The New Year Flower Count 2024
Although it's been a pretty stormy Christmas and New Year, the Abbey Garden has been as sheltered and tranquil as ever. As such, the annual flower count was no disappointment
The 2024 Tresco Abbey Garden New Year flower count saw 287 different species of exotic plants in bloom on New Year's Day, thanks to the island's mild microclimate which sees the gardens ablaze with colour, even throughout the winter months.
The flower count, which takes place annually, celebrates flowering plants otherwise unseen anywhere else in the UK.
Our glorious garden hosts a global gathering of 2500 species from all the Mediterranean climate zones of the world. This year’s count saw the usual range of Camellia, Aloe and Protea blooms, as well as some more unusual specimens like the Telanthophora grandifolia from the cloud forests of Southern Mexico and the Jovellana violacea, a Calceolaria relative from Chile.
The flower count this year was completed by Abbey gardener Brett Haythorpe and students Harriet Bradnock, Hannah Moore and Phoebe Jayes.
Following them around the garden was inspiring and their love for the garden - and Tresco more broadly - was clear. As we meandered through the terraces and each of them listed off different species, one couldn't help but admire their passion for all things botany.
It certainly was a glorious day and the best way to see in the new year.
