Tuesday 10 June 2014

fish and flowers

Last week we headed off to Cornwall for a four night break in St Mawes, at the tip of the Roseland peninsula. Unlike the dramatic surfy coast of North Cornwall, the south is a land of gentle creeks and estuaries.  The easiest way to get around is to dump the car and hop on the little ferries that putter backwards and forwards across the rivers. At this time of year the footpaths and lanes are bursting with flowers and heady with scent. Pockets of sub-tropical microclimate have drawn gardeners to create their fantasy landscapes. The area is studded with historic big hitters like Trebah, Glendurgan and Trelissick. These succulent beauties were local to us at Lamorran...


..and we travelled up the road to St Austell to visit the modern vision at the Eden Project.


But I am drawn to the the wild volunteers that spring from every hedgebank and crack in the wall.


Babingtons Leek - a garlicky native of the area


Mexican Fleabane - Erigeron karvinskianus


Couldn't resist collecting some seed to soften up the new hard landscaping back at the ranch.


Resisted these - a seaside themed bathroom was rejected by Mr AP


We dressed up for smart cocktails at Hotel Tresanton,


and ate fish and chips by Falmouth Harbour.


Home now and back to work tomorrow.
The forecast says it's going to be hot - and that means horseflies!
I must go dig out the insect repellent...

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a fab time, I would have found it very hard to resist the shells.

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  2. I can not stand horse flies! Your trip looked beautiful friend! What an amazing part of the world that is!! I will be clicking on that link to the Eden Project! I'm glad you guys got away and that you were able to come home with some seeds!!! A little bit of heaven for sure! And such gorgeous photos!!! Happy week pal! Nicole xo

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  3. I've lived in this country all my life, and I have never been to Cornwall. Isn't that shameful? I would dearly like to visit, it looks so beautiful, as are your photos. Good to see you and Mr AP - looking fine! xxx

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  4. What a lovely time! The leeks are amazing, I have never seen anything like them before, I thought that they were some form of garlic when I first saw the picture, but all the same family really! I would not have resisted the urchin shells, but would probably have put them in the pots in the garden as ornaments rather than indoors. Glad that you enjoyed it. xx

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  5. What a wonderful trip - love your description of the area. The urchin shells are interesting - I've never seen those on the Atlantic coast beaches.

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  6. Aha, another collector of wildflowers, aka weeds.

    We’ve got it wrong in the past (like many ‘collectors’) and introduced thugs to the garden. Now that we live in an area which is garden of sorts wherever you look we leave the wild varieties where they are, outside the hedges.)

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