Last week (early June) I had a lovely trip to Cornwall, and visited some gardens whilst I was there.

Heligan Garden

My second visit to Heligan since September, it looked a lot different and it was great to see it in the early summer. The veggie garden was looking a bit bare, which was actually good because it made me feel better about my allotment being very behind compared to usual! There were loads of pink Foxgloves everywhere I visited, I particularly like the way this one contrasted against the old wall behind. The flower garden was coming on really well and the rows of Orlaya were impressive, along with the Sweet William which the bees were loving.

Trebah Garden

Trebah gardens was really lovely but in my opinion not as nice as Glendurgan garden nearby, and didn’t take that long to walk around considering the entry cost. The courtyard garden (which I think is free to enter since it was outside the garden itself) had some interesting planting schemes with lots of colour, the Alstroemeria were looking especially good, huge! I liked the Gunnera plantation bit where you could walk underneath and it was a real experience. The beach at the end it also very pleasant and interesting to read about its’ role during the war.

Minack Theatre Garden & coastline

I went to see a show at the Minack theatre and made sure I left lots of time beforehand to look at the garden. It’s amazing the range of succulents and drought tolerant plants among the steep rocky beds, they’re mostly labelled too which is very useful. Lots of the succulents were flowering which was lovely to see as they never get mature enough in my garden for that!
I saw lots of interesting wild flowers on my coastal walks too, the Hebes seem to favour the conditions and were flowering profusely in some places.

Surreal Succulents at Tremenheere Sculpture Garden

The succulents here are amazing! I would have liked to look aroud the sculpture gardens but didn’t have time, but the succulent displays were so colourful and creative I had to restrain myself from buying very many, it’s no wonder they won a Gold medal at this year’s Chelsea flower show. You can order from their massive selection online, there are some rare and unusual specimens too, and lots of ideas of how to display in your own garden.