There is no doubt that our great Cornish gardens are a magnificent
sight at this time of year.Trewithen House and Gardens
There is no doubt that our great Cornish gardens are a magnificent
sight at this time of year.
We have to thank those far seeing gardener owners in the early nineteenth century who sponsored the plant hunting expeditions all over the world and the gardeners and land owners during the subsequent years who have tended with loving care the plants we enjoy today. They have all been given help by the warmth brought to us by the Gulf Stream which some scientists suggest will not last for ever as Global warming starts to have its effects on ocean currents.
However, let us enjoy what we have at the moment as we do our best to preserve these gardens with their beautiful colourful exotic plants. There are too many Cornish gardens for us to mention all of them, so a personal choice of some of the big ones and some of the smaller ones follows.
The National Trust has done a magnificent job in Cornwall preserving great gardens in the County – my favourites are Trelissick on the banks of the River Fal not far from Truro and Glendurgan on the banks of the River Helford close to Falmouth.
Estates that have remained in private hands have also been tended with loving care over the generations and two of our greatest are Caerhays and Trewithan. The gardens at Trewithen are famed for their early flowering Magnolia, Camelia and banks of golden daffodils as well as their unique public rose garden. At this time of year the gardens are at their most magnificent and the roses will be at their peak in June. The level garden offers disable friendly paths, woodland walks, picnic areas and tearooms serving local Cornish produce.
Trewithen House is itself open to visitors for two afternoons each week from April 1st and provides a glimpse of elegant 18th century country living in Cornwall. The fine collection of furniture and paintings including works by Reynolds and Ramsay are on view and the garden vista from the Great Saloon is most impressive. More details about Trewithen are on page 3.
Caerhays Castle Gardens are situated in a secluded valley overlooking Porthluney beach and are the home of the famous x williamsii camellias. Caerhays still have many original plants collected in China by the intrepid plant collectors in the early 1900s which grow happily alongside more modern hybrids bred by the Williams family, owners for nearly 150 years. The magnolias and camellias are showing in their magnificence surrounded by carpets of primroses in the grounds of this fascinating castle.
More details of Caerhays Castle Gardens are on page 3 Trereife House boasts another classic Cornish Garden with magnolias, rhododendrons and a walled garden growing peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, cherries and more. Enlivening the terrace of the Queen Anne front of the house is a unique parterre laid out for the millennium and designed as a series of arabesque interlocking beds laid out in Box, lined in Santolina and infilled with the vivid blue hue of horizontal Ceanothus. Read more about Trereife on page 7.
From the great big gardens of Cornwall to the great little ones of which we have many. A fine example is Poppy Cottage Garden down on the Roseland peninsula between Tregony and St Mawes. This is one of those special cottage gardens with its own unique style of garden architecture and content, all devised by a committed and very knowledgable owner/gardener. See page 2.
Another expert on Cornish plants can be found at Godolphin Nurseries near Helston where The Garden Lady will take great pleasure in showing you around her unique nursery. See page 10
Your visit to Cornish Gardens in Spring would not be complete without a visit to the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the famous Eden Project near St Austell. The true lover of gardens will also travel to the Isles of Scilly to be amazed by Tresco Abbey Gardens. See page 6 for more information about the Scilly Islands.
The gardens on Tresco have microclimates which show the most extensive collection of exotics grown outdoors in the British Isles. Where else can you see plants from South Africa, Australia, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Burma and many other countries all growing in a beautiful setting in the same garden? In addition to the plants, the Abbey Gardens also have a number of fascinating artefacts on show including a Bronze Age holed stone and a Roman Shrine. There are regular ferries from St Mary’s to Tresco.