Dear Janie

Following a wintery few days, we’re pleased to report that the gardens have now thawed, the snow has passed and we’re back on track for another stunning spring! 70,000 daffodils tilt their heads to the sun, the first lambs of the year make an appearance and we look forward to seeing our National Collection of Rhododendrons at their very best.

In this bumper edition of our newsletter, we bring you exciting news about the recent BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards, there’s an update from around the gardens and a whole heap of events for you to enjoy. There’s also a number of opportunities to join the Heligan team!

Happy Reading
Lorna, James & Elle

Cheers could be heard across the gardens on Thursday morning as we all celebrated the news that  The Lost Gardens of Heligan had just been named Garden of the Year by BBC Countryfile Awards.

In an interview with BBC Radio Cornwall’s Julie Skentelbery and Pam Spriggs, our Managing Director, George Elworthy, was given the exciting news live on air!

“We are incredibly honoured to have been voted Garden of the Year. This represents a lot of hard work across our whole team throughout the year. We would like to thank everybody who took the time to vote for us. To be recognised by such a discerning audience makes us all feel very proud” – George Elworthy

Mark Rowe, BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards judge said of The Lost Gardens:

“A really deserving winner. Despite its popularity, Heligan retains a really local feel and the story behind its re-discovery and restoration is heart-warming.
The Lost Gardens of Heligan proved an incredibly popular winner, racing to first place many thousands of votes ahead of any other candidate. This is testament to the extremely wide appeal of these enchanting gardens.”

Elsewhere, there were celebrations in the west of the county as the breath-taking Minack Theatre was crowned Landmark of the Year; creating a truly winning start to Cornwall’s 2018 season.

If you haven’t renewed your Locals’ Pass yet then fear not, there is still time. We are once again inviting all residents of Cornwall and Devon to renew their Locals’ Passes; giving unlimited garden access throughout the year, for the cost of just one normal garden admission charge.

With an exciting annual calendar of family and garden themed events, as well as the unique seasonal beauty and inspiration that Heligan has to offer, there’s always something to fascinate and entertain whatever the weather.

Once renewed, all passes will be valid until 28th February 2019.

Locals’ Pass Prices 
Adult  £14.50
Seniors (65+)  £12.50
Students  £8.50
Child (5-17)  £6.50
Family (2 adults & up to 3 children)  £37.50

To renew your passes, please click here. If you purchased a pass last winter, don’t worry, your pass is valid until the end of September!

If you’re hoping to renew in person, we’re expecting the next couple of weekends to be busy so pop along mid-week if you can!

Betty O’Barley and Harry O’Hay invite you to Easter at The Lost Gardens Featuring: The Scarecrows’ Wedding at Heligan.

Daily 10am – 4pm. All activities included with garden entry.

Join us over the Easter holidays for our fun trail, games and workshops; all themed around the classic book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Harry and Betty’s ‘The Best Wedding Yet’ trail
Harry loved Betty, and Betty loved Harry, so Harry said, ‘Betty, my beauty, let’s marry!

Let’s have a wedding, the best wedding yet, a wedding that no one will ever forget.’

Explore the garden and farm and help Harry and Betty collect all the items which will make their dream wedding.

You’ll need to find; a white feather to make a dress, a shell to make a necklace, a pink flower, a ring and a bell; which are dotted within our garden and farm.

Collect one of each item and bring them to Scarecrow HQ where you can exchange them for a small chocolate prize!

For more information about Easter at The Lost Gardens, please click here.

The start of March brought with it the ‘beast from the east’ and an abundance of snow! This is the first proper covering of snow the gardens has had for nearly 10 years and with it came some extra special magic to the gardens. Despite the chilly blast, the plant life around the gardens is faring well and looks to be recovering quickly, bringing fresh spring colour to the Estate.

This month The Barn will become a nursery for our expectant ewes for the start of lambing season, with the first lamb being born today! We can’t wait for you to meet the new additions to the Heligan Home Farm. Our first lambs are our Devon and Cornwall Longwools!

In other farm news, we are looking forward to the arrival of four rare breed Oxford Sandy & Black piglets on Easter Monday. This will be a new breed for Heligan and one we are excited to welcome and introduce to you all. They are very distinctive to look at, due to their striking polka dots!

The month ahead is the perfect time for all frog lovers to spot the common frog. Around the Estate there are a wide range of habitats suitable for frogs; with plenty of log and compost piles, and stones which provide a good space for hibernation and plenty of ponds for the frogs to mate and lay spawn.

