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Lost Gardens of Heligan and a gardening proverb

Walking across the cliff tops of Cornwall this autumn I was taken aback by the sweet smell of the flowering gorse, Ulex europaeus, which covers the ground there.

I didn’t expect it to be flowering now but the saying goes "when gorse is in bloom, kissing is in season". As gorse is never really not flowering I suppose the point is that there will always be time for kissing!

Amazingly adaptable to its environment, reaching 2m tall this densely branched shrub has sharp spikes to protect it from hungry animals.

The coconut-scented furry exterior flowers attract pollinating insects and has seeds that pop out when they are ripe.

The flowers produce a beautiful yellow dye, can be preserved in vinegar and eaten like capers or added to spirits for flavouring.

Lost Gardens of Heligan

I couldn’t leave Cornwall without a visit to a garden, there are quite a few to choose from but I decided on the Lost Gardens of Heligan, which inspired the creation of The Eden Project.

The Tremayne family who owned the 200-acre estate for over 400 years created the gardens.

Once thriving the gardens became neglected when many of the estate staff were called to serve in WW1.

Then in the 1990s, John Willis, a descendant of the Tremaynes, introduced Tim Smit to the now devastated estate, who made it his mission to find out what had happened there.

A mammoth task then followed, decades of overgrowth were cut back, buildings restored, and greenhouses resurrected breathing new life into the gardens.

After visiting the flower and vegetable gardens we climbed over the rope bridge in a wild area filled with subtropical tree ferns called "The Jungle".

The gardens house Europe’s only remaining pineapple pit, warmed by rotting manure, plus a series of lakes fed by a 100-year-old pump.

So interesting to see the different plants that can be grown in this mild and warm climate regulated by the gulf stream.

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