CHRISTMAS starts early at Cotehele, the National Trust property in South-East Cornwall.

Every November, 30,000 dried flowers need to be ready for the gardening team to assemble the 60 foot-long flower garland, which will decorate the house during the Christmas season.

The gardeners start planting the flowers in early spring and by summer the picking begins. Last year's wet summer was problematic because the flowers started growing very late, but this year the gardeners are much happier.

'We've had a good start,' said Aimee Kingdom, senior gardener at Cotehele,

'We've picked 3,000 to 5,000 flowers already and the blossoms just keep coming.'

So far the garland's flowers include hare's tails, pink pokers, pink and white African daisies and straw flowers.

'Queen Anne's lace is a flower we used for the first time last year,' said Aimee.

'It flowered really well in the bad weather, in fact it was a life saver, so we planted it again this year and it's looking gorgeous.'

Now that the flowers are blooming, the gardeners make sure to pick frequently. Being annuals, picking regularly ensures they will keep producing more flowers as they have yet to seed.

Once cut, the gardeners hang them in the eaves of the potting shed to dry. Drying can take one to three weeks, depending on the weather — if it's wet, it can take longer.

Aimee said: 'Hopefully all this sun will bring lots more flowers; and the current heat wave will be very beneficial to drying them, provided it's not too humid.'

Visitors are always welcome to wander through the cut flower garden to view the flowers' progress and watch the gardeners at work. Cotehele's garden is open every day from dawn until dusk.