The Gardening Team are very busy this month sowing vegetables and flowers in preparation for the garden to burst into life again. The orange blossom in the citrus house is in bloom and is smelling divine! Not to mention the peach house which has transformed into the perfect spring picture with various shades of pink from the apricot and peach trees. As peaches and apricots flower early in the year, at a time when there are few pollinators around, we will be pollinating by hand over the next few weeks to ensure we get a healthy fruit later in the summer. Next time you’re in the gardens pop down to the Flower Garden to have a look for yourself.

Throughout March, come and dance with the daffodils with us at The Lost Gardens, where over the last two years, our Gardening and Estate team have united forces to plant over 50,000 Cornish Daffodil bulbs. This Spring you can expect a feast for the eyes, as the woodland floor bursts into life, with the mellow yellows and whites of Cornish Daffodils.

Elsewhere in the gardens heritage varieties will be displayed in traditional flower show fashion between 10th – 24th March.

Heligan’s heritage Daffodil Fair will display some of Fentongollan’s most spectacular daffodils. Here you will be able to enjoy the spring spectacle of over 50 stunning daffodil varieties. Sixteen of which will be heritage daffodil varieties, with some dating back as far as 1907!

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to brighten up your spring with these gloriously sunny heritage blooms!

War is over. It has changed the lives of everyone it has touched. The men are coming home, but death is never far away. . . .

In a sequel to 100:The Day Our World Changed, 100: UnEarth looks at the devastating aftermath of conflict, telling the homecoming stories of those who fight and live through war. With a love story at its heart, WildWorks will weave their way through The Lost Gardens of Heligan, in this exploration of grief and tragedy with a deeply moving ending, in this retelling of the Greek Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with a new imagining of their critically acclaimed Souterrain.

100: UnEarth is proudly part of 14-18NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary.

Tues 3rd – Sun 22nd July, Tue – Sat 7.30pm, Sun 6.30pm

£24 concessions available

As a Heligan Member, we would like to invite you to have exclusive early access to tickets before they are released to the general public. To purchase yours, please click here to visit the Hall for Cornwall Box Office or call 01872 262466.

Kneehigh’s Asylum is back in a new site at The Lost Gardens of Heligan and plans are afoot to create the ultimate night out!

This year it’s all about breaking the rules with style, with pop-up shows, surprise acts and spontaneous events invigorating our season of world-class theatre and epic live music.

Cheer as daft dictators are overthrown! Hear a vast Karaoke choir (you!) sing together in perfect protest! Watch lovesick amphibians hop to the beat! And go quackers for the return of Cornwall’s favourite, flightless duck!

Join us as we celebrate, rave, rant, sing, shout, shimmy and spontaneously combust with the absurdities of our times! The world has gone mad and what better place to find sanctuary?

Be ready…Anything could happen! (and probably will)

Kneehigh’s three spectacular shows are;

Ubu Karaoke – A roof-raising stark-raving sing-along satire! We all know an Ubu. Impossibly greedy, unstoppably crude, inexorably hell-bent on making our country great again! Thu 2 August – Sat 25 August, 7.30pm (no shows on Sunday)

The Dancing Frog – Poor Gertrude thinks she’ll never have any love or laughter again when she finds out that her husband’s ship has sunk. But then she finds George – a dancing frog! Soon the duo are touring the world with their hip hop beats, spreading light and laughter everywhere they go. Various dates throughout August

FUP – The Santee family are unconventional, to say the least. One hundred year old Grandaddy Jake and his enormous grandson Tiny live life on the fringes, drinking whiskey, building fences, boasting of immortality. Various dates throughout September.

The Asylum will run from 2 August until 22 September and early bird tickets are now on sale! To book yours, please click here or call the Hall for Cornwall Box Office on 01872 262466

The Great Gardens of Cornwall have announced that spring has arrived in the county, up to three weeks earlier than the rest of the UK.

Historically the six champion Magnolia campbellii trees – in Caerhays Castle Gardens, Trebah Garden, Tregothnan, Trewidden, Trewithen and The Lost Gardens of Heligan – have been used to mark the sign of spring’s arrival in the county. Cornwall declares the arrival of spring when all six trees each have more than 50 blooms.

When 50 blooms have opened on each of the champion Magnolia campbellii trees in six of the Great Gardens of Cornwall then Spring has arrived.

Charles Williams, chairman of the Great Gardens of Cornwall, said: “We’re not as early as we were in 2015, but due to the warmth of the Gulf Stream, spring has once again arrived in Cornwall first and now is the time to see the county’s multi-prize winning magnolias at their stunning best. Cornwall is home to some of the most exciting, rare and beautiful plants and trees in the British Isles and, for those who enjoy seeing gardens in full bloom, they are a sight not to be missed.”

Iain Davies, Head of Gardens and Estate here at Heligan, said: “The Great Gardens of Cornwall are stunning at any time of year, but one of the very best times to visit Cornish gardens is when the Magnolias are in full bloom during the early part of the spring season.”