Magnolia sargentiana var robusta

Magnolia sargentiana var robusta
is having one of its best years ever.
The weather has suited it and so it is not only flowering prolifically but has not been damaged by frost.
This afternoon it was looking particularly
beautiful in the spring light.  This tree is fairly remarkable.  It is highly likely that this plant is one of those that came from Chenault of Orleans who received seeds from the Arnold Arboretum which had been collected by Ernest Wilson in 1908, and which he multiplied by grafting.  It  flowered at Caerhays http://www.caerhays.co.uk/in 1931.




The tree here at High Beeches was blown down in the great Storm of 1987.  The decision was made to cover the root ball as much as possible and to prune it back.  The tree has continued to grow and flower each year ever since.  One of the surviviors of a  terrible night.

Today a visitor to the garden was stunned by the sheer quantity of flower.

A beautiful Magnolia

 

 
 
 






Magnolia campbellii is possibly the most magnificent of the Magnolias.  This tree grows here at High Beeches almost on the roadside and rarely fails to flower.  This year it is looking particularly superb due to the mild weather.

Magnolia campbellii is a native of the Himalayas and was probably first introduced to this country in 1865.  It is thought to have flowered first at Veitch's Nursery in 1895.  It is named after Dr Arthur or Archibold Campbell of Darjeeling who was appointed the first superintendent of the
sanitarium town of Darjeeling in 1839.
In 1849 he and Sir Joseph Hooker were
imprisoned by the mad Dewan of Sikkim
and had to be rescued by a British Team.
Campbell wrote many papers on Himalayan
geography.

Plenty of Pinks

 

 

 

Prunus Okame

Camellia Lady Clare

There are already too many plants to count in flower in the garden.  I thought I would have a look at the pinks

Prunus Okame a hybrid (P.campanulata x P.incisa) raised by Captain Colllingwood Ingram has masses of deep pink flowers which look beautiful against an early spring blue sky.







Camellia japonica Akashigate (Lady Clare)
is a dense evergreen shrub which flowers freely in Spring.

Rhododendron Cilpenense

Rhododendron Cilpenense is a pretty early flowering rhododendron, a hybrid (R ciliatum x moupinense) raised at Bodnant. 

Viburnum grandiflorum

Magnolia sargentiana robusta

Viburnum grandiflorum is a deciduous upright shrub with pretty pink and fragrant flowers in early spring.  It is a native of the Himalayas and was introduced in 1914 by Roland Cooper from Bhutan.









The first buds are showing pink on the magnificent Magnolia sargentiana var. robusta. which was introduced by Ernest Wilson in 1908. This tree is quite possibly a plant grafted by Chenault.  Within the next week or two this plant will be smothered in large and vivid pink flowers.  It was a casualty of the great storm of l987 but has regenerated to continue to give a superb display almost every year.