Unlike most of England that has frost to contend with, many places in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly are able to grow plants that would never grow anywhere else in England, due to balmy temperatures and longer growing seasons.
Many flowers (including all bulbs) are toxic to pets. Read more on how to make gardens safe for pets.
- Tremenheere is a unique all-year garden in Cornwall, where the unique microclimate allows exotic plants to flourish, even in winter. Here you won’t just find fern trees, but also bamboo and even palm trees!
- Trebah Garden is a 26-acre oasis with 4 miles of footpaths, and tunnels of colour that extend to a secluded beach on the Helford River. In spring, you’ll find 100-year old rhoododenrons, magnolias and camellias, yet in autumn the Hydrangea Valley does not die but creates ‘clouds of china blue and soft white’ flowers across Mallard Pond. And plants that normally would only survive in the Southern Hemisphere begin to flower.
- Tresco Abbey Garden on the Scilly Isles is known worldwide. Just 28 miles from the mainland, this 19th century garden situated in the ruins of Benedictine Abbey is a sanctuary for 2000 plants that naturally flower in Brazil, New Zealand and South Africa. Even in winter, you’ll find 300 flower species blooming away.
The longer season on the Scilly Isles means that local florists continue to sell daffodils long after the season in England. Like all bulbs, daffodils are toxic to pets, so don’t send to homes with animal friends.
uproar from Basil Fawlty’s town!
Just up the road in Devon, there was uproar a few years ago when the council (without consulting local people) tore down 40 palm trees as part of a ‘revamp’ to celebrity the 100th year anniversary of the Italian gardens. The council later admitted it was a mistake.
