There is at Mount Edgcumbe a plant labelled Camellia pitardii, a name which I am as certain as I can be is wrong. That's the easy bit; the challenge now is to identify it correctly. It seems to me to bear a very close resemblance to another plant in the collection that is labelled Camellia … Continue reading New season, new puzzles.
Mt Edgcumbe
A walk in the park
It being Tuesday, my day was spent at Mount Edgcumbe. There are still a few sections of Camellia plantings that I have not properly documented. One such is the first group of Camellias that was planted to get the collection off the ground. This was back in 1976, when 50 plants, donated by the International … Continue reading A walk in the park
Sasanqua season – 4
Or to put it another way, notes from my day at Mount Edgcumbe yesterday. There were a lot of things blooming in the park yesterday. The sasanquas are in some cases going over, for example 'Hugh Evans', 'Tanya' and 'Plantation Pink'. Some, for example 'Narumigata', 'Bonanza' and 'Gay Sue' are still in full flow, a few … Continue reading Sasanqua season – 4
Sasanqua season
I put this montage together to post on Twitter but couldn't do names. Here they are: Row 1 Winter's Toughie Unknown Hugh Evans Rainbow Daikagura Plantation Pink Row 2 Baronesa de Soutelinho Tanya Narumigata November Pink sasanqua Paradise Glow Row 3 Gloire de Nantes Winter's Dream Lavender Queen Gay Sue Show Girl Snow Flurry Row … Continue reading Sasanqua season
The season is under way.
It was late in the day before I finished my planned jobs and set off to see what I could find in flower. C. sasanqua 'Hugh Evans' is flowering in areas 1G and 10. 'Tanya' is out in 1G but the flowers are small and few in number. It's a variety with small leaves and a … Continue reading The season is under way.
What happens when nothing’s happening.
The flowering season for camellias at Mount Edgcumbe runs from October to May. Last summer I was still trying to sort out a host of nomenclatural issues from the 2015/16 flowering season. This summer there has not been much that I could add to that, so my last four weekly visits have been spent strimming … Continue reading What happens when nothing’s happening.
New shoots.
I have now spent fourteen months trying to identify with certainty the many camellias at Mt Edgcumbe which appear to be wrongly named. I have had my successes but they are woefully outnumbered by my failures. What is lacking is a range of characteristics that, if not set in stone, are at least reasonably consistent … Continue reading New shoots.
A Trio of Awkward Aussies.
'Jean Lyne' is an Australian variety raised in the 1940's. Its register description is semi-double white with pink stripes and flecks. Two sports are listed, 'Edith Linton' and 'Nancy Bird'. There is a plant labelled 'Jean Lyne' in Area 4D. I took these pictures of it yesterday. 'Edith Linton' seems to have been released … Continue reading A Trio of Awkward Aussies.
Unravelling Julia Drayton.
There are some groups of camellias that seem particularly problematic as far as correct naming goes. One such group centres around 'Julia Drayton'. The variety was found and named at Magnolia Gardens, John's Island, South Carolina but is thought to have come from Europe originally. No similar variety has been found in Europe so it … Continue reading Unravelling Julia Drayton.
Doing other things
The last few weeks have been peak camellia season and I should have liked to have spent a little extra time up at the collection checking on things while flowering continued. As it is there have been other things to do and I have instead spent less time on site. All is not lost however. … Continue reading Doing other things
Jim's Camellias 