly King’
Sorbus ‘Pearly King’
Another Magnolia ‘March-till-Frost’ full of secondary flowers with the usual autumnal slug damage.
Magnolia ‘March-till-Frost’
Magnolia ‘March-till-Frost’
A wet day so the gardeners are burning up dead rhododendrons and fallen branches on the Main Ride.
burning up
burning up
Paeonia delavayi var. angustiloba showing excellent autumn colour and, surprisingly, with one rather insipid flower which sadly had blown off in the wind before I could photograph it. At least you can still see where it was if you do not believe me. The ripe black seeds have already dropped out of their casings.
Paeonia delavayi var. angustiloba
Paeonia delavayi var. angustiloba
Paeonia delavayi var. angustiloba
Paeonia delavayi var. angustiloba
Paeonia delavayi var. angustiloba
Paeonia delavayi var. angustiloba

2018 – CHW
Our tree felling in Dry Walls in nearing completion with quite a pile of firewood to go into the compound at Trewolla. It may be that it only gets moved out next spring as the forecast now is (at last) for some decent rain.
tree felling in Dry Walls
tree felling in Dry Walls
tree felling in Dry Walls
tree felling in Dry Walls
tree felling in Dry Walls
tree felling in Dry Walls
We have dug out the drought killed large Fuchsia exorticatica outside the front door and replanted with three Daphne bholua varieties behind the Rhododendron fragrantissimum which seem to have survived. Heavy mulching with well-rotted dung around the Daphnes and bark mulch on the rest.
exorticatica
exorticatica
exorticatica
exorticatica

2017 – CHW
Amazingly the taller growing form of garlic which lives under the biggest Magnolia x veitchii is already showing above the ground. Staggeringly early I think. Normally it would not show until January.
garlic
garlic
garlic
garlic

2016 – CHW
A botanical trip of some duration around the garden with the youthful but hugely keen and knowledgeable James Garnett from the Botanic Gardens in Nantes. James is ‘one of us’ when it comes to rare trees and it will be interesting to observe his career which I suspect will be spectacular in the horticultural world. He went away with loads of seeds and cuttings and just a little wine.Lithocarpus pachyphyllus was laden with seed pods several of which had already dropped. We ought to sell a crop as substantive as this.
Lithocarpus pachyphyllus
Lithocarpus pachyphyllus
Rhododendron ‘Tally Ho’ is late flowering and hence the bronzy indumentum on the new growth was at its best.
Rhododendron ‘Tally Ho’
Rhododendron ‘Tally Ho’
Rhododendron ‘Tally Ho’
Rhododendron ‘Tally Ho’
Castanopsis chinensis was planted in 2007 and has made slow progress with dieback but is now in full flower.
Castanopsis chinensis
Castanopsis chinensis
Lithocarpus lepidocarpus has grown much better nearby above the greenhouse. Cutting material here for Asia to try.
Lithocarpus lepidocarpus
Lithocarpus lepidocarpus
Lithocarpus lepidocarpus
Lithocarpus lepidocarpus
James said this had to be a rhus species as it is about to flower but I cannot sadly find it on the planting plans by Tin Garden. First time flowering anyway.
rhus species
rhus species
rhus species
rhus species

2015 – CHW
Passiflora caerulea ‘Constance Elliott’ has grown rampantly in a Camellia sasanqua on the castle wall. It will flower on until the first frosts and has been out for months already. Rather tougher and more vigorous than Passiflora caerulea and something to cherish although it comes from Brazil and Argentina.

Passiflora caerulea ‘Constance Elliott’
Passiflora caerulea ‘Constance Elliott’
Passiflora caerulea ‘Constance Elliott’
Passiflora caerulea ‘Constance Elliott’
Passiflora caerulea ‘Constance Elliott’
Passiflora caerulea ‘Constance Elliott’
There are a few remnants in the borders from my childhood fuchsia collection. JCW also collected fuchsia species and hardy hybrids. Only the toughest and most boring have survived and many have got squeezed out by more vigorous varieties. This border used to have perhaps 50 varieties. Today there are perhaps a dozen and I readily admit to having forgotten all the names.
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection
Fuchsia collection

2000 – FJW
Very wet September. Now turned to storms. No Sasanqua yet to be seen. Neighbours corn not cut yet. 50 years ago we would have left the harvest.

1940 – CW
Eucryphia mooreii very good and has been for a week. This year probably the finest harvest known for years but plants have suffered badly.

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