Late-spring sun shines on the Victorian walled garden at Tresillian in May, enhancing the protective microclimate that’s so valuable for growing flowers, fruit and vegetables. Wallflowers, forget-me-nots and lupins bloom in cheerful profusion. Clematis smothers arches and fragrant wisteria drips over the walls, its lilac flowers buzzing with bees: it will be a few months before it’s ready for its summer prune. Knobbly old apple cordons have almost finished flowering and their tiny green fruits are beginning to set. Currants will ripen slowly.
The last frosts have passed down here in Cornwall and the growing season is well and truly underway. All of summer’s rich possibilities now lie ahead, and among these is a project to grow two threatened vegetable varieties for the Heritage Seed Library.
