2024 – CHW
Sorbus dunnii has plenty of still unripe seeds.
Hoheria sexstylosa ‘Crataegifolia’ now full out. A hint of purple around the stigmas.
Plenty of flower buds on Polyspora longicarpa.
Tristaniopsis laurina, the Water gum, is an evergreen from South East Australia. This is the second time we have flowered it here as it becomes a large bush. I had not seen the attractive peeling bark before.
A small Lithocarpus pachyphyllus with huge seed clusters. The tree lost its leader in a dry summer and is now a multi-stemmed shrub with basal new growth. Some seed clusters actually touch the ground.
2023 – CHW
Parastyrax species nova (BWJ15185) – one of two planted out in the last 3 years – is growing away vigorously with large leaves.
Liriodendron tulipifera ‘Snow Bird’ has recovered from near death in the drought and is now making headway. I guess watering in late June kept it alive.
Secondary flowering on a Magnolia x loebneri which the slugs are enjoying.
Hydrangea aspera ‘Kawakamii’ from Formosa (BSWJ 7025) is now full out and much better than 10 days ago.
Hydrangea aspera subsp. strigillosa also from Formosa (BSWJ 15151) is just as good. We need to propagate these and plant out more clumps. The best things in the garden in September.
Huge leaves too.
Crataegus laevigata ‘Gireoudii’ plastered in berries which the pheasants have not yet got at.
Heptacodium miconioides has put on new growth and yet more flowers as a result of the August downpours.
Hedychium spicatum ‘Liberty’ (BWJ 8116) is still out. The other varieties all over but one more species with a huge bud.
2022 – CHW
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth dies yesterday.
I was sitting at meetings all afternoon and at Ventonveth in the evening so did not get the news until 8.30pm. Parochial Council meeting scheduled for today was cancelled but not a four hour meeting with Colin French who has recently completed the wild flower survey of all the fields on the farm. These show a massive increase in numbers of plant species and plant diversity since the last survey in 2011. Colin is author of the 600 page pictorial reference book on the wild flowers and ferns of Cornwall. Hopefully we will now have enough proof of the success of our existing low input farming policy and its ability to improve the growing diversity of permanent pastures to enable us to be offered a new Higher Land Countryside Stewardship Agreement for 5 or 10 years from 2024.
2021 – CHW
Some very welcome rain and thunderstorms. The garden looks refreshed and revived.The Cordyline australis has had a severe pruning to remove the dying branches but plenty of good shoots still. It may well now also shoot from the base.
The wind has knocked off plenty of seed heads off the champion Lithocarpus pachyphyllus. Most have acorns still unformed and too small to germinate but this clump of seeds has one or two large enough to be viable.
This is our largest Taiwania cryptomeria which Asia wants to propagate from cuttings. The best cuttings are from end tips or upright new growth as any other growth rooted is simply too floppy when potted. The shoot tips are still in full new growth so cuttings will have to wait a couple of months.
Seed heads forming but not yet ripe on our ancient Gaultheria hookeri or Vaccinum wardii. Susyn Andrews needs ripe seeds to determine which naming is correct. Both plants very similar!
Seeds forming on Stewartia pteropetiolata. The International Dendrology Society want lots of pictures of this species for their latest website update on stewartia which we are happy to supply.
2020 – CHW
For decades I have been writing about the absurdity of the National Trust, Defra and the garden media describing Spanish bluebells as invasive alien monsters which must be destroyed and removed.Both species grow happily here and cross fertilisation with our native English bluebells is remarkably slow and unthreatening.A newly published article in The Plantsman (RHS publication) makes clear that Spanish bluebells have been grown in the UK for over 400 years. Moreover some of the pink and white hybrid bluebells, which nurseries used to sell before the invasive scaremongering, are long established in cultivation.Both forms grow here and have featured in this diary.Copyright rules prevent me showing you the article in full here but I can repeat the last paragraph of what the Head of Horticultural Taxonomy at Wisley wrote:Hybrid rehab
Can we, now that concerns around the hybrid and its impact on the native species have abated, look to its rehabilitation in gardens? Can we, before it is too late, recognise the value of correctly named cultivars and ensure that they are made available to gardeners? Just as unusual bracteate forms of the native species are being shared among cognoscenti, can we hope to be proud to grow distinctive forms of the hybrid? To my mind the white-flowered form has great merit, and an unusual lilac-flowered form sent into the RHS from Guernsey under the name ‘Bartlett’s Pink’ deserves recognition.
For decades I have been writing about the absurdity of the National Trust, Defra and the garden media describing Spanish bluebells as invasive alien monsters which must be destroyed and removed.Both species grow happily here and cross fertilisation with our native English bluebells is remarkably slow and unthreatening.A newly published article in The Plantsman (RHS publication) makes clear that Spanish bluebells have been grown in the UK for over 400 years. Moreover some of the pink and white hybrid bluebells, which nurseries used to sell before the invasive scaremongering, are long established in cultivation.Both forms grow here and have featured in this diary.Copyright rules prevent me showing you the article in full here but I can repeat the last paragraph of what the Head of Horticultural Taxonomy at Wisley wrote:Hybrid rehab
Can we, now that concerns around the hybrid and its impact on the native species have abated, look to its rehabilitation in gardens? Can we, before it is too late, recognise the value of correctly named cultivars and ensure that they are made available to gardeners? Just as unusual bracteate forms of the native species are being shared among cognoscenti, can we hope to be proud to grow distinctive forms of the hybrid? To my mind the white-flowered form has great merit, and an unusual lilac-flowered form sent into the RHS from Guernsey under the name ‘Bartlett’s Pink’ deserves recognition.
