Cornish Gardens

Often my dog-caring duties take me to various corners of this beautiful country. With Dave, my sausage dog, I travelled as far as Devon and as near as Greenwich. At some point, we even visited the Beach that inspired Virginia Woolf in Cornwall. But out of all the peculiar haunts we get to see, small Cornish gardens remain our favourite — mainly due to the fact that Dave is allowed to roam their grounds freely but also because these gardens are always very well looked-after and quiet.

One afternoon over the last weekend, we heard about the season opening of Trewidden Garden that was originally purchased in the mid 19th Century by the Bolitho family. It now houses a famous collection of camellias, magnolias, and tree ferns, and there is even a waterfall and a small pond!

But like all good stories, this one starts with food…

Scarlet Wines is a wine shop, delicatessen, and restaurant near St Ives in Cornwall.

Very small but with a fireplace and delicious, beautifully presented food.

While waiting for our order to be served, we decided to catch up on our reading (Caitlin Moran, I heart you).

Then we moved on to a Welsh rarebit cooked with local beer (thankfully, not for me — not keen on beer at all), salad, toasted pecans, more salad with flavoursome honey-and-orange dressing, and cheese souffle!

Arranged rather prettily on the plate, don’t you think?

Sufficiently fuelled, we decided to hit the road. First thing we saw coming out of the restaurant was this poor creature, patiently waiting for its owners to finish their lunch.

I tried to explain to Dave that this is rather common and not all dogs get to sit at the table with their human companions. In response, I got this blank stare.

Another quick drive down the road, and we are greeted with sunshine and fields of daisies!

Trewidden Garden is ideal for exploring with a dog, a friend, or someone equally lovable: full of unusual twisty paths, sudden bursts of spectacular views, and amazing riots of colour.

We spent the afternoon walking, talking, taking pictures, and reading (snoozing) under blue skies and pink magnolia trees.

Don’t you feel like spending hours and hours in this quiet corner, tucked in with a good book and a very friendly, if slightly persistent puppy?

Surrounded by magnolia petals and bright daffodils.

A few hours later, there was still most of the garden for us to see, the tree ferns to explore, and the pond to play with, but Dave took some convincing.

She really did not want to leave and only a (gentle) threat of leaving her behind in the gardens seemed to do the trick.

One day, I will be living in a house with white-washed walls and magnolia trees blooming outside. I will have two children — one biological and hopefully, one adopted. They will be very well-mannered and emotionally intelligent, and they will love spending their afternoons in sunshine in the company of animals as much as I do. Until then, I shall continue to share my experiences with Dave-the-sausage-dog and you… if you are interested.