Hello garden lovers and greetings from Cornwall or ‘Dydh da’!
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Mercifully my arrival has coincided with the start of warmer weather and an end to the long bitter winter and ‘The Beast from the East’, which brought unseasonably low temperatures and heavy snowfall to much of the UK.
I have ‘taken up residence’ at Tregrehan House, near St Austell, in The Mews – the converted 200 year-old stable block. The dining room is in the mare’s quarters, the bedroom is in the stallion’s stall and breakfast is in the tack room, oat bran anyone – yay or neigh!
Cornwall is famous for clotted cream, pasties, Jamaica Inn and the Floral Dance, but in the world of horticulture, its best known for its gardens and their magnificent collections of camellias, azaleas, magnolias and rhododendrons.
Tregrehan is no exception - as you enter the grounds through an imposing lime avenue, dodging sheep and newborn lambs playing on the drive, you glimpse lush pasture and sea views.
The walled garden is a tranquil space, overlooked by a greenhouse complex, which is filled with tender plants including a small Illawarra Flame Tree.
A feature that impressed and evoked a sense of awe was the mature Yew Walk, planted in the 1840’s and over 100 metres in length. Also, the delightful bluebell wood set in a secluded corner of the garden.
Other great gardens include the magnificent Trebah Garden, running down a valley to a beach on the Helford River. Impressive specimens of tree ferns, gunnera and bamboo abound due to Cornwall’s unique climate and the colour from the azaleas and camellias was dazzling.
Also dazzling was the colour at one on Cornwall’s greatest and most important gardens, Caerhays Castle, renowned for propagating and introducing many of the best camellias.
In complete contrast is Tresco Abbey Gardens, situated on the Isles of Scilly. Owing to its subtropical climate, this botanical wonderland boasts over 20,000 species from 80 countries. I even spotted flowering banksia, bottlebrush and waratah! The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Lanhydrock, Trelissick, the list of great gardens goes on.
Cornwall is famous for its picturesque towns and villages, many steeped in history and myth. The legend of King Arthur at Tintagel, smugglers caves and tunnels – think Jamaica Inn and of course, The Pirates of Penzance.
Visiting many of the gardens and villages in Cornwall is challenging, with some of the narrowest roads I have ever experienced and with some of the lanes so sunken that a double decker bus could pass unseen from the fields above. But if you wish to enjoy this beautiful corner of the world – take the backroads you must!
