The trees were already showing a trace of gold on their leaves, as we took the King Harry Ferry across the River Fal to the Roseland Peninsula, to visit the Lamorran House Gardens again.
Our last visit to Lamorran’s subtropical, Italianate garden must have been nearly twenty years ago and we were looking forward to retracing our steps through the palms as the far bank slipped away behind us and the faint vibration of the clanking ferry mechanism spread up through the deck to our feet.
The soul of Lamorran House Gardens
Lamorran House Italianate gardens are a must for garden visitors seeking a truly palm filled, sub tropical garden with a style of its own. Discover a distinctive garden, with a flamboyant, dramatic, occasionally OTT character but never boring – a garden with real soul.
Our first visit to Lamorran Gardens
We first visited Lamorran Garden, about twenty years ago as we planned our first garden together. That first visit to Lamorran was motivated by an article in a glossy magazine, so a return visit was long overdue!
“Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted” so we crammed in a lot of garden visits that year!
We found a little bit of Italianate to take home with us that day after chatting with the gardener. After seeking his advice we sourced the urns that flank our own Italian Garden entrance.
Exploring the garden at Lamorran
The garden starts elegantly with a Koi Carp pond set in palm fringed lawns. These lead in turn to the elegant café terrace decked with lemon trees. Behind these in the upper garden layf three exciting yet intimate garden spaces culminating in a rose garden.
Immaculate gravel Palm fringed paths and steps snake ever downwards, winding between urns, follies and tinkling water. We spotted some of the urns we fell in love with upon our previous visits. Time has allowed them to weather and soften with age and romantically engulf them in foliage.
The sheer “Joie de vivre” and flamboyance of the garden was inspiring. Each theatrical set peice was revealed, by the twisitng path, before finally leading, with a flourish to the stunning views across the water.
We were grateful when we reached the bottom of the garden to collapse in an arbour sated by the gardens and just absorb the peaceful view!
Finding the best route
The Gardener who met us near the entrance suggested that we followed the system of numbers and this time we did rather better at keeping them in order than on our recent visit to Bonython Gardens the other week.
The paths and steps drop steeply towards the river though and if you have joint problems it is a two painkiller garden.
Essential info about visiting Lamorran Gardens
Lamorran House Gardens will be open from April until the end of September on Wednesdays and Fridays We travelled by car from West Penwith taking the King Harry Ferry across the River Fal to reach the Roseland Peninsula before parked as indicated on the verge outside but it is also possible to take a river trip up from Falmouth disembark at St Mawes before taking ten-minute stroll to the gardens – which sound rather nice to me!
Lamorran House Garden,
Upper Castle Road,
St Mawes. TR2 5BZ
Inspiration and Lamorran Garden
The four and a half acres of garden of Lamorran, inspired by the majestic gardens of La Montello on the Island of Ischia and ultimately inspired our own, has matured to a magnificent paradise of plants, temples and follies, set on the beautiful Roseland Peninsula and I think maybe we should explore there again and again.
Lunch to finish our day exploring the Roseland Peninsula?
Teas are available in the garden but we were a little too early but when Charles suggested lunch on the terrace of the rather swish Hotel Tresanton I could only peer gloomily at my slightly horsehair embroidered clothes and mucker boots and refuse (in the rush get to the Roseland Peninsula I had exercised Danni our Spanish stallion and then leapt straight in the car ready for our adventure!) So we settled for a posh roadside picnic cafe opposite to the famous St Just in Roseland church, to finish our day.
But I do plan a next time to revisit the enchanting Gardens of Lamorran House and maybe take in that promised lunch – maybe posher boots would do it!!
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