I would like to make it clear that I do not grow or supply plants or propagation material. I am simply a Camellia enthusiast writing about Camellias. I may be able to advise about availability in the UK but I do not know what is available elsewhere.
Air layering.
There are easier things to propagate than camellias. In my nursery days when I had access to the nursery mist bench, it didn't seem at all difficult. For most varieties in most years, 100% success or very close was the norm for all but a handful of varieties. Then I retired and it all became … Continue reading Air layering.
An old friend at Trewithen.
A few years ago I realised that the Mount Edgcumbe plants of Camellia sasanqua 'Fukuzutsumi' and Camellia oleifera were in fact the same and that neither name was correct. It led eventually to the name Camellia sasanqua 'Tago-no-tsuki' and to a back story riddled with gaps which suggested the variety had been imported into the … Continue reading An old friend at Trewithen.
Notes from the park – 9/11/2024
I was back up at Mount Edgcumbe on Tuesday of this week, the 5th of November. There were quite a lot of camellias flowering, mostly sasanquas but some other things as well. Here's a montage of some of them. I also posted a video to YouTube: https://youtu.be/jb8a0Ix6wkg The varieties in the montage above are:Row 1 … Continue reading Notes from the park – 9/11/2024
Notes from the park – 25/10/2024
A new camellia season is well and truly under way so it's time to put finger to keyboard and bring you up to date on the state of play in the national collection at Mount Edgcumbe. I don't go up there very often in the summer; nothing is flowering, the grass is long and the … Continue reading Notes from the park – 25/10/2024
Notes from the park – 26/4/2024
The tail end of the camellia season always seems to bring with it a flurry of tasks that need to be completed before other competing interests become impossible to ignore. My big task, as far as Mount Edgcumbe is concerned, has been to identify and map the Camellias in the Earl's garden. This is the … Continue reading Notes from the park – 26/4/2024
Notes from the park – 21/3/2024
My intention of producing regular videos of the Mount Edgcumbe camellia collection has fallen by the wayside somewhat. Bad weather has restricted how often I have been able to visit and I have only had time for a more limited set of tasks. When I visited yesterday I had a list of plants I wanted … Continue reading Notes from the park – 21/3/2024
Mount Edgcumbe Video Diary – February 2024
I had intended posting a video each month during the Camellia flowering season but the first half of January was such an alternation of frosty spells and storms that the flowers were either not opening or getting trashed if they did. I had two days when I did some filming, 30th January and 1st February, … Continue reading Mount Edgcumbe Video Diary – February 2024
Progress report
I’ve just spent several weeks working my way through the Mount Edgcumbe collection records to bring them up to date. I have done much the same with the galleries of pictures under the Mt Edgcumbe tab on this website. For most sections of the collection I have added another column of images, so that each … Continue reading Progress report
Mount Edgcumbe Video Diary – December 2023
In my own garden, I can see that the sun has just come out and is highlighting a particular plant, grab the camera and go. Mount Edgcumbe is a half hour drive away, it is a planned trip and I pretty much have to make the best of whatever the weather comes up with on … Continue reading Mount Edgcumbe Video Diary – December 2023
Another day at the office
The weather forecast for yesterday was terrible but it was the only day this week that I was going to be able to get up to Mt. Edgcumbe so I sketched it in as a day for engraving labels. On the day, the weather had a change of heart but I spent the morning doing … Continue reading Another day at the office
Jim's Camellias 