Island of Tresco, The Tresco Abbey Gardens
Tresco Abbey Gardens are located on the island of Tresco. Tresco is part of a group of islands called the Isles of Scilly off the southwest coast of Great Britain. The gardens are home to 20,000 plants from more than 80 countries, flourishing just 30 miles off the coast of Cornwall warmed by the Atlantic Gulfstream. Being on an island, they are reachable only by ferry, private boat or helicopter. The helicopter dropped people off several times while we were there. The 17 acre gardens were established by the nineteenth-century proprietor of the islands, Augustus Smith, originally as a private garden within the grounds of the home he designed and built. The plants that thrive here wouldn’t survive outdoors anywhere else in the UK. These were the best gardens we had ever seen.
