10.05.12: Believed to be the most northerly Palm Garden in the World, Lamorran in St. Mawes, will be open on Sunday 20th May in aid of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. The Trust is running Open Gardens throughout 2012 as part of their 50th Anniversary celebrations.

Set on a four-acre, south-facing hillside overlooking St Mawes Bay, Lamorran is home to an enormous collection of sub-tropical and warm temperature trees and plants. There are over 35 species of palms with over 200 specimens and an extensive collection of tree ferns, dicksonias and many cyathea species.

The garden is laid out in Mediterranean style with many streams, bridges and water features, including a koi-pond and several ornate temples, with the ever-present sea as a backcloth. Tender rhododendrons and evergreen azaleas flourish everywhere.

Whether you travel to Lamorran by road or come across on the ferry this is a beautiful garden to visit. Entrance is £7.50 adults and with under 16s free. Dogs are allowed by prior arrangement. The garden will be open from 10am to 5pm.

Serena Pettigrew-Jolly, Marketing and Fundraising Co-ordinator for Cornwall Wildlife Trust told Roseland Online, “We are so pleased that many garden owners throughout Cornwall are throwing open their doors and sharing their beautiful gardens with the public as part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations. As Cornwall’s leading charity that protects threatened wildlife and wild places, these funds are vital for us to continue our conservation work, on land and in our seas.”

Cornwall Wildlife Trust has been protecting Cornwall’s wildlife and wild places since 1962 and is now the county’s leading wildlife conservation charity, with 14,000 members and 90 Business Members. The Trust has gone from strength to strength during the last half century, leading the way in protecting our county’s precious nature. From purchasing its very first Nature Reserve in 1966 – Ventongimps Moor near Truro – to pioneering work with ‘pingers’ to protect Cornwall’s dolphins, to developing its successful ‘Living Landscapes’ project Wild Penwith.

For the full list of Open Gardens, or to find out more about the Trust’s 50th Anniversary, please visit www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/anniversary.