Lambly Nursery was our first port of call today. What a glorious spot! In the middle of baked paddocks an oasis of green: sculpted hedges surround rooms of colour, texture and fragrance, humming with bees and tiny birds diving in and out of bushes and shrubs.
There is a dry garden full of textures from euphorbias, lavenders, succulents, leaves, grasses and various coloured foliages, many grey or muted browns. A gravel pathway winds through leading to a rustic seat.
The whole effect is muted and restrained contrasting with the summer garden across the hedge which explodes with colour, rambling flowers and foliage. Here Salvia Azure spreads in tangled profusion across the pathway bisecting the herbaceous borders. Cool colours, blue, pinks, white, lilacs, purples fill the beds of one "room" - across the pathway another "room" is filled with the heat of oranges, reds and yellows yet not jangling, proving how forgiving nature can be.
Elsewhere we noted a pear walk, vegetables to die for and espaliered fruit trees. The nursery specialises in mail orders of rare plants, bulbs and heritage species. This was a truly beautiful place with 12 permanent staff who enthusiastically celebrate gardening.
A brief stop for tea and pastry at the Creswick Boulangerie and Patisserie and then we hit the antique shops of Newlyn. Run by an elderly couple who love anything old and beautiful and sharing this love and situated in a timber vintage building, this shop is full of quality pieces. We stayed ages chatting and left with a few little bits.
The Mill antique centre was next - fun, retro, vintage, and huge - real searching needed to find treasure.
By this tine we were feeling in need of pampering so headed to Hepburn Springs and the historic bath house. Considerably altered and no longer resembling it's 1895 ancestor the bath house still offers mineral water bathing as well as beauty and health treatments. We opted for the Santuary - salt bath, steam room, spa and final relaxing soak in the hot mineral pool. Looking a bit like prunes we emerged, very clean, two hours later.
This area has many old guest houses, B and Bs, hotels and cottages to cater to visitors attracted by the mineral springs for over 100 years.
What a lovely day!
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