Tresco lies about 28 miles southwest of Land's End
and it's one of the five inhabited islands
that make up the archipelago of the Isles of Scilly
To me there is a real sense of astonishment
about the Abbey Garden
I think in some degree this is simply about
the shock of finding such an extraordinary garden
on a tiny little island 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall
But I think beyond that, even more compelling
is the incredible array of exotic plants
that you'll find in this English Garden
One of the marvelous things about the garden
is the mix of the formal and the informal
you've got these very straight avenues and paths
that give the garden its structure
but within that there are some myriad little windy paths
and unexpected corners and turns
and the planting itself is very much the same
and that gives the garden its real soul