Unlike the Eden Project, which began as a very intriguing experiment in growing plants under giant grenhouse domes and has become akin to a walk through a particularly busy garden centre, the Lost Gardens of Heligan are an example of the types of highly exotic flora and fauna that can thrive in this country given the right conditions.
But it is the extraordinary story of Heligan House that really captures the imagination. For hundreds of years the Tremayne family stocked and maintained the gardens, travelling across the globe to find the rarest and most exotic species available. They planted whole swathes of tree ferns and established a jungle in a valley in the grounds where they grew bananas, palms and even giant California Redwood trees.
Then the First World War arrived and half of the 22 estate gardeners were sent to the trenches. Heligan House was commandeered as a convalescent home for officers and then let out to tenants.
After a period of neglect, the gardens were forgotten about and became overgrown. They were rediscovered in the early 1990s and restored to their former glory on a shoestring budget.
Tim Smitt, one of the three men to lead the restoration of the gardens, then went on to create the Eden Project. I can't help feeling this would also benefit from a few decades of neglect, if only to rid itself of the school parties that swarm over it. Perhaps some pesticide would do the trick.
http://www.heligan.com/
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