At the end of August I visited Trelissick and Glendurgan gardens in Cornwall, both owned by the National Trust. I saw so many great plants that I wanted to share them with you here. Some of the plants grown in these gardens are simply not hardy enough to grow in the rest of Cornwall, let alone the rest of the UK!

Sorry, can't get the link straight to the Glendurgan pictures to work... if you want to go straight there they are about 1/3rd of the way down the page.

First, Trelissick Garden near Truro:


The first border you come to has a tropical theme, with several different hardy Gingers, Impatiens, Bananas and Dahlias amongst other plants. The next picture shows another border with a more traditional mixed shrub and herbaceous theme.

In the middle of the main lawn area is a venerable old plant of Cryptomeria japonica, an evergreen conifer from Japan.

 I think this charming plant (below) is Strobilanthes violacea, but can't be sure. (This has since been identified by someone who has grown it themselves and is indeed Strobilanthes violacea)

The garden shows off many excellent planting combinations but my favourite was one next to the main lawn area.

 

 From front to back we have Cautleya spicata (hardy Ginger), a dark leaved Canna, Phytolacca sp. (probably P. americana, a very poisonous but useful late summer perennial) and the beautiful Hydrangea aspera var. villosa with it's delicate-looking pink flowers.

 

 There were several ferns in the garden, but this one is always a favourite of mine, Blechnum chilense. It has quite stiff fronds and looks quite tropical... but you'd be amazed how hardy it can actually be in the right place in a garden! Perovskia 'Blue Spire', a perfect plant for a sunny spot. These flowers are a vibrant electic blue, and the leaves have a strong but not unpleasant scent. Below is a lovely little known shrub from New Zealand called Pseudowintera colorata. Sadly it is not hardy in most parts of the UK.

 Many gardeners grow Leycesteria formosana ('Pheasant Berry') or it's yellow form 'Golden Lanterns', but this next picture shows the rather rarer Leycesteria crocothyrsos in flower.

 

 Another rare plant that is currently in flower at Trelissick is the fabulous 'Chilean Hazel', Gevuina avellana. This is a non-too-hardy member of the Protea family, and to be honest I was so taken with the detail of the flowers that I barely noticed the size of the plant- it was huge! I wonder if Trelissick get any fruit on it?

 Deutzias are reasonably well known to gardeners as summer flowering shrubs, but most grow to be suckering clumps rather than small trees. Deutzia pulchra is a notable exception, growing to be a fine small evergreen tree which flowers usually just after the middle of summer. It also has a beautiful spicey brown bark which is well worth taking a look at. Sadly again not all that hardy in much of the UK, but well worth growing, or looking out for, in a mild garden.

Glendurgan

Just a short drive west of Trelissick is Glendurgan Garden. Set in a steep valley this really is heaven for anyone who likes to admire unsual plants because the very gently climate here allows many species that would otherwise be impossible to grow flourish. Sometimes the local wildlife can steal the show!

 

 

 Glendurgan boasts several huge trees... but while these are spectacular it is also worth looking out for the charming small plants that peep out from the undergrowth, just like this Begonia sutherlandii, a surprisingly hardy species from South Africa (hardy in the South West, worth bulking up and trying elsewhere with mulch). This species thrives in shade where it's bright orange flowers really stand out.

 Growing in the same area as the Begonia above is Saxifraga stolonifera, a great woodlander reletively widespread in the Far East. It does produce white flowers but for most people the large leaves and running habit are the really appealing feature.

 

 In a garden like Glendurgan it is easy to appreciate the diversity of leaves in the plant world. Take the thick, waxy leaves of the Saxifrage above and compare them to the long, thin, dead looking leaves of these Pseudopanax crassifolius (below) from New Zealand. There are many plants in New Zealand that 'look dead', probably to put off any herbivore predators (although many of it's 'predators' are probably now extinct or in sharp decline).

While on the subject of plants from New Zealand, this next plant is very important in Maori culture, where it is a sacred tree. This is Agathis australis, the 'Kauri' tree. This tree is very fussy in cultivation in the UK and is a testiment to the excellent conditions (and care) it receives at Glendurgan.
 And here is a close-up of the foliage; you can see from it's leaves that it is related to the more familiar 'Monkey Puzzle' tree, Araucaria araucana. Both are very ancient species, and may have even been food for dinosaurs!

 You can see the 'Monkey Puzzle' link when you look at the foliage of this rare Australian 'Monkey Puzzle', Araucaria bidwillii.

 

I think this is Pittosporum dallii, another species native to New Zealand. This is only the second time I have seen this species in cultivation; last time it was growing in a much colder location in Devon, so may be a little hardier than some of the other plants in Glendurgan's collection. I'm not 100% sure of the plant's identity.  (This species has now been identified for me as being Pittosporum dalii- apparently there is a plant growing at Wakehurst Place, although it struggles a bit there, preferring the mild and damp climate of the South West)

 

One of the great treats at Glendurgan is the tiny fishing village at the bottom of the garden, Durgan. This is one of the most beautiful little places I have seen in Cornwall; just a few houses, an old school room and a nice beach.

 

 

 

At Trelissick I had admire the Chilean Hazel, Gevuina avellana, in flower. While Trelissick's plant had more flowers it has to be said that Glendurgan't plant was a much tidier tree! (See Trelissick's section above for the flowers)

 

 

 

The Begonia sutherlandii isn't the only interesting South African plant in flower in late summer at Glendurgan, below is the very interesting Wachendorfia paniculata, an all-too-tender perennial with Crocosmia-like leaves but a flower more like a 'Foxtail Lily' (Eremurus).

 

 

 

In recent years plant collectors, both people collecting seed in the wild and people collecting plants for gardens, have been getting very excited about hardy species of Schefflera. Traditionally the Scheffleras grown in the UK were all houseplants, but thanks to a few adventurous gardeners these hardier species are starting to gain popularity in gardens. This particular species, Schefflera macrophylla, is the giant of the genus- just look how big it's leaves are!

 

 

 

The Scheffleras are closely related to an old favourite garden plant, the Fatsias. Fatsia japonica has been growing in Britain since Victorian times, but occasionally you will see the Taiwanese species Fatsia polycarpa. Although still pretty rare in cultivation this is a species to seek out if you like tropical plants- you can see how long the 'fingers' of the leaves stretch out!

 

 

 

Gardeners in milder climates may know the 'Chinese Lantern Tree', Crinodendron hookerianum, with it's scarlet lantern-shaped flowers in late summer, but how many people would recognise the other species of Crinodendron, C. patagua? I will be honest, this is not a tree to spark the flames of horticultural desire, but if you (like me) like unusual plants then it is one to look out for. In all of my time touring the gardens of Cornwall I have never seen Crinodendron patagua in flower before.

 

 

 

 And finally... I couldn't finish a photographic tour with a botanical leaning (ahem!) without showing you the detail of the Agave americana, the so-called 'Century Plant'. This South American succulent flowers once and then dies, leaving lots of seedlings to start the next generation. I particularly love how the stiff and spiky leaves leave imprints on each other when they are being formed in the centre of the plant, and how these imprints stay on the leaves for years once the leaves have emerged!