23.03.11: This coming weekend (March 26th – 27th) Tregothnan are opening up their gardens for a charity fundraiser this weekend. This is a chance to see one of the UKs largest gardens, not normally open to the public, and all the proceeds will go to local charities.
They are aiming to see 10,000 people through their doors and hope everyone on the Roseland will come and support this wonderful event.
Tregothnan’s Garden & Commercial Director, Jonathon Jones, told Roseland Online. “In January, the flower count from the Garden was national news. We had the lowest flower count on record on the first of January. It seemed impossible to imagine spring would ever arrive and it was feared that flowers had frozen to death. To make matters worse Tregothnan Garden opening has become the biggest event of its kind in the UK, and the date had been set for this weekend hoping for an early spring.”
Tregothnan is open for just this weekend in the year when thousands can get lost in the enormous gardens and admire mountainous Rhododendrons, Magnolias and rare trees in full bloom. Jonathon went on to say, “It looked grim, nothing moved in January, no colour anywhere. The usual race with Darjeeling’s’ Magnolia in North India to see who gets spring first looked like a hopeless loss. The Magnolia is taken as a barometer of spring and Tregothnan take it as a guide to how its tea crops will perform in the season. Suddenly, it’s all changing and Cornwall’s climate has astonished the Owners of Tregothnan like never before. It’s impossible to keep up with the flower count at present, almost everything is coming out at once. It’s a really strange year, some early flowering species are not out while the late bloomers are already open.
This is a huge relief for the Cornwall Community Foundation who is this year’s main benefactor of the opening.
Claire Thayers from CCF said “It now looks like being a vintage year for the UKs largest Garden opening and raise a record amount for local causes’. This year ‘kids go free’ will encourage families to enjoy the adventure of Cornwall’s largest garden and its magnificent valley.”
The doors open from 10 am to 5pm and tickets cost between £6.50 and £7.50 and Roselanders can get tickets for this one-off event by clicking here: http://www.tregothnanshop.co.uk/ShowDetails.asp?id=100. There is also a special charity gala evening for those will a little more cash, with tickets starting at £75.