Our resident gardening expert, Alison Agnew, takes us on a tour of nurseries that are definitely worth a visit.

Plant hunting in the wild west

I have been plant hunting – not in the USA but in my favourite nurseries in Cornwall.  Most of these are in the far south west where I grew up so I know the nurseries well and most are ‘proper’ nurseries that actually propagate and grow their own plants rather than buying them in.

One reason for the hunt was to source plants for a seaside garden in Devon which is fully exposed to salty winds and is very steep. The other reason was that this horrid wet winter has done for several plants in my own garden.  I needed a lot of ‘Mediterranean’ climate plants that could withstand drought and wind so my first port of call had to be Lower Kenneggy Nursery.

Lower Kenneggy Nursery (TR20 9AR) is small but perfectly formed.  Stephen Mules specialises in coastal plants, both shrubs and perennials and always has something interesting to offer.  They have a good range of Cistus species and cultivars, including a dwarf form of Cistus salvifolius ‘prostratus’ that is great for stabilising steep banks. They have a lot of plants from the cooler parts of Australia including several Prostanthera (mint bushes) that do well in Cornwall.  Also many Grevillea and Correa species – that I have failed with here, a bit inland, but perhaps closer to the coast they would do better?

Similarly the South African Proteas that Kenneggy grow: I had a Leucodendron ‘Safari Sunset’ and a King Protea that lived here for a few years but were lost to a cold wet winter.  I yearn to grow a silver tree (Leucodendron argenteum) but had to resist buying a lovely seedling doomed to fail in my inland garden.  If you’ve never seen one in real life, there are some growing in the gardens of the Minack Theatre and in the Eden Mediterranean Biome. The soft leaves are covered in shiny hairs and shimmer in the wind and the tree trunk develops wrinkles like an elephants trunk.

Kenneggy does also sell many good reliables too, for example, several very pretty small Hebe and the Anisodontea capensis that I love so much.  It flowers for twelve months of the year and survives here so much better than the related mallows and Abutilons. I was tempted to try a couple of Abutilons though Jermyn’s Blue is an old cultivar which is a beautiful purple blue.  The other was an unnamed seedling in luscious red.

Then there is the lovely greenhouse which smells so good from the scented Pelargoniums – oooh and the funky Aloes and Aeoniums and other succulents that look great in pots.  And did I say that the plants are really well grown, and also well priced? Definitely my favourite nursery in Cornwall.

Trevenna Cross Nursery (T13 9PY), in contrast, is so big and has so many different plants that it is a bit overwhelming – you need to go with a wish list and be disciplined or be lost.  Trevenna is more of a cross between a nursery and a garden centre.  It has a cafe (and loos), it sells tools and seeds and indoor plants and lots of unnecessaries but 90% of the plants it sells are propagated and grown on site.

The plants are hugely varied – herbs and veggies, bedding plants, good perennials, coastal shrubs, ornamental and fruit trees, shade plants, dry plants, water plants, hedging plants, alpines – really the full spectrum.  The plants are very varied in price.  Some are very good value and others a bit overpriced but all are well grown and well presented . Very helpfully, the plants are grouped according to their needs with separate poly tunnels or display areas for dry/shade etc. 

They have good general garden plants and also some more unusual ones suitable for the Cornish climate.  This dwarf Griselinia for coastal hedging is new to me and looks really useful.

I’ve sourced several Pittisporum species and cultivars from here including the wonderful P. tenuifolium Golf Ball and Silver Ball. As their name implies, these are variants that naturally grow in a ball form and make good replacements for box balls that have succumbed to box blight or box moth.

The plants that Trevenna Cross do import are yummy ‘feature’ plants like twisted old olives and Australian tree ferns.

Hardy Exotics is another small nursery that I’ve used for many years.  As its name implies, it specialises in exotic looking plants that are hardy – well hardy in Cornwall anyway.  I’ve bought several ginger lilies here, including my favourites Hedychium Tara and Hedychium gardnerianum. Another find was Zantedeschia aethiopica White Giant – an arum lily that grows to 2m with enormous white flowers and giant arrow shaped leaves!

Sadly, the nursery is looking a bit tired at the moment and I didn’t find anything much to tempt me on this visit. It did have a nice collection of healthy looking succulents and cacti including a good collection of Aizoaceae (ice plants) which I found hard to leave behind.

Kelnan Plants (sales@kelnanplants.com)

We were privileged to visit Kelnan Plants – another very small nursery that really punches above its weight.  Kelnan is not open to the public but they appear every Saturday at the Lemon Quay Market in Truro and at rare plant sales elsewhere.  Chris can be contacted and will bring requested plants for collection at the market. 

Multiple gold medal winners at the Chelsea Flower Show – they specialise in South African plants especially Restios – reed-like members of the Poaceae.  There are a large number of species and many are large and architectural. They don’t suit my garden but they can look great in windy exposed sites and are very fashionable with the wifty-wafty grass lovers.

I have many other plants from this nursery. Several Watsonias including a stunning white one that stands out on its own against the dark foliage of yew. I’m looking forward to see the flowers of a cousin of the well known Salvia guarantica Amistad –  pink/red Salvia Amante that I bought. 

If you’ve been convinced that a trip to the far south west is worth the effort, I’d suggest two more nurseries if you have the energy.  On the Lizard, Cross Common Nursery (TR12 7PD) has a good range of interesting plants and is especially good for conservatory plants – lots of citrus in particular. 

Hayle Plants (TR27 5JT) were extremely good value until recently and grew a lot of their own plants. Sadly they are now more expensive and they buy them in.  However, they have a good range and the plants are in good condition.  I found a beautiful Puya with ink blue flowers and had to run away before I had yet another unsuitable  plant that needed winter protection! I did sneak in one of the supposedly hardy Delospermas though.