2024 – CHW
Extraordinary secondary growth on Paulownia kawakamii. All the seed heads have dropped off unformed and new growth has been the order of the day in this wet summer.
I looked at Gingko biloba ‘Autumn Gold’ and wondered why it was turning yellow prematurely. Roe deer damage – AGAIN.
Podocarpus lambertii, planted in the spring, has made good new growth.
I have been noticing how our (and everyone else’s) Cercidiphyllum have been suffering and defoliating in the drought.
Here a Cercidiphyllum japonicum var. magnificum has turned early but retained all its leaves. Planted in 2005.
2021 – CHW
Jaimie undertook 30 separate magnolia crosses in April. Twenty-two of these have now ‘taken’ although two well formed seedpods dropped off in strong winds recently. The crosses were undertaken in a particularly fine warm week when the flowers were very receptive to fertilisation. This is, by any standard, an exceptional ‘take’ and the best for several years. The seed will be collected in a month or so when fully ripe.
Here is one example of cross No. 18.
How many of the seeds will we manage to germinate, how many years before they grow to flowering size, and how many will then be good enough to merit a name? Only a very few I suspect in 12 to 18 years’ time.
For the record here is a full list of the crosses undertaken also showing those which failed this time around.(No seed produced on ones in italics)
1. M ‘Burncoose’ x ‘Darjeeling- Large seed pod produced but was snapped off
2. ‘Felix Jury’ x ‘Betty Jessel’
3. ‘Purple Sensation’ x ‘Felix Jury ‘
4. ‘Sir Harold Hiller’ x ‘Lanarth Surprise ‘
5. ‘Betty Jessel’x ‘Feix Jury’
6. ‘Betty Jessel ‘ x ‘Lanarth’ NZ
7. ‘Rebecca’s Perfume’ x ‘Betty Jessel’
8. ‘Philip Tregunna’ x ‘Felix Jury’
9. ‘Philip Tregunna’ x ‘Darjeeling’
10. ‘Angelica’ x i ‘Darjeeling
11. ‘Angelica’ x ‘Betty Jessel’
12. ‘Wakehurst’ x ‘felix Jury’
13. ‘Aurora’ x ‘Darjeeling’
14. ‘Black Tulip’ x ‘JC Williams’ ( this has been named now) x ‘Felix Jury’
15. ‘Darjeeling’ x ‘Felix Jury’ Large seed pod produced but was snapped off
16. ‘JC Williams x ‘Felix Jury’
17. ‘Atlas x ‘Darjeeling’
18. ‘Atlas x ‘Felix Jury’
19. ‘Atlas x ‘Sunrise’
20. Michelia doltsopa ‘Silver Cloud’ x ‘Sunrise’
21. ‘Mr Julian’ x ‘Vulcan’
22. ‘Betty Jessel ‘ x ‘Vulcan’
23. ‘Red Lion’ x ‘Vulcan’
24. ‘Apollo’ x ‘Vulcan’
25. ‘Purple Sensation’ x ‘Vulcan’
26. ‘Felix Jury’ x ‘Genie’
27. ‘Sunrise, x ‘Atlas’
28. ‘Sunrise’ x Michelia doltsopa ‘Silver Cloud’
Cornus ‘Gloria Birkett’ still has small green fruits which are far from ripe.
Cotoneaster hualiensis covered in large red berries. The bush is now around 5ft tall with a similar spread.
Here the St Austell Boy Scouts troop leaders receive their cheque for £1,200 for new camping equipment.
2018 – CHW
A new first for Caerhays. The first flower spike on a young Schefflera delavayi. Unusual split leaves and a very dominant flower which is far from out yet. Odd how the flowering time in Schefflera species varies from summer to autumn.
A trip to the nursery to make video films for the website but still time to snatch some pictures.Sorbus pseudobakonyensis with early fruits.
Work well underway with Frankie Tregunna to clean off and level The Cutting so that wedding parties can, from next year, have their tents and reception here overlooking Porthluney cove. It will be a great venue. Parking in the beach car park and we will need to install steps and handrails to the top. During the excavations we discover a 20ft deep well dug in the 1880s into solid rock when the fishermen manually removed part of the hill so that you can see the see from the castle.
2015 – CHW
The large circle of giant mushrooms in the middle of the lawn has been gathered in to the kitchen. Unfortunately this occurred just before I had the camera out. These giant mushrooms are often found in the moors or Derrecks Fields. Once there was one by the side door but I have not seen anything but ordinary sized mushrooms on the lawn before. Another by product of a wet August.
Gathering cuttings for Burncoose today. About 50 camellia varieties including lots of odd species and reticulatas that we have not tried before. New for catalogue 2017/8 I hope.
Acer henryi (record tree) has started some pretty purplish red autumn tints. I remember it as a yellow autumn colour but perhaps I am wrong? (I am – they are red!). You can see a full list of our record trees on the Caerhays website, we have over 75 in all.
1997 – FJW
Harvest in.
1990 – FJW
Slavery to Fax began – weather cool, windy but little rain.
1967 – FJW
All the corn in. Good harvest. 2 new combines worked well. Everything much earlier than last year.
1917 – JCW
Cyclamen very nice indeed. Hydrangeas nice. Moyesii fruit very nice. Six or eight species of rhodo’n show flower. Lapagerias fair, the only Solanum left and the crinums are open. Three rose beds good.
1915 – JCW
Cyclamen are very good and so the cassia, roses in 3 beds also, and the big group of hydrangeas are just taking a fine colour. There is little else but the lapagerias which are fair with the solanum too.
Dear mr/mrs,
The 3th of novemer there is a post about a schefflera alpina with berries on it, its a tall straight plant. i would like to know wich clone that is, because i would like to buy that same kind of S. Alpina.
I hope you can help me.
Kind regards,
Jeff reimers
The Schefflera alpina was an early Crûg Farm collection from Taiwan. I would have to check with them as to the exact collection number.
However, we have been propagating S. alpina vigorously from the side shoots on the main stem and these will probably be ready early next summer.