This weekend saw the annual open weekend for the Tregothnan Estates private gardens. Located just outside Truro and owned by Lord Falmouth, the estate is quite private so an opportunity for a look around is very popular.
I was hoping we would be able to approach through the gate house in Tresillian and up the main drive but instead we were signposted round to the back and approached via another drive on a sadly rather gloomy day. Mind you even the drive was lined with enormous Rhododendrons!
I felt the house might be rendered slightly less forbidding with some climbers - a huge Wisteria maybe, or maybe some pots/tubs in front? No lack of chimneys though!
There were, plant sales, refreshments and entertainments based around the house and stable block, and the garden was found through a large gateway flanked by lions.
The gardens are informal parkland with drives and paths and traditionally no formal garden areas...
but there was a newish Peony garden laid out with lots of plants showing promise, but only one actually flowering.
Sadly the plants weren't labeled so it was a bit of a beautiful mystery.
Some of the Rhododendrons were huge, according to the local BBC news Tregothnan has the biggest Rhododendron in the country...
I'm not sure if this was it, but it was pretty spectacular. They came in lots of colours, sizes and forms...
tumbling down slopes, around lawns and lining walks...
along with Azaleas and of course...
Camellias, also in all colours and sizes.
Tregothnan is famous for one particular type of Camellia, Camellia sinensis - to those of us who like a cuppa, tea!
Tregothnan is the biggest tea plantation in the country, you can do a Tea Masterclass and learn all about it. The plantations themselves are not open but there is a Tea Garden showing some of the plants and how they are grown. Tregothnans range of teas is now quite extensive, black, green and blended, bags and loose leaf, grown in Cornwall.
The plants looked like fiercely pruned, rather unhappy and slightly unhealthy garden Camellias! But what do I know.
Passing the Tea Garden we wandered down the hill to the ponds...
where the reflections were beautiful...
and the Rhododendrons continued...
interspersed with Acers bursting into leaf...
and fabulous Magnolias - this Stellata was just perfection!
The circular Camellia maze was quite Alice and Wonderland with its flowers looking like they might have been stuck on. I stayed outside - I find mazes a bit stressful, nice to look at but quite irritating to be stuck in. Given the confused man scratching his head in my photo I think that was a good decision!
Passing by some beautiful Cherry blossom...
we found the rare Wollemi Pine.
A prehistoric tree thought to be extinct until the 1990s when it was discovered in Australia, Tregothnan has a few small specimens in its Southern Hemisphere area. This also looks quite new and there wasn't a huge amount to see yet, but there was a glorious Grevillea Rosmarinifolia - new to me.
The foliage looked just like Rosemary but the flowers were tightly curled, shiny snail shells of magenta pink, until the the curl springs open to reveal a dark curled underpart. I say springs open - I didn't see any actual springing but there were no flowers mid-unfurl. They were all tightly curled or at full stretch, so in my head they were like coiled springs, flinging themselves wide in a joyous explosion - firework-like!
The Bluebells in the Lime Avenue were absolutely stunning, that has to be the best seat in the garden!
Then we wended our way back to the house and the exit.
Again with the chimneys!
Parts of Tregothnan I found rather municipal and the planting was not particularly inspiring but it was definitely worth the trip, I learnt something and saw some things I hadn't seen before, and at this time of year anywhere with a good show of bluebells is top of my list.
The opening was raising money for the charity St Petrocs Society, which helps the homeless in Cornwall, I hope they did very well, their work is vital.
