Happy New Year Great Gardens lovers! We hope 2023 finds you happy, well and looking forward to everything that’s to come over the next 12 months!
With the days starting to feel slightly lighter again and nature’s blooms beginning to slowly re-emerge for another spring, we are very excited to be starting a new year celebrating the thirteen Great Gardens of Cornwall.
As ever, we’ll be sharing news and events on our social channels – Facebook and Instagram – but here are some interesting updates that will be springing into life in the coming weeks.
The Bloomometer is Back!
When will spring be declared in Cornwall this year? You’ll have to keep an eye on the magnolias!
Spring arrives in Cornwall much earlier than the rest of the UK. Our southerly position and the effect of the Gulf Stream combine to make a mild and forgiving climate, which helps our Gardens support such a diversity of plant life and brilliant displays across the year.
Spring is officially declared in Cornwall when six of the Great Gardens’ champion magnolia campbellii trees have fifty blooms apiece. If you ever wanted to know what makes a Champion Tree, Caerhays Castle Gardens has a handy blog post about that here.
As the magnolia buds start to shed their furry protective outer winter jackets and gradually emerge into full bloom, the Head Gardeners across Trewidden Gardens, Tregothnan Garden, Caerhays Castle Gardens, Trebah Garden, Trewithen Garden and The Lost Gardens of Heligan send a daily report of their Champion Tree.
Each gardener sends photographs, and the all-important bloom count so that everyone can stay updated on the progress across all six gardens.
Keep up to date with the 2023 bloomometer, and see each Garden’s progress on The Nare’s webpage here.
Last year, spring was officially declared to have arrived on Tuesday 22nd February – nearly a month before the spring equinox on the 20th March, and much earlier than the rest of Britain.
Great Gardens of Cornwall Email Newsletter
Last year we also launched a monthly newsletter so that you can get news, events and updates straight to your inbox!
We know we have an amazing community of garden lovers out there, so we wanted to offer a way for people who might not be so into social media to stay in the loop with garden events, news, opening times and more.
If you’d like to receive our email newsletter simply click here to sign up – your data will not be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
We look forward to welcoming you to the Great Gardens throughout the year ahead!