Wordless Wednesday: Tresco up close

 

Photos taken by my better half, she takes a mean close up.

Tresco part 2: The plants

Or some of them anyway.  It would be impossible to include photos of more than a fraction of the plants,  I must have a couple of hundred photos from my one day, so these are the edited highlights. I know many people have broader interests than me, so here are some of the more fluffy plants.

Starting with the proteas, there were a surprising number still in flower.

I particularly liked this one called "Red Embers"

Just a couple of one of the best ferns. The trunk was over 2 meters tall.

There are some amazing trees in the gardens,  I overheard a tour guide saying that with the storms they often loose trees as they are such shallow soil. When this happens it wipes out whole sections of the gardens. I'm pleased to say that like all good gardeners, he went on to say that while sad this means they have more space to play with and can design something new.

Getting into palms and cordylines
 

There were quite a few cordyline indivisa planted around the gardens.  They are stunning, but SO fussy.  One day I will cave and try one, despite knowing full well I will kill it, as everyone else does.

The most common succulent in the gardens are aeoniums, in fact you will find them everywhere in the Scillys.

My favourite of the aeoniums, a. nobile.

 There were a fair few aloes as well, the most common being a. arborescens

 

I particularly like the fact that some have great variegated heads.

 There were a few a. plicatilis dotted around

Strangely their aloe polyphylla were not spiralling as well as many do.  I thought this may be just one plant, but it was the same with almost all of them in the gardens.  It doesn't stop them being great plants though.

 

Aloe barberae on the left was getting to a decent size, as was the A. speciosa on the right

Then the agaves, I wont bother naming them all, just enjoy the pure sceptical these plants create.
 

I liked this variegated americana.

I am guessing this a. filifera is about to flower, the central leaves are getting smaller and the core is starting to swell.

A nice a. Nigra, they do look good when they get to this size.

A few a. parryi poking out from between the other plants.

This a. salmiana has to be one of the show stopper plants in the gardens. 

Some of the larger agaves were on the edge of paths, and had been carefully trimmed to remove any spines which may cause injury.  Even without the terminal spines the marginal teeth are something special.

So a small selection of the plants.  Nothing too unusual, but then these are planted out all year and it is the UK after all.

In the place of succulent Sunday...

I thought a quick trip to the Scilly Isles would be suitable substitute, especially a focus on Tresco Abbey Gardens. The Scilly Isles for those outside the UK are a group of island just off the coast of Cornwall, which is the south west tip England. They are small islands, some you can stay on, others just visit for the day. Getting there from the mainland is by ferry or small plane, which have a certain retro feel to the inside.

Flying in gives you great views of the islands

The main island St Mary's is where most people stay, as it's where the ferry and planes arrive.  From the time you arrive it is obvious that the climate is conducive with more exotic plants; aeoniums, yuccas, agaves and palms are common place.

From there on the transport is more local.

Various size boats ferry you between the islands, usually taking around 15 - 20 minutes. For plant lovers, the first stop is always Tresco and the Abbey Gardens. Again as soon as you get off the boat you know it is going to be good.

It is a gentle stroll to the gardens and you walk past the abbey and get your first idea what the gardens are going to be like.

Entering the actual gardens you cross this japanese inspired bridge.

From there it's view after view, and stunning plants everywhere.  There are too many for one post, so I'll split them up a bit, starting with a quick tour of the gardens and followed up with close ups of some of the plants in later posts. Sadly it was not a sunny day, so please overlook the grey sky.

This is what you reach if you walk straight up from the bridge (looking back towards the it).

Turning right along the path

Along with the plants, the gardens are known for certain vistas containing statues.

Getting into more arid sections.

Looking back into the gardens

Towards the end of the top path, the banks are steep, rocky and full of succulent  inspiration.

Finally you get to the abbey building.

One of my personal favourite aspects to Tresco, is the way the succulents are populating every available surface.

 Just below the abbey are the ruins of the old abbey, which have been taken over by plants.

It is not all succulents though, next to the old abbey, is a little sculpture garden full of ferns

At the bottom of the garden is the other famous sculpture

In the lower part of the gardens, you can walk through fern filled paths, or more open lawns

If you are anything like me, you will end up walking around and around each time noticing a different view, not to mention different plants, which will be part 2.

To give you an idea of the other islands, here are a few general photos on a brighter day.

That is a quick tour of a couple of the islands and an introduction to the gardens on Tresco, next up will be the plants.