In praise of the beautiful Nothofagus

Nothofagus, the southern hemisphere beeches grow well here at High Beeches.

Related to Fagus, a genus of large ornamental, fast growing, evergreen and deciduous trees.
There are five in the garden here including:



Nothofagus dombeyi  a medium to large tree
from Chile and Argentina and introduced in l916 by F R S Balfour.  The beautiful old tree at High Beeches was a victim of the l987 storm but a young tree planted in 1989 is growing well.










Nothofagus fusca, the Red beech, can be frost tender when young but grows into a beautiful medium sized tree.  A native of New Zealand.  The one here was planted in 1931.











Nothofagus obliqua the Roble Beech.  A large
fast growing tree from Chile and Argentina
introduced  from Chile by H J Elwes.  The timber is not dissimilar to oak and has similar uses.  This one was planted in 1990.






Nothofagus alpina (N. nervosa).  A large, fast
growing tree with large leaves similar to
carpinus, colouring well in autumn.  A native
of Chile and Argentina introduced in 1913.
It produces fine timber used for wine barrels,
veneers and interiors.  This tree was planted
in l991.

Some of the smaller Rhododendrons at High Beeches

High Beeches has a large selection of the smaller Rhodendrons many to be found growing on Forrest's Bank with Rh. rex and Rh. Elsae towering over them.

Rhododendron primuliflorum

One of the most enchanting is Rhododendron
primuliflorum a small to medium sized shrub.
The leaves are small and white underneath and
the small flowers are daphne like, tubular
and pink in colour borne in small rounded
heads.  It won 'Best in Show' at Wisley last year.

Rhododendron russatum introduced by
George Forrest in l917 is another small
shrub of up to 1.2m high. It has flowers of
a beautiful deep blue-purple in April/May.

Rhododendron campylogynum is a very
pretty dwarf shrub which produces long-stalked, bell shaped, rose purple flowers and
was introduced by George Forrest in l912.

Rhododendron russatum

Finally Rhododendron Yellow Hammer
(Rh. flavidum x Rh. sulfureum) a beautiful
yellow hybrid which is flowering particularly
well this year.  Raised at Caerhays in Cornwall
it is to be found in flower throughout the year.

Rhododendron campylogynum

Rhododendron Yellow Hammer

Early Rhododendron Competition

High Beeches took part in the Early Rhododendron Competition at Wisley last weekend.

Competing in the RHS Shows is challenging but hugely enjoyable and High Beeches had a successful show with a number of firsts.  We usually do better in the classes for species rather than hybrid rhododendrons and this year was no exception. One first in the hybrid section, six firsts in the species section and the garden was awarded the John Fox Plate for the largest number of points gained overall in the South East Group.

Rh.luteiflorum

Magnolia stellata, Illicium anisatum, Camellia R.L.Wheeler, Rh. arboreum x repens

  Our prize winners included Rhododendron Florida Ogada, Rh. neriflorum, Rh. luteiflorum, Rh. irroratum 'Polka Dot' and Rh. racemosum.   We were also successful in the class for 'Four trees or shrubs of different genera, one vase of each' winning it with Camellia R.L. Wheeler, Rh. arboreum x repens, Magnolia stellata and Illicium anisatum.

Magnolias

The magnolias are looking superb at High Beeches.



Magnolia sargentiana var. robusta one of the most beautiful of Magnolias was discovered by Ernest Wilson in 1903, although he never saw it in bloom, and named after Charles Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum. Most of the older trees came from Chenault of Orleans, this is one of them. In l997 this tree was a casualty of the great storm. The decision was made to cover the root ball with top soil and to wait and see what would happen. The tree put out new shoots and although it is not quite the tree it was prior to 1997 it still flowers all over, a truly magnificent sight.

Magnolia campbellii var.campbelli x var.
mollicomata. A cross made by C Raffill of Kew
in l946, seedlings were distributed to a number
of gardens in 1948. The clone Charles Raffill
is a fine tree.











Magnolia campbellii Lanarth a striking form
of subsp. mollicomata has very distinctive deep
pink flowers.  A native of Yunnan introduced
by George Forrest in 1924.

Three early red Rhododendrons

Some early red  Rhododendrons
are starting to flower in the garden
at High Beeches.

Rhododendron barbatum

Rhododendron barbatum
(Subgenus Hymenanthes,
Subsect. Barbata).  A beautiful, large
shrub with coloured stems and reddish
flaking bark. The flowers are a vivid
deep scarlet carried in dense heads and
appear in March, one of the first
Rhododendrons to flower here at High Beeches.  A native of Nepal, Bhutan and northern India

Rhododendron spinuliferum

Rhododendron spinuliferum
Subgenus Rhododendron, Subsect. Scabrifolia)
the firecracker flower.  An unusual early
flowering rhododendron discovered by
Abbe Delavay and introduced in 1907.  The flowers are red, tubular with protruding stamens. It has been used in
Chinese medicine to treat asthma.

Rhododendron x Nestor

Rhododendron x Nestor
(barbatum x thomsonii) a beautiful red
hybrid raised by Sir Edmund Loder.

Garden opens for the Spring
Saturday 28th March

THREE BEAUTIFUL CAMELLIAS

Three beautiful Camellias in flower at

High Beeches Garden

Camellia japonica 'Adolphe Audusson'

Camellia japonica is a native of Japan and Korea.  Camellias are not native plants of China
although they have been grown there for
a long time as a garden plants.   They were
first introduced to Europe at the beginning
of the eighteenth century and originally
camellias were thought not to be hardy in England but the severe winter of 1928 proved otherwise.

There are now great number of cultivars.
Camellias are magnificent evergreen flowering plants some of which can reach up to 30 or
40 feet in height.  Without overhead shade the
flowers can be susceptible, in spring,to wind
and frost damage.

Camellia x williamsii 'J C Williams'

.

Camellia  japonica 'Adolphe Audusson'
has red semi -double flowers and is
very vigorous.


Camellia x williamsii a hybrid between
japonica and saluenensis first raised by
J.C. Williams at Caerhays Castle in
about 1925.  One of the first cultivars
to be raised was named 'J.C. Williams',
pink, single and one of the most free
flowering of the camellias.

Camellia japonica 'tricolor'

Camellia japonica 'Tricolor', a single or
semi-double flower varying from white
with carmine streaks to pink with white
streaks.  It is a very reliable plant, free,
flowering and of spreading habit.

Garden reopens to visitors on 

Saturday 28th March

The view from the Colonel's seat - Before and After

Winter in the garden brings one of the

Before

longest jobs for the gardeners.  When all
the leaves are off the trees they have to
be cleared, either raked up or blown on to the beds.  When the job is down the garden looks
tidy and the moss glows in the winter sunlight.

The fallen leaves are important to the garden
as they provide mulch on the beds and they
are also blown into the gills (streams) to help
slow down the flow of water.   In recent years,
although the volume of water has not
increased, the amount of water flowing through the garden has increased at any one time.
This causes erosion of the gill banks and
in some places is undermining the bridges.
The only solution seems to be to slow down the
flow of water.

After

Mulch is important to feed, protect the plants
and retain water in the summer.  After the big
storm of l987 the garden lost a great deal of
its overhead cover and so produced less
mulch and for the first time we had to start
buying it in.

To take a break from the monotomy of
clearing leaves some planting has been done
along with a considerable amount of
pruning.  Clearing the prunings is a challenge
here as it is not possible to bring machinery
into the garden during the winter as the ground is too wet and the paths would be damaged.
 The gardeners either chip or drag everything to
 bonfire sites outside the garden.
 You need to be fit to work here!

Garden reopens on Saturday 28th March.