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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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March flowers

Edgeworthia (Chinese Paper Bush)
Tulips 
Carolina Jessamine
Epimedium 




Hellebore
Hellebore




















Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. LarryMarch 24, 2011 at 9:56 PM

    What a delight to see these lovely photos... I love your photography and your plants! Larry

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  2. Chandramouli SMarch 25, 2011 at 2:17 AM

    As always, I admire the photos of your blooms. Waiting for your posts on roses. I am a fan of your roses!

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  3. DarlaMarch 25, 2011 at 4:19 AM

    Your March blooms are wonderful..things will be blooming all over before you know it.

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  4. Lisa at GreenbowMarch 25, 2011 at 5:08 AM

    Beautiful spring blooms Phillip. I see several I can't grow here. It is fun seeing them. A little frustrating too.

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  5. rebeccaMarch 25, 2011 at 5:13 AM

    lovely flowers Phillip. Your blog looks different. Did you change the banner? Where did you get your mulch?

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  6. Dave@TheHomeGardenMarch 25, 2011 at 5:56 AM

    Nice! Our tulips have just started blooming. A frost got us last night though which may delay things.

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  7. Mr. McGregor's DaughterMarch 25, 2011 at 6:04 AM

    Spring looks great in your garden. Those hellebores are wonderful. What are they?

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  8. C. C.March 25, 2011 at 6:18 AM

    LOVE the epimedium! I have one, not as far along here as yours is ... they're so sturdy and reliable yet so delicate and fragile-looking.

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  9. Phillip OliverMarch 25, 2011 at 6:19 AM

    Thanks for the comments everybody!

    MMD, not exactly sure. They were from a hybrid collection mix.

    Rebecca, I changed the Blogger template. Not sure if I'm happy with it. The mulch came from the landfill over by the Tower.

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  10. Phillip OliverMarch 25, 2011 at 6:20 AM

    C.C., I am loving them too. I planted more varieties last year but I haven't seen blooms yet. They are very tough and very drought tolerant which is also a big plus.

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  11. ConnorMarch 25, 2011 at 8:36 AM

    Chinese Paper Bush, that is a new one to me! To bad it is zone 7 or I know what my next purchase would be!
    If you have more photos of your I would LOVE to see them!

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  12. UnknownMarch 25, 2011 at 11:53 AM

    Piękne ciemierniki Phillipie .Moje już tez pokazały swoje kwiatki ,ale bardzo podobają mi się o kolorze bordo .Pozdrawiam Bogusia

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  13. AmandaMarch 25, 2011 at 3:09 PM

    Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing! Can't wait for it to warm up here. We're getting snow. :(

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  14. scottweberpdxMarch 25, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    Lovely post...especially fond of the Epimedium...what a wonderful, versatile plant!

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  15. sweetbayMarch 26, 2011 at 7:07 AM

    Beautiful! Epimedium is yet another plant that's been on my to-get list (getting longer every day). It looks so dainty but I've read that it's very tough.

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  16. EveMarch 26, 2011 at 9:39 AM

    Just stunning!!!!

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  17. MashaMarch 26, 2011 at 10:28 AM

    March looks beautiful in your garden. Great photography, I enjoyed looking at your pictures.

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  18. serial tillerMarch 26, 2011 at 12:31 PM

    Love seeing the bright colors in your garden. I have blooms on my Alabama snow wreath you gave me. It is a lovely shrub and seems to like it's spot. Thanks for being the nice garden friend you are. Oh and I'm loving the Alabama Gardener magazine too!

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  19. LesMarch 26, 2011 at 4:05 PM

    Magazine worthy they are!

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  20. AnonymousMarch 27, 2011 at 6:10 AM

    The hellebore looks similar to one I have called Red Lady. My dwarf iris are blooming. The tall bearded one I planted at ECM should be in bloom by Monday.

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  21. Annie in AustinMarch 28, 2011 at 12:21 PM

    Beautiful as always, Phillip - love the colors, especially the sweet Epidemium blossoms.

    Changing the template sounds like a very spring thing to do!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  22. KelseyMarch 30, 2011 at 12:39 AM

    Love the tulips!

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  23. Dee @ Red Dirt RamblingsMarch 31, 2011 at 10:31 AM

    Goodness Phillip, I envy you those double hellebores. I only have one double, and she's taking a long time to get going. This is her third year in the garden. Viburnum 'Mohawk' is a beauty too. Happy Spring. I've got so much to do. How about you?~~Dee

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