Burncoose Nurseries | Three RHS recommended lectures you don't want to miss

Caerhays Castle Estate, near St Austell, Cornwall is to be the location for two RHS recommended lectures this Spring. Caerhays is one of only four gardens in Britain to hold the NCCPG National Magnolia Collection boasting an incredible 72 species of magnolia and is the current holder of the prestigious ‘Garden of the Year’ title, awarded by the Historic Houses Association, the first garden in the South West to win the title. The gardens also re-open to the public from Monday 20th February 2017.

Caerhays Bred Magnolias will take place on FRIDAY 17th March 2017 at 10am and costs £16 for RHS members and £20 for Non-members.

'Caerhays Surprise'

The lecture will be given by Charles Williams and will be an explanation of the objectives of the magnolia hybridisation program at Caerhays and its achievements. In the last two years seven new hybrids have been registered with the Magnolia Society International, including M. ‘Caerhays Splendour’ and M. ‘Tropicana’. These and other better known hybrids from the past fifty years including M. ‘Caerhays Belle’ and M. ‘Caerhays Surprise’ will be displayed and discussed at the talk, and (weather permitting) viewed in the garden.

The talk will be followed by a guided tour which will cover the whole garden and ignore the regular routes that visitors would normally take. It may also encompass the new 10 acre Magnolia planting in a greenfield site at the top of the garden (known as Kennel Close) which was open to the public for the first time in 2012.

Rhododendron ciliatum

A Century of Rhododendrons will take place on FRIDAY 7th April 2017 at 10am and again cost just £16 for RHS Members and £20 for Non-members.

The talk will also be followed by a guided tour which will cover the whole garden and ignore the regular routes that visitors would normally take, thus is a real 'behind the bushes' tour. The Rhododendron Society was funded in Cornwall in 1916. In 2016 the society celebrated its centenary at Chelsea. The talk will review historic documents from the Caerhays archive which will be on display for attendees. The garden tour will concentrate on those rhododendron species which have survived for a hundred years since their introduction from China.

Magnolia 'Aurora'

A third RHS lecture on Late Flowering Magnolias will take place on FRIDAY 5th May 2017 at Burncoose House, beginning at 11am and including a buffet lunch. Cost for RHS Members is £28 and £35 for Non-members.

The lecture will again be taken by Charles Williams who will disprove the misapprehension that March is the Cornish magnolia season, as he discusses the large number of less well known but equally stunning magnolias which flower much later in the year.

These include many of the later flowering yellow magnolias such as M. ‘Daphne’ and M. ‘Yellow Bird’. Also the M. x brooklynensis hybrids whose flowers have mixed colours and a number of species including M. x wieseneri, M.sieboldii and M. wilsonii.

Following lunch there will be a tour of Burncoose Garden and Nurseries.

Tickets for all the lectures should be booked in advance.
There is also a Special Offer for anyone wanting to book tickets for all three talks - £40 for RHS Members and £60 for Non-Members.

By CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD: By calling Caerhays on 01872 501310

By POST: Lecture Reservations, Caerhays Estate, Gorran, St Austell, PL26 6LY, enclosing a cheque payable to Caerhays Estate, a RHS membership number (where relevant) and daytime telephone number. State the title of the event and how many tickets you require.