The commemorative garland gets its first flowers in honour of First World War Centenary

The gardening team have just picked the first flower for their annual garland at Cotehele near Saltrash and this year, the centenary of the end of the First World War, will be marked with an extra special display.

West Country artist, Dominique Coiffait (pictured), is working alongside the garden team to transform the Great Hall into an artwork to commemorate the end of the war.Dominique is spending the year in a ‘virtual residency’ at Cotehele, making regular visits to sketch the plants growing in the garden across the seasons.

A print artist, Dominique will carve his sketches into lino blocks and then print from these in a range of colours. Each design needs to be cut out by hand and these will be built up in collage to create a giant frieze which will work its way around the walls of Cotehele’s Great Hall and enhance the 60ft long cut flower garland made by the garden team.

‘We’re very proud of the garland and we appreciate all of the people who’ve been coming to see it over the years,’ says Dave Bouch, Cotehele’s Head Gardener (pictured). ‘We’re all really excited about Dominique’s design and about working in partnership to create something really special.’

Interwoven with the flowers and foliage of the frieze will be early postcards and other artefacts inspired by the exhibitions of First World War memories and ephemera the local community have shared with Cotehele over the past four years.

‘As a commemoration of the end of the First World War it feels relevant. We use floral tributes to honour our dead; we place flowers on a grave and poppies at the foot of a war memorial, yet they are also symbols of fertility, renewal and awakening.’ says artist Dominique, ‘This hand printed paper artwork should be a respectful commemoration of those who went before, to those who fought and died and those who survived and sowed the seeds for future generations.’

Dominique will be at Cotehele on 29, 30 and 31 May and is inviting visitors to help with the garland preparation between 12 and 3pm each day; cutting out the flowers for use in the artwork and other displays around the property.

Flowers growing for the garland can be seen every day in the cut flower garden at Cotehele; and don’t forget to mark your diaries for the first week of November when you’ll be able to watch the gardeners working alongside Dominique to build this year’s masterpiece. The Commemorative Garland will be on display from 10 November and visitors will be able to see it until Twelfth Night on 6 January.