Garden Blogger's Bloom Day April 2014

Another 15th of the month and a chance to show some of what's flowering in my small Plymouth garden for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

It's been very pleasant recently.  Dry, comparatively warm (this is spring in England!), and generally sunny.  So the plants are responding.  My Fuchsias and French lavender are in bud; Dicentra spectabiis and my Spanish bluebells have just opened their first flowers; Scilla peruviana should open the first flowers in a day or two to produce tight spheres of blue; the camellias, though past their peak, are still in flower; yellow and pink primroses are abundant; even my Magnolia 'Raspberry Ice' still has a few flowers hiding among the emerging foliage.

So, what's looking at it's best?

One feature plant that enjoys a few brief weeks of glory at this time of year is the fastigiate flowering  cherry, Prunus 'Amanogawa'.  It's very difficult to photograph.  At about 30ft / 9m in height it dominates the rear garden and it's hard to get an angle that includes the tree without including all the surroundings.  In the end I put the camera with 28mm lens on the tripod, pointed it up and took this snap of the cherry towering into the sky.

Prunus 'Amanogawa' - looking up into the upright canopy

More conventionally, here's a close-up of the flowers.

Prunus 'Amanogawa' flowers

Camellia japonica 'Magnoliaeflora' in the front garden is the last of my camellias to flower and this year has been no exception.  It only had buds a month ago but has since produced it's delicate double blooms with comparative abundance.  It's small flowered compared to the C. x williamsii hybrids I grow but very attractive.

Camellia japonica 'Magnoliaeflora'

Down at ground level the epimediums are producing their spring growth and beginning to flower.  Most I've illustrated before but Epimedium wushanense 'Caramel' is comparatively new and deserves it's place in the sun.

Epimedium wushanense 'Caramel'

In recent years there has been an influx of Epimediums from China and nearby areas.  I'm gradually acquiring a few (finding space is the biggest problem).  They usually have good foliage, often attractively marked in spring.  E.wushanense 'Caramel', E. franchettii 'Brimstone Butterfly' (in bud), and E.myrianthum (still waiting for emergence) are far superior to my European hybrids.  'Brimstone Butterfly' has particularly attractive red foliage when young while the other two are marbled.  I must get more.

The wood anemones, varieties of Anemone nemorosa in the front garden seem to spring from nowhere to flowering in a few brief days at this time of year.  I've illustrated the species and its varieties before so won't repeat myself but I have finally got a decent shot of the hybrid between A.nemorosa and A.ranunculoides, Anemone x lipsiensis, so I'll use that to illustrate the tribe.

Anemone x lipsiensis

The white variegated evergreen Pieris japonica 'Flaming Silver' looks good at any time of year but never better than now, with bright red young growth, white edged old growth, and, after a good summer last year, flowers.  It's slow growing but worth the wait.

Pieris japonica 'Flaming Silver'

I illustrated Chasmanthe bicolor last month when a potted clump was showing the first flowers.  Things have developed since then and my planted out clumps are also flowering.  The mild, damp winter must have done them a lot of good.  Here's a shot to better show the delicate arching of the flower stem.

Chasmanthe bicolor

Clambering in and over my little shade house (bare at this time of year but soon to be re-occupied with tender shade lovers currently sheltering indoors) is Akebia quinata, the chocolate vine.  A weed species in warmer climates, it's well behaved here.  The larger female and smaller male flowers are carried in a single infloresence to produce a very interesting April effect.

Akebia quinate showing larger female and smaller male flowers

Still small, but well able to scent a good area of the garden is Skimmia japonica 'Rubella', a male variety of this Japanese evergreen.  I haven't had it too long and am still growing it on to eventually occupy a shaded spot under the Prunus.  OK, it's commonplace - but still good value with red buds through the winter and white flowers in March and April.

Skimmia japonica 'Rubella'

One new addition I couldn't resist during a recent visit to the Duchy of Cornwall nursery (well worth visiting if you are ever down this way) is a large flowered Hebe.  Hebe macrocarpa var latisepala is a tender, winter and spring flowering New Zealander.  I've previously grown the equally tender, red, large flowered Hebe speciosa 'Simon Delaux' until it succumbed to a hard winter a few years back and I reckon this one is worth a try.  I have a little bit of space in the warm border under my house wall in the rear garden so it should be worth the risk - and Pippa has conveniently dug a hole in exactly the right place.  So many hebes have small flower heads.  These are definite step up.

