2013 Magnolia Society Trip to Cornwall and the Southeast of England

Alto Mayo Valley in Peru
Magnolia 'Caerhays Surprise'

While poets praise Paris in springtime, Magnolia Society members know that the true harbingers to end winter's doldrums are magnolias in Cornwall. Magnolia Society members are invited to join us for an exciting sweep through the English countryside March 20-27, 2013.

For more information and to register for the tour, please contact Just Go! Holidays.

Fortunately, we have a distinguished insider working to develop our itinerary, Jim Gardiner, Director of Horticulture for the world-renowned RHS, former MSI president and author of Magnolias:  A Gardener's Guide, Jim has offered to help run the program.

Magnolia Society International never believes in developing its spring tours by half measure so the 2013 tour of England will be no exception. Overseas members will fly into Heathrow on March 19, 2013, and stay at a near-by hotel prior to travelling by coach to Cornwall for a feast of flower power! Details for local members to meet the group will be forthcoming.

The following day will start our Cornish tour as Sir Richard Carew Pole, our first host, shows us round his personal woodland garden, which is adjacent to the more formal Repton-designed landscape of Antony House. Moving on the same afternoon to our Cornish base near Newquay, we will be ideally located for visiting some of THE best magnolia gardens in the world.

Day 2, March 21, we will visit Tom Hudson’s garden at Tregrehan, followed by Michael Galsworthy's Trewithen. Tom has been busily planting many of the evergreen Magnolia (formerly Michelia) species, while Trewithen contains a rich assortment of classic woodland plants as well as Magnolia.

Day 3 will find us at Caerhays, the home of the National Magnolia Collection and Burncoose Nurseries, with Charles Williams and his Head Gardener, Jamie Parsons. As well as seeing some of the finest specimens in the world, you'll be able to buy plants during our visit to Burncoose.

March 23, Day 4, we will visit Tregothnan, home of the first English tea plantation, and Trelissick, one of the best Cornish magnolia gardens in the care of the National Trust. In the afternoon we call at the sub-tropical valley gardens of Glendurgan, renowned for their spring-time magnolias and camellias. That evening we have invited Tom Hudson and others to participate in an evening of specialist talks. This will wrap up our visit to Cornwall; on Day 5 the bus will return us back to our Southeast base, near London.

On Day 5, We travel back to Guildford calling in at the National Trust's garden at Lanhydrock a 30 acre woodland garden with many Rhododendron hybrids and magnolias including M. 'Albatross' and M. sprengeri 'Lanhydrock'.

Exploration continues on Day 6, March 25, as we visit RHS Garden Wisley and Windsor Great Park, two collections that can rival those anywhere! The next day, we’ll visit the garden and arboretum of Rosemary and Maurice Foster and the Royal Botanic Garden Kew.

On Day 8, March 27, we are scheduled to visit Kew "in the country" at Wakehurst Place, together with Borde Hill, both of which can boast plants collected by George Forrest and Ernest Wilson, two of the finest 20th century plant collectors. The day—and tour--will conclude with an end-of-tour dinner; with guests to include those who have hosted our English visits.

For more information and to register for the tour, please contact Just Go! Holidays.

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