Quinta Arboretum – September 2009

One morning in early September, Dennis and I parked in the carpark of the Swettenham Arms Pub in Swettenham Village, Near Congleton, Cheshire and walked inside to meet three other APS members including Tony Entwistle - who kindly organised the day - and Tony Hayter of the Hebe Society, for the APS Northern Meeting.

After coffee and a short chat, we went back outside and walked up the path at the side of the pub to the entrance of The Quinta Arboretum and enjoyed a lovely afternoon looking around. (Dennis and I were the last ones to leave at nearly 7pm!)

It was created by Sir Bernard Lovell and is owned by the Tatton Garden Society. The 28 acre site includes a 12 acre wild wood, meadows and scenic views over the River Dane and contains three thousand species of trees and shrubs with a estimated total number of 25,000 .

Tony Haytor - who jointly established its large and very interesting Hebe display beds back in 2003 - spoke about the care that had gone into the display.

It included Hebe Beatrice, H. parviflora Holdsworth, H. Kew Feather and H. 'Karo Golden Esk', a whipcord hybrid.

Full details about the whole project are at http://www.hebesoc.org/quinta_arboretum/quinta_arboretum.htm

Nothofagus are well represented with mature specimens of N. antarctica, N. procera, N. obliqua and N.dombeyi from Chile.

There are also about twenty varieties of Eucalypt, Athrotaxis cupressoides, Diselma archeri and a few New Zealand shrubs including Olearia Haastii,

There are also notable collections of Quercus ( over 40 species) and outstanding examples of all the known species of the Wing Nut trees (Pterocarya) including the hybrids P. rehderiana and P fraxinifolia.

Larix kurilensis from the Kurile Islands, planted in 1979, is now a large tree rarely seen outside botanical gardens. There is also a 30 year-old Sciadopitys verticillata.

Mature trees included the Rubber Tree (Eucommia ulmoides) from China, the Hop Hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia), from Asia Minor, the Butternut Tree (Juglans cinerea) and the Date Plum (Diospyros lotus). There are over 40 species of Oaks, 73 species of pines and over 20 species of Abies and an avenue of Red Twigged Limes (Tilia platyphyllos rubra).

Graft hybrids in the arboretum include Laburnum adamii, Mahoberberis aquisargentii and Fatshedra lizei. Monotypic genera such as Boenninghausenia albiflora (East Asia), Carpenteria californica, Chamaedaphne calyculata, Idesia polycarpa, Kalopanax pictus, Kowitzia amabilis, Osmaronia cerasiformis, O.xydendrum arboreum, Rhododendron Sutchuenense and Zenobia pulverulenta.

Rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias, an unusual collection of lilacs including Syringa sweginzowii and S. tigerstedtii from China.

Uncommon shrubs include Sycopsis sinensis, Holodiscus discolor, Rehderodendron macrocarpum and the 'Salt Tree' (Halimodendron halodendron). from Siberia, Heptacodium jasminoides from China, the Dalmation Laburnum (Petteria ramantacea) and the rare Pofiothyrsi sinensis from China.