Award-winning nurseries
For 13-year-old plant lover Dawn Morris, the hillside nursery close to her home in the village of Landrake was a magical place. “I used to ride past on my pony,” she recalls. “And one day I shouted over the gate: ‘Would you like me to do some watering?’ That was more than three decades ago.
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Blue Carrot
In winter, the cutting garden is a blank canvas, waiting to be transformed into a living work of art. But first, there is work to be done. “To start with,” says florist Susanne Hatwood, “I rip out a lot of stuff which I don’t like anymore. Then I order loads of new seeds.”
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Bodmin Plant and Herb Nursery
Linda Lawlor is gazing with great satisfaction over a green sea of herbs. More than 200 varieties are on sale here at Bodmin Plant and Herb Nursery, ranging from ever-popular parsley and much-loved lavender to little-known sugar leaf – and many are grown from seed on site.
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Cornish Blooms flower farm
Last December, Beth and Simon Hillyard turned their lounge into a temporary packing shed, and filled more than 1,000 boxes with freshly-cut flowers, destined to be sent all over the country as Christmas gifts.
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Cornish Cutting Garden
The Cornish Cutting Garden is not just the perfect place to go for a gorgeous home-grown wedding bouquet, but also an inspirational space where vulnerable people can gain skills, confidence and a sense of wellbeing.
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Duchy of Cornwall Nursery
It is almost six years since fire destroyed the café and shop at the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery at Lostwithiel. The smouldering ruins left little scope for restoration. Instead, a decision was made to create a visitor centre – a showpiece building which would reflect the Duke of Cornwall’s interest in the environment and traditional architecture.
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Fentongollan
Farmer Jeremy Hosking is touring his polytunnels. Each contains thousands of plants destined to be despatched to destinations near and far. Some of Fentongollan Farm’s customers order broccoli plants by the million – while others buy a few sweet peas to grow in pots on a patio.
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Garden Gate Flower Company
“It’s like being a kid in a sweetie shop,” says Becca Stuart. Becca and her friend Maz Parish are growers of gorgeous organic seasonal flowers for weddings, and they agree that their favourite part of the job is taking a stroll through their wildflower garden to select the very best blooms for the perfect bridal bouquet.
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Highcroft Nurseries
The Empress was the queen of the Tamar, the fastest steamboat on the river. She needed to be speedy: her task was to transport flowers, fruit and vegetables grown by the Richards family in Cargreen to the markets in Plymouth – and to get there before the boats of rival growers.
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Noble Palms
Clarence and Bartholomew began life in Mediterranean sunshine – but they have adapted well to their new home in the windswept far west of Cornwall. The two spectacular Butea capitata specimens are among an impressive range of mature palms and other trees from hot climates on show at a new specialist nursery near St Just.
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Sconner Wood
On the last day of November, seven years ago, springer spaniel puppy Holly came to live with the Carpenter family in their woodland home in a hidden valley in south-east Cornwall. The next day, tranquil Sconner Wood was transformed, when the gates opened for the sale of hundreds of Christmas trees.
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Surreal Succulents
Daniel Michael can still remember the thrill he felt when he took delivery of his first order of rare succulents. “I used to buy them from America, and sometimes I was the only person in the country to have them,” he says.
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Trevena Cross Nurseries
West Cornwall nursery Trevena Cross has gained a national reputation for its almost unrivalled range of exotic plants. Yet the business began with a more down-to-earth crop – the humble cabbage.
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Trevisker
For generations, the Sandry family have farmed at Trevisker, just outside Padstow. There were 350 sheep and 50 bullocks on the mixed farm when Mark Sandry was a boy, and his father also grew barley and made hay. Twenty years ago, Mark started growing soft fruit in a polytunnel in a corner of the farm.
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