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The Garden House (Devon, England)

The destinations are beginning to blur but looking at the tour guide booklet, I see that we are now in Plymouth. Today, we visited two gardens designed by Keith Wiley.  The first is The Garden House , where Wiley worked as Head Gardener for 25 years (from 1978-2003). The 10-acre estate was purchased in the 1940s by former Eton schoolmaster Lionel Fortescue and his wife Katherine. It was formerly home to the  vicars of Buckland Monachronum. The Fortescue's renovated the gardens and ran a market garden business and raised cattle.  The remains of some of the original buildings in the vicarage still stand in the garden and serve as a romantic backdrop in the Walled Garden - I loved the way they had massed ferns together. Just stunning! Surrounding the walled garden and venturing out away from the house are more naturalistic plantings  - Today, the head gardener is Nick Haworth, who was previously head gardener at Greenway , which we visited earlier.  Keith Wiley lef...
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Bouquet for a friend

Yesterday we took a bouquet of flowers to a friend of ours who just had knee surgery. I picked the flowers and Michael put them together. These are daffodils, hellebores, star magnolia and Harry Lauder's walking stick.

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  1. UnknownFebruary 22, 2009 at 10:53 AM

    How lucky you are to have such beautiful things growing in your garden, and to be able to share them with your friend. How lucky your friend is to be the recipient!

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2009 at 12:05 PM

    Somebody has some SERIOUS talent. That bouquet is beautiful. Love the wisps of the HL walking stick. Only a gifted eye would know to use them to such good effect.

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  3. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2009 at 1:11 PM

    Looks like it says cheer up in the most special way. Happy Sunday to ya'll.

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  4. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2009 at 1:34 PM

    Hi Phillip, how cheering a bouquet and how sweet of you to offer flowers from your garden. Those are way more special than purchased ones. Daffodils are one of the only flowers I will cut to bring inside, if bad weather is predicted to ruin the petals. I do hope your friend has a fast and full recovery.
    Frances

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  5. F CameronFebruary 22, 2009 at 1:53 PM

    Beautiful bouquet -- so cheerful and nicely arranged.

    Cameron

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  6. GailFebruary 22, 2009 at 2:33 PM

    Really lovely and a kindness I am sure was much appreciated....Michael did a great job with the arrangement. Gail

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  7. Chandramouli SFebruary 23, 2009 at 3:36 AM

    That's beautiful Phillip! The bouquet looks unique - not the usual roses and gerberas! Awesome.

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  8. Roses and LilacsFebruary 23, 2009 at 7:17 AM

    That would cheer anyone up. How beautiful!
    Marnie

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  9. Monica the Garden FaerieFebruary 23, 2009 at 1:54 PM

    Love the walking stick, it's a great addition to the bouquet!

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  10. JonFebruary 23, 2009 at 11:19 PM

    Now that beautiful arrangement would cheer up even a dead man walking. I hope your friend "got" the neat symbolism of your HL Walking Stick sprigs with the knee surgery. BTW, do you have good luck rooting HL cuttings?

    Jon at Mississippi Garden

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  11. WayneFebruary 24, 2009 at 3:49 AM

    A beautiful bouquet!

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  12. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2009 at 4:19 AM

    So much in bloom in your garden in February! Your friend was immediately cheered, I am sure, by that bounty of beauty from your garden. Very creative.

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  13. Sweet Home and Garden CarolinaFebruary 24, 2009 at 5:03 AM

    I'm not feeling so well , Phillip and could a real picker upper like those beautiful flowers from your garden :-)

    That arrangement would make a great subject for a painting.

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  14. Phillip OliverFebruary 24, 2009 at 8:35 AM

    Carolyn, I hope you get better soon!

    Jon, I never made that connection!

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  15. SusanFebruary 24, 2009 at 11:04 AM

    What a lovely bouquet.I am sure that they made your friend feel much better.

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  16. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2009 at 5:18 PM

    You're so lucky to have so much blooming to actually be able to make such a full arrangement. I'd make one too but my one blooming hellebore stem would look lonely in a big ole vase! I guess I expect too much from a 3 year old garden. thanks for brightening my day with your bouquet.

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  17. Kylee BaumleFebruary 25, 2009 at 12:31 PM

    Are those hellebores I see? I'm so jealous! Mine have just not performed well over the last few years, in spite of organic amendments. That's a beautiful arrangement. I've got two Harry Lauder's and love their quirky twists and turns.

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  18. Kylee BaumleFebruary 25, 2009 at 12:31 PM

    Are those hellebores I see? I'm so jealous! Mine have just not performed well over the last few years, in spite of organic amendments. That's a beautiful arrangement. I've got two Harry Lauder's and love their quirky twists and turns.

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  19. KC MO Garden GuyFebruary 26, 2009 at 8:14 AM

    Our spring bulbs are just an inch or two out of the ground. Looks like you are about a month a head of us. I can't wait!!
    Beautiful flower for a lucky friend!!

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  20. Lisa at GreenbowMarch 2, 2009 at 5:14 AM

    Anyone would be delighted to receive this bouquet, just lovely. Your header photo looks so springy.

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