Horticultural hotspot

Cornwall's mild climate provides the ideal growing conditions for a huge variety of plants. The Cornish passion for all things botanical goes back a long way, reached new heights in the Victorian era and, in the early 21st Century, is experiencing a modern renaissance, fuelled by the imagination of a new generation of Cornish Gardeners.

Our Gardens, nature and wildlife section is in the early stages of growth, but has made a very promising start. Whether you're a keen naturalist or not, no trip to Cornwall is complete without a visit to the Eden project (it would be like visiting Egypt and missing out on the pyramids at Giza). With over a million plants, representing 5,000 species from around the world it truly is an experience not to be missed.

Trevarno's National Gardening Museum provides a fascinating insight into all aspects of gardening history. It has a fabulous collection of watering cans and other gardening implements and some lovely examples of product advertising and design.

It would be hard to find a garden with a more captivating history than Tim Smit's lost Gardens of Heligan and the nature reserve at Kennal Vale provides an equally compelling window into one aspect of Cornwall's industrial past, now all but eclipsed by nature.