Charlestown

After taking the train from Suffolk back to London, it was a quick ride on the Tube to Paddington Station, then a long train ride to Cornwall for my next horticultural adventure. While working at the Eden Project, I stayed in a cozy little apartment in the port village of Charlestown. The surrounding area of St. Austell was once a major exporter of china clay, and the rapacious mining practice over the years have left large ziggurats of clay dotting the skyline.

During my stay, I was fortunate enough to live on the same street made famous in Tim Burton’s recent rendition of Alice in Wonderland. My street can be seen at the very end of the movie when Alice’s ship sets sail, and if you look closely, you can still see the China clay shoot protruding from the dock. Apparently, not all is lost to CGI. Charlestown can also be seen in past movies such as The Three Musketeers, and the famous “Heart of the Ocean” necklace from the film Titanic resides in its National Shipwreck Museum.

Lavenham

During one of my excursions in Suffolk, I had the fortune of visiting the quaint medieval town of Lavenham. Seeing the less-than-square architecture of the ancient beam buildings was quite a treat, and at first glance you may not guess that Lavenham was one of the wealthiest towns of its time due to a burgeoning wool trade. However, there can be no doubting the former wealth of Lavenham upon viewing its colossal parish church, the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. Of all the “wool” churches, Lavenham’s is surely the most impressive. It absolutely dwarfs any other structure in the villiage. It is hard to imagine that this sleepy town could have produced a church with the highest village church tower in all of England, rising 141ft (43m) into the sky.

Another beautiful building that lies at the heart of Lavenham is the Guildhall. Touring the exhibits in the Guildhall was a great way to recapture some of the hustle and bustle of years past. As a curious note posted on a plaque at the entrance, the Warner Bros. crew had apparently just left the town after filming parts of the new Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The Lavenham marketplace will be transformed into Godrick’s Hollow and the Guildhall will provide the frontage for Harry’s parent’s house. Location spotters for Warner Brothers visited Lavenham in January, and must have been instantly charmed by the villiage, as was I.

Fuller's Mill

While staying in Suffolk, I had the opportunity to visit some wonderful locations with Sir Kenneth, first of which was Fuller's Mill. Created over the course of 50 years by the intrepid Bernard Tickner, Fuller's Mill is a beautiful garden which used to be a site for fulling (thickening) fabric. Fulling is a process by which large mallets (driven by a water wheel) pound fabric until it becomes felted. Then the fabric is allowed to dry while being held in place by tenter hooks to prevent shrinkage.

The garden was full of interesting plant material, including many exotics from Crete. One plant bred by Bernard Tickner is the noted Euphorbia 'Charam' (Redwing), a beautiful cross betweenEuphorbia amygdaloides and Euphorbia x martinii. Also collected by Bernard is the beautifulFritillaria pyrenaica 'Bernard Tickner'. Most notably, Bernard won an RHS award with the introduction of Lunaria rediviva 'Honour Bright'.

Bernard's garden had a range of interesting specimen plants such as Cercis siliquastrum (The Judas Tree) which is said to be the tree Judas Iscariot hanged himself from after betraying Christ. Also, to my astonishment, I was shown a proud clump of Phytolacca, a merciless back in NC of which I have pulled my fair share. Other notable plants in his collection are Dracunculus, Erythrinum, Bergenia, Euphorbia myrsinites, Arum creticum, Erica arborea and Cornus controversa.

Wyken

After a stormy and grueling flight across the Atlantic, I arrived by car at the fabulous Wyken Hall Estate and Vineyards in Suffolk, owned and operated by Sir Kenneth Carlisle and Lady Carla Carlisle. The Elizabethan manor house is surrounded by 1200 acres of sprawling farmland and well-manicured formal gardens. Also enjoying this quintessential country estate is wide array of animals such peacocks, guinea fowl, chickens, Shetland sheep, Red Poll cattle, and an adorable Labrador retriever named Otis Ray.

Exploring the estate grounds, I found wonderful plants such as Fritillaria meleagris (Snakes Head Fritillary), Fritillaria imperialis (Kaiser's Crown) Betula jacquemontii (with its stark white trunk), ancient oaks, drifts of daffodils, and a huge Mahonia lomariifolia. I was also lucky enough to get some fly fishing lessons from the Carlisle's son. It was a uniquely pleasant experience, and I hope to continue learning the art when I return to the States.