Hebe macrocarpa var latisepala

As ever, my thanks to May Dreams Gardens for hosting the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day meme.  Head over there to see what's flowering in many more gardens round the world. 

Mount Edgcumbe and the National Camellia Collection

A couple of warm, sunny days recently gave me the chance to travel across the Tamar to visit the National Camellia collection housed in Mount Edgcumbe Country Park.  Housed in the woodland which sits above the formal gardens and the house, the collection benefits from the mild winter climate on the edge of Plymouth Sound and has grown over the years to comprise more than 1000 species and varieties.  Some are recent additions but there are some older specimens showing the full potential of these lovely plants.  

A single visit is only a snapshot, of course.  Autumn flowering Camellia sasanqua varieties are not in flower and some of the earlier flowering varieties were going over despite the late start to spring this year.  But even so, I could only photograph a fraction of the collection in the time available.  But that's enough to give a glimpse of the sheer diversity this genus offers.  And all at a time of year when masses of colour is welcome after the winter.

Camellia japonica types and cultivars are very well represented.  Here's a sample, running the gamut from plain single flowers, through more formal semi-doubles and doubles to the blowsier paeony forms.  Click the pictures to embiggen:

Camellia japonica 'Finlandia'

Camellia japonica 'Grand Slam'

Camellia japonica 'Laura Schafer'

Camellia japonica 'Rubescens Major'

Camellia japonica 'Chandlerii'

Camellia japonica 'Dainty Dale'

Camellia japonica 'Duchesse Decazes'

Camellia japonica 'Erin Farmer'

Camellia japonica 'Jingle Bells'

Camellia japonica 'Jupiter'

Camellia japonica 'Lady de Saumarez'

Camellia japonica 'Ludgvan Red'

Camellia japonica 'Maculata Superba'

Camellia japonica 'Mrs Anne Marie Hovey'

Camellia japonica 'Nuccio's Pearl'

Camellia japonica 'Lady Vansittart Blush'

Camellia japonica 'Lady Vansittart Blush' again - no two flowers are alike

Camellia japonica 'Onetia Holland'

Camellia japonica 'Spencer's Pink'

Camellia japonica 'The Czar'

Camellia japonica 'Tinker Bell'

Camellia japonica 'Valteverada'

If the C.japonica types have a problem it's that the flowers are vulnerable to spring frosts and even though replaced with newly opened buds are not promptly shed.  In bad years they can become unsightly.  The late flowering this year has coincided with warmer weather without night frosts and so many flowers were almost perfect (though the whites and pale pinks can still show a little browning on the edge petals.

The Camellia x williamsii crosses are often even larger and more prolific in flower - and easily shed old, spent flowers.  For most of us they represent better garden value.  Needless to say there is no shortage in the collection:

Camellia x williamsii 'Les Jury'

Camellia x williamsii 'Marjorie Williams'

Camellia x williamsii 'Debbie Carnation'

Camellia x williamsii 'Inspiration'

Camellia x williamsii 'Rosemary Sawle'

Camellia x williamsii 'Tristrem Carlyon'

Most flamboyant of all are the Camellia reticulata varieties and hybrids.  With big, blowsy flowers, oversized leaves and attractive small tree habits they are, unfortunately, not as hardy as C.japonica or C x williamsii  but do well here in the warmer wintered South West.  A section of the woodland is given over to these camellias and they do look impressive in flower.

Panorama shot of part of the Camellia reticulata collection - click to embiggen

Individual flowers can be 8in / 20cm across with some of these - but they all look good.  Now, where can I clear some space in my little plot?

Camellia reticulata 'Dream Castle'

Camellia reticulata 'Ming Temple'

Camellia reticulata 'Royalty'

Camellia saluenensis x reticulata 'Valentine Day'

Camellia reticulata x japonica 'Lasca Beauty'

All in all a very pleasant afternoon spent amongst these beautiful spring flowering shrubs.