The garden at Trengwainton

Spring in the garden

With the sea on three sides, including the Gulf Stream on its north coast, Cornwall is blessed with a mild climate which means spring comes early to Trengwainton. By the time the garden reopens in mid-February, there are usually snowdrops forming carpets beneath the trees, camellias in full bloom and hellebores and primroses adding to the colour.

March is peak time for the magnolias and the towering magnolia Campbellii is the first to flower. There are around thirty magnolias throughout the garden and the drama of their big waxy flowers set against blue skies is hard to beat.

As March gives way to April and May, Trengwainton’s historic award-winning rhododendron collection comes into its own, with lofty trees giving vibrant bursts of colour throughout the garden. Some, including the pale lemon Rhododendron macabeanum, flowered for the first time in Britain here in this garden.

Their colours range from white through to the deep blood red of Rhododendron arboreum ‘Cornish Red.’ On warm spring days, be prepared to be stopped in your tracks by the heady fragrances of the pale pink Rhododendron loderi 'King George' and the white Rhododendron fragrantissimum.

This is also the time when Trengwainton's winding wooded paths are lined with a spread of bluebells beneath the trees.

Summer

June is when the stream garden comes into its own with its frothy display of candelabra primulas, irises and other water-loving plants. As summer progresses it’s the turn of the astilbes, crocosmia and ginger lilies to shine there. Keep an eye out too for the golden-ringed dragonflies that love to flit near the water.

In July and August it's the turn of the cut flower border in the walled kitchen garden to put on a show, along with the hot pink salvias in the mediterranean border next to it. The succulents on the south-facing wall of the orchard burst into bloom and the line of purple agapanthus at the top of the garden on the Terrace provide a striking backdrop to the sea views beyond.

Autumn

As the mellow autumn months of September and October progress, the shelterbelt of beech trees surrounding Trengwainton turn from green to yellow and then a deep rust colour, while the acers planted on the edge of the Carriage Drive transform into brilliant reds and golds. In amongst the usual autumn colours are some that you might not expect to see, such as the pink of Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ or the bright purple flowers of Tibouchina urvilleana. There are also lots of hydrangeas in various shades of pink, purple and blue.

Durng these months, apples from the orchard and other produce grown in the kitchen garden may be available to purchase for a donation from outside the second-hand bookshop.

Top things to see

The view from the Terrace

On a clear day the view from the Terrace at the top of the garden stretches for 25 miles across Mount’s Bay to the Lizard peninsula beyond.

To reach it, choose either the shady path of the tree-lined Long Walk or the Carriage Drive which opens onto a colourful stream border and meadows.

The walled gardens

In the lower half of the garden are 10 sections of walled gardens. Five of these are crammed with tender exotic plants from around the world, and five more are a kitchen garden with unique sloping beds. Some sections of the kitchen garden are being left fallow for 2024 to rest the soil.

Home of springs

One translation for Trengwainton is ‘home of springs’ and water is certainly a feature here with two ponds and a gentle stream running through the centre of the garden. There are also two giant tree fern glades which give a Jurassic jungle feel as their huge fronds tower overhead.