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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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Camellia love

A few weeks ago, temperatures plunged to the 20 degree mark and turned our camellia and magnolia blossoms into shriveled brown tissue. For the camellias, more buds opened and they bounced back nicely.

Taylor's Perfection is one of my all-time favorites. It is a profuse bloomer and is just now getting ready to explode with blooms.
Magnoliaflora - a delicate pink beauty.
An unknown variety. The label said "Mrs. Charles Cobb" but every image search I've ever conducted shows a decidedly red flower. I think this is something different.
C.M. Wilson, the oldest camellia in our garden, started sporting red blooms a few years ago and I've not bothered to cut them out.
 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Randy EmmittFebruary 23, 2012 at 3:49 PM

    Phillip,

    Wow on that Magnoliaflora, to me it looks like a slight peachy white not pink.

    Hate your new word verification...

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  2. sweetbayFebruary 23, 2012 at 4:13 PM

    Taylor's Perfection is beautiful.

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  3. Lisa at GreenbowFebruary 23, 2012 at 4:49 PM

    I think it is facinating how the last camellia has multi colors. The bees must have been busy around this shrub.

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  4. LesFebruary 23, 2012 at 6:24 PM

    Similar story here with our camellias. Just a minor set back to what has been a beautiful season.

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  5. UnknownFebruary 23, 2012 at 6:41 PM

    We have similar tastes, it seems. Absolutely love Taylor's Perfection! I have "Mrs. Charles Cobb" in Atlanta, and it is also much more like yours, and decidedly not red. (And she's living in Cobb County, so I figure that has to account for something!)

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  6. Rosedale GardenFebruary 23, 2012 at 8:00 PM

    My star magnolia's have started blooming again, thought the frost had gotten them. Daffodils going wild.

    Mary

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  7. serial tillerFebruary 23, 2012 at 8:06 PM

    Seeing your camellias I am sorry I only have one! I have another question. When is the master gardener's plant sale this yr?

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  8. LarryFebruary 23, 2012 at 8:54 PM

    Hi Philip... I'm so sorry to hear what happened with the magnolias but your camellias are spectacular. I'm curious as to whether your magnolias were earlier than normal this year. This is a huge concern for me this mild winter, but so far we are mostly below freezing at night and daytime temps in mid to high 30's so the ground really hasn't thawed out as of yet... it could end up being a touchy situation... Larry

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  9. JessFebruary 23, 2012 at 9:32 PM

    I just bought a Taylors Perfection today. By chance. It really looks like a rose.

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  10. PattiFebruary 24, 2012 at 5:26 AM

    I just love camellias! My neighborhood here in Atlanta is filled with them. My power walks have turned into garden strolls since I stop so often to admire.

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  11. aquablueroseFebruary 24, 2012 at 11:30 AM

    So Beautiful to see, Phillip!

    gerri XXX

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  12. Dirty Girl GardeningFebruary 24, 2012 at 4:11 PM

    Have always enjoyed Camellias.

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  13. Phillip OliverFebruary 25, 2012 at 3:28 PM

    Randy, I agree, it is more peachy. I don't have word verification turned on so I'm not sure what is going on with that.

    Larry, yes the magnolias were early! So far, everything is early. We are having very mild temperatures this winter. It worries me too.

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