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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...

Hydrangeas

Some full views of the hydrangeas - they are really beautiful this year!









Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. This has been a perfect spring for hydrangeas. Yours look beautiful. That blue just shines in the shade. I can't wait to see how long the blooms last too. I hope Mother Nature cooperates and doesn't send a drought.

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  2. Beautiful! Mine have been nice this year too. Very dry srping, but as long as I keep my hydrangea watered, it looks awesome' LOTS of flowers, more than ever before :)

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  3. Not only are your hydrangeas beautiful, so is your garden. Love the dry stream bed.

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  4. I don't often visit here and, by chance, I think the first time I came across your blog, you were talking about hydrangeas.

    I'm not a hydrangea fan but these look lovely. Shows how important context is.

    Lucy

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  5. Everyone this year has been exclaiming how great the hydrangeas are which makes me wish I had added more sooner to the garden. I've been afraid of deer and rabbits in the best hydrangea areas. Your garden and the hydrangeas look great!

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  6. Good morning, Phillip. Your hydrangeas look lovely in the woodland setting. Those huge white blooms really make a statement.
    Marnie

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  7. They are indeed very beautiful this year!

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  8. Just exquisite! The combinations of the hydrangeas with the garden ornaments couldn't be better!

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