Autumn visits - Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens

For the last couple of years I've been hearing about a sculpture garden near Penzance but have not got round to visiting. This September my Mum (who's far more knowledgable about Cornwall than I am even though she lives 300 miles away) managed to focus my mind and we set off on a rather dull but dry day.

Tremenheere Sculpture Garden is quite close to the National Dahlia Collection at Varfell Farm, and is slightly buried in the countryside. It's a steep valley garden that open just a few years ago,that's been landscaped with very naturalistic woodland areas and more cultivated areas, all interspersed with Sculpture.

The narrow wooded, approach to the Garden opens out to a more jungly area...

and on to the Chelsea Garden which has beautiful edge laid slate surfaces...

and a lovely lush pond area.
(Yes this is a teen showing an interest in green stuff, don't worry it was fleeting and purely because he was with Granny and not me!)

There's construction area in the quarry space - always a hit with the practical husband... 

right next to Slip of the Lip by Peter Randall-Page, a gorgeous marble piece that needed stroking repeatedly.

The paths meander up the valley on various levels, some of them a bit precipitous. Certainly this is a place for the fairly mobile and active if you want to see it all, although there are routes that are flatter and gentler.

The spectacular view (even on a dull day) from the top of the valley down to St Michaels Mount and the sea...

from the lookout.

The planting is interesting and varied, although not labeled so many lovely things stayed a bit of a mystery, although on visiting the website later I discovered a downloadable plant list for the keen botanist.

The dark tunnel leading too...

the serene space of Tewlwolow Kernow by James Turrell. 

Described as 'an elliptical domed chamber from which to view the sky', it was contemplative and still, a complete contrast to the busy sensory landscape outside.

The view of the sky could have been bluer but it was still very tranquil.

But if you put your phone on the floor on timer to get a better shot when there is a teen about...

this happens! Not so tranquil suddenly.

So onto the Camera Obscura by Billy Wynter nestled in waves of rippling grasses and positioned at the centre of the garden to give a 360 degree view...

and inside the dark space the image cleared as our eyes adjusted to see the teens amongst the soft foliage (and taking a picture on my phone made the image clearer again).

The bees were mad for the Eucomis, and the Aeoniums contrasted with the grasses beautifully in the more exotically planted area around the Camera Obscura...

and in the wooded areas gorgeous sculptures nestled, surrounded by sculptural benches...

on which to sit and contemplate.

So we did!

Then out to the nursery which had a beautiful green roof and a great selection of Aeoniums.

Now back to the cafe, the Tremenheere Kitchen which I can't recommend enough. It has a light airy interior and plenty of seating outside and the food is delicious. We had lunch and usually at this point I would include a shot of something yummy but it all disappeared too quickly.  If you want to check out their autumn lunch menu click here.

And the cafe also had a lovely flower stall with an honesty box in the entrance. The flowers were 'garden-y' and very reasonable.

And to top it off there was a very good gift shop full of lovely and unusual things including the pewter shell bowls used in the Cafe for salt and pepper.

I liked those a lot!

Autumn Visits - Eden

In an attempt to catch up with myself I thought I'd document one of our bright autumn outings on this dull,dull day. I have so many photos of gorgeous places visited this year that I haven't managed to post yet (purely because I'm too disorganised) so it's about time I got on with it!

Back in September the destination was Eden. We go quite regularly, they have a great locals policy and when the children were smaller we would go about once a month. Now it's down to 2-3 times a year, but it never disappoints. 

It was in full bloom with fantastic layers of colour out in the Cornish sunshine, perfect for autumn visitors...

             

Verbenas, Sunflowers, Rudbeckias, Cosmos, Cannas, but very little sign of Agapanthus seed heads which bore out my experience this year. The Agapanthus I have in the ground didn't flower at all - first time that's ever happened!

             

Layer upon layer of floral loveliness, not to mention veggie loveliness too.

And plenty of exotica in the biomes.

             

Even the odd exotic friend!

and some not so exotic ones! ;-)

Then back outside to the Dahlias!

             

Concerned I had peaked with Dahlias after my recent visit to the National Collection (read about that here), I approached with caution - but I needn't have worried they still blew me away.

Desperately trying to relive our holiday the Mediterranean Biome.

(more of that anon too, the holiday I mean, not the desperation!)

A gentler interlude!

After the violent and feverish activity of the last post I thought I should calm down a bit and do something that it has been perfect weather for this week.

Here in Cornwall the last week or so has been dry while the temperature slowly drops so seeds have been maturing beautifully. Whilst this fills me with the urge to slash things down and shred them on the one hand (Alchemila Mollis, Libertia, Mexican Daisy) before they completely take over, on the other there are some lovely plants that I want to make sure I have more of. 

My first call was to the Honesty that I bought from Powderham this year. See a post about that outing here. Lunaria annua Chedglow - it has gorgeous dark, bronzy leaves and deep purply flowers and I definitely want more of it. There's a picture of it here.

I think I've also promised seed to Jayne and possibly my Mum, which is fine as the seed is quite plentiful. I managed to drop quite a bit whilst collecting, so one way or another it should reappear next year. It was very satisfying peeling the browning outer layers away to expose the seeds, and once collection was complete the lovely 'moon pennies' were left. I love that name, it's so apt and reminds me of fairy tales of childhood.

Seeds full of promise - I hope!

I also collected some seed from Lychnis both white and pink, and I'm waiting for my starry Michaelmas Daisy to set seed - it's still flowering at the moment.

I'll store the seed in a LABELLED envelope (I've learnt that from experience - I have many mystery seeds) in a cool dry tin and wait for the spring.

So hopefully there'll be plants for free next year, unless of course nothing comes up (which has been known). Then it'll just be more plant shopping instead.

Win win really!

Slash and Shred!

I have found a new hobby. It's a garden based hobby that all the family (even teens) enjoy and want to join in with, it's outdoorsy, requires no screens and it's even useful. 

'What is this amazing discovery' I hear you cry disbelievingly.

Well this is it!

It's a garden shredder!

I borrowed it from the other half of the Daisy Duo, she'd kept it under wraps probably because she knew it would be a struggle to wrestle it back off me, but took pity on me when she saw the sheer amount of pruning and 'getting under control' my garden needs.

I've had a couple of years of tinkering around the edges, and letting things get established, which now means every shrub I own needs serious attention. 

To help me get started we've been working on it together and the mounds of clippings have been gargantuan!

BUT NOT ANY MORE!!!!

The whole family has found the shredding very therapeutic and satisfying...

  

and I have bags and bags of mulch ready for composting or spreading.

There is something so satisfying about feeding great six foot boughs in at the top as it chugs away, then out it comes as one inch bits at the bottom.

There are so many things (and people) in life that one would like to do that to!

 On the down side some of my lovely autumn colour has been rendered down too...

and I won't be using that mulch around the garden - there are far to many berries longing to grow in their multitudes!

Anyway I'm rediscovering plants that have been buried, seeing parts of my garden I haven't seen in a while and my teenagers are positively zen (well briefly anyway)!

Bonus!

Now all I have to do is negotiate regular visitation rights for at least the next 6 months.

This shredder is a Bosch AXT 1600HP and in my experience will shred branches of about 3cm diameter happily. It may manage larger but as it isn't mine I don't want to push my luck!

They are widely available and about £180 and, so far, I would definitely recommend it.