The Children’s Hospice in St Austell receive £3,287.84.

Scouts and Hospice. Tregony Primary School & St. Michaels Church Caerhays also received similar large donations.

The party in the hall for all those involved in organising the fete.

Then to Burncoose.
Cotoneaster Hybridus Pendulus covered in berries above Senecio ‘Angel Wings’. An interesting plant combination.

Astonishing to find 4 camellias already in flower in a tunnel. Some sasanquas you might expect to be out but not a couple of the others.

Camellia sasanqua (pink).

Camellia ‘White Swan’.

Camellia ‘Sundae’.

Camellia ‘Snow Flurry’.

An excellent crop of seedling Michelia doltsopa.

Solanum jasminoides ‘Album’ covered in flower.

Hedychium coccineum.

These Acer palmatum varieties were imported from the New Zealand winter in July. Excellent new growth already.

2023 – CHW
Hornets guarding their nest in a hole in a tree.

Metapanax davidii with seed heads and its interesting leaf structure.

Buddleia heliophila now fully out.

Rather pathetic secondary flowers on Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’.

Peeling bark on Betula utilis subsp. albosinensis ‘China Ruby’.

A similarly confusing range of bark colours on Betula utilis subsp. albosinensis ‘Chinese Garden’.

Amid the sea mist a tent for another wedding on Beach Meadow.

Cows and calves graze beside the lake but the 9 cygnets and their parents have all flown away.

Lapagerias have been out by the front door for a week or two.

2022 – CHW
I can see a very few ripening white seeds forming on our female Melicytus obovatus. This species has, according to all the reference books, separate male and female plants. There cannot be another plant of this rare species for 10 miles (i.e. at Tregrehan) so why are seed setting? Earlier in the year I photographed just a few yellow flowers (female flowers purple) which I assumed were male. Are the reference books all wrong? Has the plant self-pollenated? Looks like it to me!

The label has sadly been lost on this interesting orange Hedychium.

Hedychium spicatum ‘Liberty’ (BWJ 8116) planted in 2020 below the tower now has 3 white flowers.

This is what a welcome half an inch of rain looks like in the granite bird bath outside the front door. It has been totally dry for at least 8 weeks.

2021 – CHW
I was 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 Thursday.Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Arendsii’ nicely out in the nursery.

Hedychium densiflorum ‘Assam Orange’ nicely out outside the Smoking Room.

The first Lapageria rosea flowers.

Lapageria rosea ‘Picotee’ again with a large truss of flowers.

Escallonia bifida covered in bumble bees and red admirals.

2020 – CHW
Secondary flowers on Magnolia ‘Susan’.

Ditto on Rhododendron ‘Yellow Hammer’.

Odd secondary flowers on the hard pruned Magnolia ‘Sweet Sixteen’.

Clematis vitalba flowering on and covering a hedge in the village (Old Man’s Beard).

The extension to the graveyard at St Michaels Caerhays is now fenced and ready for dedication by the bishop. The existing churchyard has spaces for only two or three more burials. We sit in a two hour masked Parochial Church Council meeting in the church and agree not to reopen until Christmas. What are we paying £6k to the bishop for by way of our parish stipend?

My parents’ grave with flowers.

2019 – CHW
Jaimie has attacked some of the worst of the ivies growing up elderly trees in Old Park. This is a never ending battle.

The largest of our Magnolia nitida is absolutely loaded with seed high up the tree. This is the first year for quite some time that a good crop has been produced and Asia will need to complete the harvest in a few weeks as we simply cannot grow enough of this extraordinarily rare magnolia which will not propagate from cuttings.

Michelia yunnanensis ‘Summer Snowflake’ has produced its first seed pods on a plant which is only four or five years on from planting. These look much nearer to being ripe than those on Magnolia nitida.

Contrastingly, Kalopanax septemlobus has far less gigantic seed heads than we saw last year. The seeds rather resemble ivy and are still quite green.

2018 – CHW
A day to examine the Torreya species which we have that are, hopefully, correctly labelled? These three were planted (one also died) above and below the Enkianthus collection above Hovel Cart Road (nearest the laurel hedge) in 2001.Just above the row of Enkianthus is a Saxegothaea conspicua which is doing well.Above it is Torreya nuncifera which, to my astonishment, had several single plum-like fruits. There are several pictures here to help with confirming the identification for those who know. I do not! We do however offer this plant on the nursery website.

Above it again is labelled Torreya taxifolia which Hilliers say is rare in cultivation. It is said to be very like Torreya californica (California nutmeg) but with smaller leaves. This plant has however noticeably bigger spine tipped leaves than Torreya nuncifera. Whether it is indeed T. taxifolia I am unsure.

Below the path were planted another Torreya nuncifera and Torreya grandis also in 2001. The fruits here are very different from our T. nuncifera as you can see so I assume this is Torreya grandis. The fruits are larger and in pairs exactly as T. grandis is described in the reference books. The leaves are indeed also spine tipped.

I cannot yet discover if we have Torreya californica planted recently. There are two Torreya on the plan for Kennel Close with no names so we can ‘go compare’ if they are still alive? It turns out that these two are actually Cephalotaxus and not Torreya.

Asia needs to observe these fruits (with their single seeds) as they ripen and turn colour (brown) so that we can try to grow them. Since all species have male and female strobili (flowers) and the plants are growing close together any seedlings may well not be true to one species.We also need to cut the laurel back from these small trees in the winter and the overhanging magnolia above T. taxifolia.

2017 – CHW
Surprisingly three of Jaimie’s magnolia crosses from the spring have set seed. The paper bags protecting the flowers after pollination are still there. This shows how little magnolias self pollinate and how receptive they are to pollen from other trees. In 10 or so years’ time we may have something new to view but, for now, we are not revealing what the parentage of these crosses actually is. The seed pods have been gathered. Now all we have to do is grow the seeds!