Several years before she passed away, we asked John's mum Rosemary to tell us the names of the various rhodos and camellias planted in the gardens at Struan Farm. John's parents were avid gardeners, and loved to search out unusual trees and shrubs from nurserymen around the country to plant at the farm.
I remember her telling us that the large, brilliant red rhodo at the front entrance was called "Bob Hope." This is a name I would remember.
Fast forward eight years or so. Anna advises that she thinks the rhodo is in fact "Cornubia." I then discover a red camellia called "Bob Hope" at Wairere Nursery, one that looks suspiciously like one of the camellias in the Homestead gardens.
Now I'm thinking that perhaps Rosemary and I got our flowering red trees muddled, she was talking about one, I was thinking it was the other. We've planted both Bob and Cornubia up at the new house, under the redwoods. We now know who's who.
Here's "New Bob":
Here's "Old Bob":
And here's "Cornubia":
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