09.06.06
A Garden of Cornwall arrives at Royal Cornwall

A first at this year's Royal Cornwall Show was a show garden that had been built outside the Floral Marquee in partnership with BBC Radio Cornwall and the 'Gardens of Cornwall'.

Photo, left to right: Ken Willcock (Chairman of the Floral Marquee), Tracy Wilson (Duchy of Cornwall Nursery), Christopher Riddle (Royal Cornwall Show Secretary), Claire Vickers (Gardens of Cornwall), and Tim Hubbard (BBC Radio Cornwall).

Competition winner, Louise Todd from St Ives has designed a 'Garden of Cornwall' and this has been created into a show garden by Alistair Rivers and students of Duchy College. After Cornwall, the show garden will then be taken up to London for the BBC Show Garden at the RHS' Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (4-9 July).

"It is absolutely amazing to see your design transformed into a living, breathing 'Garden of Cornwall', each element of my design has been carefully interpreted by the Duchy College team and the sculpture is magnificent."

The plants are from the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery and manager, Tracy Wilson was delighted with the end result: "The garden really is a wonderfully diverse celebration of Cornish gardens and the fantastic plants that you can see grown within the county. I am extremely delighted to be involved in the project and I am really looking forward to taking the garden up to Hampton Court."

The garden was originally inspired by Barbara Hepworth's sculpture garden in St Ives. Louise wanted to take the idea of the garden one stage further by creating a hot, dry garden with a circular pebble courtyard to add to the juxtaposition of contemporary sculpture and lush planting. A traditional dry stone wall intersects the middle of the garden with a gate inviting the visitor, having left the rocky beach behind, to explore onwards.

The sculpture is by local craftsman Malcolm Sutcliffe who has a studio and gallery based in Penryn, Falmouth. Partly made from wood once part of Falmouth's historic Queen's Wharf and hand-blown glass, this contemporary sculpture is one of the key focal points to the garden.

For further information please contact Claire Vickers of ADPR on 01872 322871 or 07973 813734.

The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has invested in the Cornwall Gardens Development Project through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Editor's notes:

Louise Todd is available for interview or to be photographed, please contact: Claire Vickers on: 01872 322871 or 07973 813734 for details.

'A Garden of Cornwall' is the result of a unique partnership not only between BBC Radio Cornwall and The Gardens of Cornwall but also Cornwall College, the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery, the Royal Horticultural Society, BBC English Regions, Cornwall County Council and the Cornwall Crafts Association.

Cornwall Enterprise's Gardens Project is a three year, high profile, £1.4 million marketing campaign, hosted by Cornwall Enterprise and funded through the Objective One Programme. Cornwall Enterprise is the economic development service for Cornwall County Council and its mission is to achieve sustainable prosperity for Cornwall.

Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439

cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

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