Cornish Crewenna

Two questions for you. Where do people who live in the tourist town of Torquay go on their holidays, and what do they bring back as souvenirs? Last Summer we stayed at the beautiful Lamorna Cove in Cornwall. If you visit today you'll see that beauty but today I'm going to talk about it's past.

Lamorna Cove in Summer

Lamorna has a reputation for it's artists and writers. It has an industrial history of tin and stone. More importantly, to the gardener in me, it was famous for it's flowers. The climate of Cornwall made it possible to pick daffodils in January for Flower Markets in London and Birmingham. Glass houses mean that the natural climate isn't as important. Although the industry has left the daffodils remain. 

Our visit was in September, perfect bulb buying time. We bought the bulbs at The Old Mill Shop. The mill has been owned by the same family since the 14th Century. It's now a craft shop and sub-tropical gardens complete with peacocks. They had four varieties of bulbs. Early all of them. One promised to flower for November/December time. Conservatively we picked one that was a lovely buttery yellow for January flowers. Crewenna.

Daffodils Are Better Than Postcards

We knew that we probably wouldn't get a very early bloom. Even a balcony in Torquay isn't a Cornish Cove. As they were planted late and have only had a few months to establish I figured that would put them further behind. However, the first bloom pushed it's head open a few days before the end of January. I was pleased. Especially as they are so beautiful.