Is it the right time to go up to the park to see the sasanquas? Well, no, not quite yet. I found eight varieties in flower today but most only just beginning with a handful of blooms. Give it another three or four weeks. Here are the first four, clockwise from top left 'Hugh Evans' … Continue reading Sasanqua season 2019 – 2
Author: Jim Stephens
Sasanqua season 2019
I had got it into my head that in previous years the first sasanquas had appeared towards the end of October so when I saw the first flowers today I thought it was an exceptionally early season. As it turns out, I have posted articles about the earliest blooms on 11th October in 2018 and … Continue reading Sasanqua season 2019
Notes from the park
It's a few weeks since I was last up at Mt Edgcumbe. Camellia season is over, but there are always a few stragglers, some that always manage a few late blooms and a few random things. I set about putting numbers onto the plants in section 5D, European varieties that are part of the Betteley … Continue reading Notes from the park
Change of plan
Not that I had much of a plan when I went up to Mount Edgcumbe this morning. I was going to number the plants in section 5B, see what was flowering and take some photos and get pictures of the labels I'd attached last week. That's not what happened. They have a group of young … Continue reading Change of plan
Pruning.
“These popular evergreen shrubs require very little pruning.” Advice on pruning Camellias generally starts from the above standpoint, taken from George Brown’s “The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers.” The implication is that very little pruning will ever be required and that you’ll probably get away with none at all. Camellias however, are long lived … Continue reading Pruning.
On labelling and re-labelling.
I spent most of my volunteer day this week putting on labels. I have for some months been working my way systematically through the Mount Edgcumbe collection putting numbers onto the reverse of the labels to identify individual plants. I have been noting broken and missing labels as I’ve progressed and have attached temporary labels … Continue reading On labelling and re-labelling.
Little things
As a blogger I feel I should be producing output on a fairly regular basis, but also that I should keep quiet until I have something to say. Real life doesn't always work like that and my dealings with camellias consist of a constant trickle of trivia around which I would struggle to construct any … Continue reading Little things
I moved a plant.
Seriously though, I just moved a sizeable camellia sasanqua 'Tanya' from my allotment to my garden. Here’s how it went. We had a good drop of rain a few days ago. I gave it a couple of days to drain away, but a reasonable amount of water in the soil is essential and it is … Continue reading I moved a plant.
ID time
I grow a camellia under the name Camellia japonica 'Campsii Alba'. It is the same as one in Moyclare Garden in Liskeard that is known by the same name. It also matches two of the three plants under that name in the Mount Edgcumbe collection. (5B-004 & 5C-003) The third plant in the collection (5D-004) … Continue reading ID time
Sasanqua season 2018 – 4
I made it back to Mt Edgcumbe on Tuesday after a three week absence to find that the sasanqua season there is all but over. On the other hand, there was a fair smattering of other things flowering and I ended up taking quite a lot of photos. The sasanqua x reticulata hybrids are moving … Continue reading Sasanqua season 2018 – 4
Jim's Camellias 