And on Euonymus huangi.

The first rather poor and tiny flowers on Lagerstroemia limii.

Foliage on Lagerstroemia limii.

Plenty of seed on Styrax formosanus var. hayatianus.

Still flowers on Raf’s Magnolia.

Vitex agnus-castus now full out.

Crataegus pennsylvanica.

Crataegus chlorosarca.

Crataegus ambigua.

Crataegus durobrivensis.

Clerodendrum bungei just coming out in Tin Garden.

Fuchsia hatschbachii has just about survived the drought.

Magnolia ‘Yaeko’.

Schefflera delavayi with flower shoots well developed.

A tertiary Wisteria flower after the drought.

2025 – CHW

A Burncoose day.

A picture of East Portholland in the 1890’s. No breakwater wall.

Recently potted Camellia liners.

The new Passiflora ‘Cooltropics Eia Popeia’ finally in flower.

Passiflora ‘Cooltropics Snowstar’ equally impressive.

Lycium barbarum in flower in a tunnel with seed forming.

Abeliophyllum distichum in flower already although in full leaf.

Leycesteria formosa ‘Golden Lanterns’ with seed heads.

Buds about to open on Franklinia alatamaha.

Young plants of Melicytus crassifolius covered in white berries.

2024 – CHW
Glyptostrobus pensilis has had a good growing year.

Cornus hemsleyi with plenty of clusters of berries which are turning blue-black.

Conversely, the equally shrubby Cornus torreyi has just finished flowering.

A few flowers high up on Magnolia ‘Maxine Merrill’.

Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Golden Sun’ has struggled since planting in 2020 but this wet summer has done wonders for its new growth this time around.

First hint of autumn colour on, our still flowerless after 33 years, Cladrastis kentukea.

Next year’s flower buds now evident on Magnolia doltsopa.

Escallonia bifida looking very fine – the best thing in the garden today.

First mushrooms showing up today on the lawn.

2023 – CHW
A dead Aesculus hippocastanum at the end of Sinogrande Walk. It, and its already dead colleague, took the initial hit when in leaf in March 2018 and the Beast arrived.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’ fades to green rather than pink here on Hovel Cart Road.

An unnamed rhododendron with a decent autumn show.

Rhododendron ‘Michael’s Pride’ with secondary flowers in a nursery bed. I have not seen this before.

Rhododendron ‘Bowjingles’ with a flower or two.

Microtropis petelotii covered in seed heads.

Viburnum x hillieri ‘Winton’ with a few red seeds.

Secondary flowers in Rhododendron elliottii.

2022 – CHW
Tom Hudson gave us ripe seeds today at the Great Gardens of Cornwall meeting of:– Meliosma cuneifolia – Maurice Foster’s collection No. MF97137 from Baoxing, Sichuan
– Meliosma cuneifolia – Tom Hudson’s collection No. TH0G97 from Caojiam, YunnanAlso a plant of Meliosma dentata from Mexico together with a spray of nicely scented flowers as you see here. On our Meliosma day at Tregrehen on 21st July we saw the spikes of flower buds. These have taken 6 weeks to open and they are not fully open yet. The Chinese species are setting seeds while this Mexican species is in flower.

Torreya nucifera covered in fruits which are already ripe and dropping. This young plant has never set seed before and has enjoyed the drought. The nearby Cephalotaxus fortunei has hated the heat and has dieback.

Its not going to be a great seed year after the drought but here are a few things for Asia and Cressy to collect for sowing currently in Kennel Close.

Tilia maximowicziana

Sorbus aff. ligustrifolia

Tilia zamoyskiana

Sorbaronia ‘Liquorice’

Just a few fruits on Torreya grandis which are not yet ripe.

2021 – CHW

The second grass cut of the garden is well underway and perhaps half complete. After a wet July most areas will need a second cut so that the public can view the garden and its wild primroses, garlic, violets and bluebells unencumbered by grass growth next spring. After a much drier August shady areas will not need a second cut but the newly planted and more open areas definitely do.

These two pictures show how the larger rhododendrons have fared since they were moved out from the Rookery Nursery bed in late March. Some watering was necessary in a dry May. They need rain now, as the pictures demonstrate, but plenty of new growth none the less and a good start for these rarer species.