THE Chudleigh Store was opened in 1886 and has been run as a shop ever since, but when Margaret Wilson arrived, the property was without an established garden and was very run down.

"There wasn't even a fence around the property," Mrs Wilson said.

"I had four children and a business so I didn't get into the garden until 11 years ago, when the children grew up and left home.

"I had never really gardened much before, because I had lived in New Guinea and all the gardens were taken care of."

Now, Mrs Wilson's garden is filled with an assortment of plants that are the envy of friends and neighbours.

"I like to have things in the garden that no one else has got," she said.

"People say `what is that?"'

"I just like different things."

Mrs Wilson finds rare and interesting plants and flowers by searching in nurseries or reading books.

Some of these include the white, intricate and feathery "false goat's beard" (or astilbe) and the old- fashioned and very fragrant climbing rose "rosa filipes kiftsgate".

Another of her rare plants, the akebia quinata, which produces burgundy-brown coloured flowers with pale pink stamens, took five years to find.

"The akebia is a climber that my mother had when I was a child ... I found it in a little nursery down the Tamar," she said.

"I could remember it from my childhood because it had the most beautiful chocolate scent and looked like wax."

Mrs Wilson has a few words of advice for those developing new gardens.

"When I first started I lost a lot of plants," she said.

"The labels would say they were frost hardy but the first couple of -6 or -7 frosts would kill them.

"If you are starting a new garden, look around your area to see what grows.

"A lot of people make the mistake of bringing in new stuff, and it doesn't survive."