Burncoose Nurseries, Great Pavilion, Stand F11

The concept behind Burncoose’s Voyages of Discovery Garden

The Burncoose exhibit has been a regular at RHS Chelsea Flower Show for more than 25 years, and has won 20 Gold medals and eight Silver Gilt Medals over the years. Most recently the Burncoose ‘Climate Change Garden’ won Gold in 2009.

This year Burncoose Nurseries’ exhibit, The Voyages of Discovery Garden has been inspired by local Cornish family, the Fox family of Falmouth. 

The Foxs are renowned garden creators who, partly through their connections in the shipping trade, helped to popularise new and interesting plants.  The family also helped to create the concept of Cornwall as a sub-tropical garden through their pioneering experiments to acclimatise and popularise new plants.

The Fox family of Falmouth were Quaker scientists, businessmen, social reformers, shipping agents, consuls and creators of gardens from the mid 18th century through until recent times.
 
Robert Were Fox, his son Barclay and his nephew Howard were recognised as ground breaking horticulturalists in their time.  The family pioneered new ways of planting which are still evident today at the Rosehill Gardens in Falmouth, which were established by Robert Were Fox (1789-1877).

Robert Were Fox was primarily a scientist and this was reflected in his attitude to horticulture.  He used the Rosehill Gardens to experiment with the acclimatisation of plants previously thought of as too tender and exotic to grow outdoors in the UK, thus popularising plants that we now take for granted.

The successes were documented on the national newspapers of the day.  Cuttings from 1872 show citrus and banana trees growing well and plant lists include Acacias, Daturas, Citrus, Banana, Abutilons, Osteospermums and Lampranthus.
 
Robert’s son Barclay was involved in hybridising Rhododendrons at their summer residence at Penjerrick, while his nephew Howard developed a passion for Mediterranean-style planting through his travels for the family businesses.
 
Whilst not directly involved in sponsoring plant hunting, the Fox family benefitted from contacts with other great garden creators in Cornwall, allowing them to exchange plant material.
 
It is also believed that they benefitted from their contacts made through their shipping agency in Falmouth,  encouraging ship's captains to bring back plant material. This access to new exotic plants combined with their strong religious beliefs which banned statuary, follies, or excessive displays of wealth, helped to create a more naturalistic style of garden now synonymous with Cornwall.