and 32 Plants and gardens

Trevena Cross Nurseries

This time last year, we had hopes that normality would be restored by the end of 2021. While we’re hopefully on the way, we’re not there yet – and sadly, another year will go by without a Santa’s Grotto at Trevena Cross.

Owner Graham Jeffery explains: “We couldn’t see a way of hosting a grotto without making too many compromises, to ensure that everyone felt completely relaxed and safe throughout the experience. We would rather do it the way it should be done, encapsulating all our usual magic and sparkle, even if that means sacrificing the grotto for another year”.

Trevena Cross will, however, still be bringing Christmas joy in bucketloads this year, both inside and outside. The Christmas shop is set to be the most spectacular yet. Despite supplier issues and everything that Covid and Brexit have brought, the team are determined to meet your every Christmas décor need. There should be plenty to tempt you, and give you that festive feeling. You won’t find similar this end of the county. Outside, a wide selection of Christmas trees will be available from the end of November. As well as the hugely popular £25 Nordmann Fir, you’ll find trees of all shapes and sizes, to suit every home and taste. There will be lots of festive photo opportunities in the undercover area by the shop, with several brand new ‘wow factor’ Christmas props joining the old favourites. Don’t miss the giant penguin band!

Joining the Christmas characters on the three weekends leading up to Christmas will be stalls hosting the best food and drink Cornwall has to offer – wonderful traders, keen to share their produce. Whether you’re looking to stock up the Christmas cupboard or just indulge on the day, there will be something to tempt you, along with snow, music and plenty of cheer. You’ll also be able to soak up the Christmas ambience over a cuppa or a spot of lunch in the festive outdoor undercover seating area of the Garden Kitchen Café

The Trevena Cross team hope to see plenty of visitors over the festive period – and they wish everyone a Happy New Year, and a year where normal life really will be restored.

Trevena Cross, Breage, Helston, TR13 9PY 01736 763880 | trevenacross.co.uk

Garden Stories: The holly bears a berry

The crimson berries which adorn the holly tree in the dark depths of winter make this native evergreen a natural choice when we decorate our homes with boughs and wreaths at Christmas.

According to the popular Cornish carol, The Holly Bears a Berry, “the first tree in the greenwood, it was the holly, and for centuries it has been celebrated as a midwinter miracle — bright, bushy and full of life, when most other trees have lost their leaves. Celts and Druids brought holly into the homes as a promise of the return of spring, and it was also used in ancient Roman and Norse festivities. Over the years, many of the pagan customs connected with holly were absorbed by Christianity. The Holly Bears a Berry is also known as the St Day (or Sans Day) Carol, as it is associated with village of the same name near Redruth. In the 1930s, a recording was made of Penzance Borough Council head gardener W D Watson singing the carol — he had learned it from St Day villager Thomas Beard at the turn of the 20th century. It is thought that the song may be a variant of the more well-known carol The Holly and the Ivy. Ivy is not mentioned in The Holly Bears a Berry, but both carols use the imagery of the holly’s spiky leaves to represent Christ’s crown of thorns, and the berries the blood he shed.

The Latin name for holly, Ilex aquifolium, means ‘with pointed leaves’, but it is usually only the lower foliage which is prickly. The spines have evolved as a useful deterrent against deer and other potential predators: there is no need for them on leaves that are out of their reach. However, holly offers shelter and nesting sites for birds and is a vital winter food source for small mammals, while deep piles of holly leaves are an ideal place for hedgehogs to hibernate. The white spring flowers provide nectar and pollen for bees and other insects, and the leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of the holly blue butterfly, as well as those of various moths.

Holly is easy to grow and extremely versatile. It thrives in moist, but well-drained soil in sun or shade, is tolerant of industrial pollution and makes a fine architecture feature in a formal garden. It is dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers bloom on separate male and female plants: both are needed for cross-pollination to produce the bright red berries.

The wood of the holly tree is strong, fine in texture and light in colour, and has been used for centuries in decorative furniture-making. It also makes excellent firewood on a cold winter night.

For more information about holly, visit woodlandtrust.org.uk/

TREGLISSON, WHEAL ALFRED ROAD, HAYLE TR27 5JT LOCALLY GROWN PLANTS Exotic and unusual plants, including Acacias, Anemones, Agapanthus, Bananas, Cannas, Eucalyptus and Restios. Patio plants, hanging baskets, tubs and containers. Fruit trees, vegetables and herbs.

We are making wreaths to order and selling potted Christmas trees.

Opening times:- Monday to Saturday 9am until 5pm Sunday – 10am until 4pm

(FOLLOW SIGNS FROM LIDL) TEL: 01736 752888 MOB: 07817 435705 FACEBOOK: @HAYLE PLANTS ejmichell@btconnect.com (FREE PARKING AND DOGS WELCOME)