Skies may be gray and blustery winds may be whipping up the seas, but inside the rainforest biome at the Eden Project, it's always shirtsleeve weather.
If shorter, darker days that keep getting shorter and darker are getting you down and thoughts of winter just round the corner are driving you to drink, why not head for Cornwall? It may not really be endless summer there, but the mild winter weather does help keep the palm trees healthy. It also enables exotic plants, trees and plants that exist nowhere else in Northern Europe to thrive. And they are not all protected by geodesic biomes either. Many of Cornwall's year-round subtropical gardens take advantage of the microclimates in tight little valleys and other climatic surprises.
Quite a few Cornish gardens are always open and wandering through prehistoric tree ferns and flowers blooming out of doors in November could be just the thing to lift your winter spirits.
Check out my Top Ten All-Season Gardens in Cornwall for a midwinter pick-me-up that doesn't come out of a bottle.
© Ferne Arfin