Antony’s Secret Garden Opens for Just Two Weeks in Cornwall

There is a walled garden at Antony that hardly anyone gets to see. For two weeks this June, the National Trust is unlocking the gate.

The National Trust is opening a secret garden that houses a National Collection of rare flowers at Antony in Cornwall. For a limited flowering season, visitors will be able to walk through a walled garden rarely open to the public and see 600 varieties of Hemerocallis, known commonly as daylilies.

📷Clare Dearden Images

A collection more than 50 years in the making

The plants were amassed by the late Lady Cynthia Carew Pole in the 1960s and 70s, and the collection is of national significance. More than 50 years on from when it began, the flowers are said to be healthier than ever, helped by the milder Cornish climate beside the River Lynher.

Dave Bouch, Head Gardener for the National Trust in the Tamar Valley, said the team has been keeping a close eye on the timing.

“We’ve been eagerly watching the daylilies to calculate their flowering dates,” Dave said. “The plants are in great condition and we predict a bumper year for the flowers. It’ll be an absolute sea of colour in the daylily garden.”

📷The 18th-century house framed by spring blossom at Antony, Cornwall

Why you only get two weeks

The short window is down to the flowers themselves. Hemerocallis translates to “day beauty” and refers to each flower blooming for just one day. The colourful display will be in bloom for only two short weeks in June.

The collection sits in a part of Antony’s garden that is not usually open to the public. For a few weeks each year the National Trust team, working with Sir Tremayne Carew Pole of Antony House, invites visitors through the gate.

Sir Tremayne said the garden carries real meaning for his family.

“It’s wonderful to see the daylily collection in flower again,” he said. “It’s a key part of my grandmother’s legacy at Antony and she would be pleased that it brings so much joy to the public every year.”

📷Clare Dearden Images

When you can visit

The daylily collection will be open between Tuesday 9th June and Tuesday 23rd June. Antony is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 12pm to 5pm. Normal entry to Antony applies, and it is free for National Trust members.

📷The exterior of the 18th-century house at Antony, Cornwall