2019 – CHW
Hydrangea aspera var. robusta full out in September as usual long after the other aspera varieties are well over.
Jaimie’s team have cut down the laurels and some old Camellia reticulata seedlings in the area where we will shortly fell the splitting beech tree and a few other elderly beeches.
Acanthopanax aff. sessiliflorus with its peculiar seed heads which Asia might soon collect. Some clusters are still half green.
Sorbus commixta aff. var. sachalinensis (BSWJ 10958) has a new label which Karol & Asia have got on the wrong tree. This is not Sorbus caloneura which has brown fruits rather than the red ones featured here.
Quercus laurifolia with late new growth which is still reddish. We used to have a record tree of this oak species so good to see a replacement doing well.
2018 – CHW
The annual tree survey at Burncoose this Thursday to try to protect visitors from potential dead or falling trees.Rhododendron ‘Blue Tit’ by the pond covered in secondary flowers.
The annual tree survey at Burncoose this Thursday to try to protect visitors from potential dead or falling trees.Rhododendron ‘Blue Tit’ by the pond covered in secondary flowers.
Ficus pumila with a large crop of ripe blue/black figs. Far more than I have ever seen before on this plant which covers an outside wall of the main nursery walled garden. The result of the drought. The taste was quite sweet.
2017 – CHW
Presenting the cheques after the Caerhays fete which was held on 18th June. We distributed £8,000 to the Caerhays church and local charities.Here £1,500 towards the St Austell Scouts’ new toilet block – Cyril (right) used to be the Caerhays postman.
Presenting the cheques after the Caerhays fete which was held on 18th June. We distributed £8,000 to the Caerhays church and local charities.Here £1,500 towards the St Austell Scouts’ new toilet block – Cyril (right) used to be the Caerhays postman.
Here £2,000 to Cornwall Hospice Care received by Clare Bray on their behalf.
Although it was a very fine and hot day profits were down £3,000 from two years ago. Many visitors simply stayed on the beach and did not venture up to the castle.
2016 – CHW
The Great Gardens of Cornwall members meet at Trewithen to plan the 25 year celebrations of its founding next spring. The new book is all written and soon off to China to be printed (3,000) copies. The first meeting 25 years ago was on Tresco with a youthful Tim Smit, Philip Macmillan-Browse and John Nelson (Heligan), Tony Hibbert (Trebah), Mike Nelhams (Tresco) and James Humphreys (Trewithen) present. Of these only James will be in both photographs for the book as Mike did not turn up today and Tim Smit is now rather too important to come to a small meeting such as this. Nevertheless a little piece of Cornish gardening history. Here are a few pictures of the current Great Gardens members in the walled garden at Trewithen after the meeting. You will have to wait to see the formal picture.
The Great Gardens of Cornwall members meet at Trewithen to plan the 25 year celebrations of its founding next spring. The new book is all written and soon off to China to be printed (3,000) copies. The first meeting 25 years ago was on Tresco with a youthful Tim Smit, Philip Macmillan-Browse and John Nelson (Heligan), Tony Hibbert (Trebah), Mike Nelhams (Tresco) and James Humphreys (Trewithen) present. Of these only James will be in both photographs for the book as Mike did not turn up today and Tim Smit is now rather too important to come to a small meeting such as this. Nevertheless a little piece of Cornish gardening history. Here are a few pictures of the current Great Gardens members in the walled garden at Trewithen after the meeting. You will have to wait to see the formal picture.
An inspection of the greenhouses, with Asia just back from Poland, reveals, at last, overflowing benches of rare stuff, loads of new rhodo and magnolia seedlings and a full cutting bench early in the season. All excellent. The outside beds are stuffed with rare new things to plant out next spring as well. Excellent again.
Styrax wilsonii has produced copious seed pods on three small bought in plants in the small glasshouse. Just about fit to plant out next year too.
Abutilon ‘Orange Hot Lava’ was in flower but this is the stock plant for nursery cuttings.
2015 – CHW
Catalpa bignonoides with flowers just going over. This tree was rescued from my grandmother’s garden at Muskoka in St Mawes when it got too large. Surprisingly it moved quite readily but it has become a hopeless tree with branches constantly breaking off as you can see.
The fruits on the cornus are starting to ripen as you can see here in Cornus kousa but are still some way off. The squirrels adore Cornus kousa chinensis fruits most as they have the largest and presumably sweetest ‘strawberries’ of all. However other Cornus kousa varieties do have large fruits too of various colours as we will see shortly.
