There's a lot happening in the garden at Trebah right now.
Outside the Visitor Centre by the Gunnera Fountain the Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) has yellow green tulip-shaped flowers with a band of orange at the base and curiously shaped leaves. This tree is a member of the Magnolia family and comes from North America.
On Petry's Path two mature Dogwoods are looking wonderful; Cornus kousa and Cornus 'Norman Hadden', both with attractive creamy white flower bracts that turn pink as they mature. A recent introduction to Trebah, Cornus 'Miss Satomi' above the amphitheatre, has dark rose-pink bracts and was named by a Japanese nurseryman after his granddaughter.
Further down the Garden, the Hydrangeas are just starting to show colour. These were planted in the 1950's and are hand-pruned annually to produce immense flower heads.
If unusual plants are your passion, take a walk to Stuarts Hill to look at the four varieties of Schefflera planted there - relatively new introductions to British gardens from Taiwan, they are grown for their striking foliage.
Close by, look out for Melanoselinium decipiens a seldom seen architectural perennial from Madeira. The planting scheme by Mallard Bridge includes Wachendorfia thyrsiflora with longitudinally pleated leaves and large golden flower spikes and Watsonia 'Tresco Hybrid' - a very showy Gladioli-like plant, both from South Africa.
Also of note is the Golden Oats Grass (Stipa gigantea) one of the finest ornamental grasses with oat like flower panicles held aloft on 6ft high stems.
