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Coleton Fishacre (Devon, England)

Coleton Fishacre was in my top 5 gardens on the tour. This Arts & Crafts style house and garden was the country home of  Rupert D'Oyly Carte and his wife Lady Dorothy Carte.   He was the well-known theater owner (The Savoy) and producer (Gilbert & Sullivan).  They spotted the property from their yacht and thought it would be a great spot for a country home and garden. Ah, to have that much money... They commissioned Oswald Milne, a former student of Edward Lutyens to design the house. Both Rupert and Lady Dorothy were interested in gardening but it was Lady Dorothy who mainly planted the garden, filling it with exotic and tender plants that survived with the influence of the Gulf stream. They employed six full-time gardeners! I often wonder if people who have that much money are really able to enjoy a property like this and actually live in it?  Their tenure here wasn't that long (a dozen years or so), although Dorothy lived here full-time in the late 19...
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Our Trip Itinerary

May 12th - Left home at 7am, arrived in Charlotte, N.C. late that afternoon, visited a friend that we had not seen in years.
May 13th - Drove to Raleigh, N.C. where we visited the J.C. Raulston Arboretum and Plant Delights
May 14th - Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, N.C. ---Attempted to see Montrose but they were closed -- Drove 5 hours north to Seaford, Va. to visit Pam Harper.
May 15th - Left Seaford, south to Norfolk to Norfolk Botanical Gardens -- met garden blogger Les at the nursery where he works and he arranged a visit to the Pinkam garden (we had incredible luck on this trip!)--- then west to Richmond, Va.
May 16th - Lewis Ginter Gardens --- then south to Asheville, N.C. for Garden Blogger's Fling
May 17th - Asheville Garden Blogger's Fling - Christopher Mello,  Wamboldtopia, North Carolina Arboretum 
May 18th - Gentling Garden, Biltmore Estate
May 19th - Ku'elei 'Aina --- Left for home around 11am, back home at 5pm.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. SkeeterJuly 11, 2012 at 11:03 AM

    Wow, you had a wonderful vacation itinerary.... Great planning...

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