Planting of new Camellias at Mount Edgcumbe has been somewhat sporadic in recent years but there has been enough to ensure that every year there are things flowering for the first time. This year has been slightly different in that there are a few things flowering, or at least in bud, that are far from … Continue reading For the first time.
Single, white and troublesome.
When I was at Mount Edgcumbe yesterday I noted that two of the single white japonica camellias were beginning to open. 10th November is early for japonicas to be opening but that wasn't them main reason I chose to dig a little deeper. The two plants both had names on them that appeared to be … Continue reading Single, white and troublesome.
Mount Edgcumbe video diary – November 2023
https://youtu.be/AHS09m7Wki4 My second filming trip to the park this autumn was on November 10th. In spite of weeks of wet and windy weather, the camellias were putting on a respectable show. Some of the earliest flowerers, like 'Hugh Evans', 'Plantation Pink', 'New Dawn' and 'Baronesa de Soutelinho' were past their peak but plenty of others … Continue reading Mount Edgcumbe video diary – November 2023
The Mount Edgcumbe collection, a video diary.
October 2023 https://youtu.be/RzzzJFuHiL0 I am going to try to create a short video at roughly monthly intervals to give you a better idea of the camellia collection in its setting. My first attempt was filmed on 9th October 2023 when the autumn flowering 'sasanqua' camellias were just beginning to perform. It's just short of 11 … Continue reading The Mount Edgcumbe collection, a video diary.
On the home front.
Mostly I blog about the Camellia collection at Mount Edgcumbe, but I do actually have a few Camellias of my own. 25 miles further into Cornwall, in a garden of around 500m2, as compared to Mt Edgcumbe's 3.5 million m2. I have managed to squeeze in a couple of dozen, which still leaves me room … Continue reading On the home front.
Mt. Edgcumbe update – Identification issues – 12/3/2023
When I was at the park on Friday, I cut a couple of shoots from 2C-003 Camellia japonica 'Blackburniana' and a couple from 5C-002 Camellia japonica 'Adolphe Audusson', put them in a bag and brought them home. There are two plants in section 2C labelled 'Blackburniana' and they are completely different. The other one, 2C-004, … Continue reading Mt. Edgcumbe update – Identification issues – 12/3/2023
Getting the names right.
It pretty much goes without saying that the plants in a National Collection should be accurately identified and labelled. I really wish I could say that this was true of the Mount Edgcumbe collection but for a variety of reasons it is not. I have been working with the collection as a volunteer for some … Continue reading Getting the names right.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Tago-no-tsuki’
There are three plants at Mount Edgcumbe, one labelled Camellia oleifera, two labelled C. sasanqua 'Fukuzutsumi', planted in 2006. They are all the same variety. I wrote a blog about them in November 2020, tentatively concluding that its correct identity was Camellia sasanqua 'Fragrans'. It is not. Nor is it C. sasanqua 'Narumigata', though it … Continue reading Camellia sasanqua ‘Tago-no-tsuki’
A Camellia, by any other name….
I finally managed to devote one of my volunteer days to engraving labels and last week I had the pleasure of attaching some of them to the plants. Some were to replace lost or broken labels, many were replacements for existing labels that over the last few years I had concluded were wrong. It isn't … Continue reading A Camellia, by any other name….
Azurea or Pilida, or something else?
There are still close to a hundred plants in the Mt Edgcumbe collection which do not match their labels and which I have been unable to positively identify. I will give a full description of one of them, which for reasons I will explain, I think may be 'Azurea' or 'Pilida'. I am hoping that … Continue reading Azurea or Pilida, or something else?
Jim's Camellias 