Alasdair Moore, Duchy of Cornwall Nursery
For a trainee horticulturalist, the chance to spend a year working in the celebrated subtropical Tresco Abbey Garden is surely the fulfilment of a dream. Yet Alasdair Moore admits: “I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know where the Isles of Scilly were until I applied for a studentship there. Then I went to Tresco – and discovered that it is a very, very special place.”
» Read more…
Andrew Leslie, Cornwall Garden Society
On a winter walk through his garden overlooking the River Fowey, Andrew Leslie has discovered camellias and magnolias already covered in buds – a sight guaranteed to gladden the heart of any gardener. “This spring has the potential to be spectacular,” he enthuses.
» Read more…
Botanical artists
The flourishing career of acclaimed botanical artist Marjorie Blamey is rooted in a love of the Cornish wildflowers she first painted on her farm near Liskeard more than 40 years ago.
» Read more…
Bradley Newton, plant hunter
The botanical treasures transported from the Far East by intrepid Edwardian explorers helped shape the character of some of Cornwall’s greatest gardens. Bradley Newton never dreamed he would have the chance to follow in the footsteps of great adventurers like George Forrest and Ernest ‘Chinese’ Wilson, until he was offered a last-minute place on a 10-day plant-hunting trip to China.
» Read more…
Christopher Harvey Clark, National Garden Scheme
There is no species of euphorbia named after Mozart – but a woman who visited Christopher Harvey Clark’s Hampshire garden several years ago may still be searching for this mythical variety.
» Read more…
Darren Hawkes, garden designer
The bright white summer house perched high above Readymoney Cove offers a seagull’s eye view of a reawakened Victorian garden which rises in tiers on the steep slopes of the valley below. “Garden design is all about creating spaces which are interesting, exciting, fresh and harmonious for people to move through and live in,” says Darren Hawkes, who is giving this historic Fowey garden a 21st century twist.
» Read more…
Selma Klophaus, inspirational gardens
One sunny day, a little girl was enchanted by a field of blue flowers. More than 30 years later, garden designer Selma Klophaus vividly remembers the blissful experience of sitting in the blue field on her uncle’s farm in Germany.
» Read more…
Tommy Teagle, Lanhydrock
Spring is Tommy Teagle’s favourite season, and magnolias are his favourite plants – so there is nowhere he would rather be right now than Lanhydrock. The glorious 30-acre garden near Bodmin boasts an outstanding collection of the exotic shrubs.
» Read more…
Viv’s tea garden
Every summer, from the mid-60s to the mid-70s, a family of 10 from the Scottish city of Stirling would squeeze into an Austin Cambridge and drive more than 500 miles to enjoy a holiday in Polzeath – and they always stayed for a whole month. Viv Peace was one of the children in the car: her first visit to Cornwall was when she was three months old.
» Read more…