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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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Gardens on tour

This is a reminder that the Garden Tour is this weekend. The hours are Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 1-5. Tickets are only $5 and can be purchased at any of the gardens on the tour. Once you purchase a ticket at your first garden, you are good to go and your ticket is good for the remainder of the tour.

Also, the State Master Gardener conference is set for Monday-Wednesday, April 15-17. You do not have to be a Master Gardener to attend. Speakers include James Farmer, Erica Glasener, Walter Reeves, Troy Marden, Hayes Jackson, Cindy Shapton, Don Shadow, Dan Spaulding and David Tomlin. Visit the website for more details on the conference.

For the garden tour, in addition to our garden, there are eight other gardens that will be open. I have photographed and written about many of these gardens for Alabama Gardener magazine. They include:
Margie Anderton

Irene Fowler
Tommy Mathis


Dee Hubbert
For a list of all the gardens as well as directions, see my earlier post.

  Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Lisa at GreenbowApril 9, 2013 at 3:28 AM

    OOOoooohhhhhhh. I wish I could attend. Everywhere looks so beautiful and inviting. PLEASE give us a virtual tour as soon as possible.

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  2. outlawgardenerApril 9, 2013 at 7:18 AM

    What gorgeous gardens! I too wish that I could attend but, alas, a weekend trip across the country doesn't seem to be in the cards. Looking forward to visiting vicariously though you!

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  3. CarolApril 9, 2013 at 8:20 AM

    Hope all goes well and the weather is in your favor! Carol

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  4. LarryApril 9, 2013 at 11:39 AM

    Some amazing gardens on your tour... wish we were closer! Larry

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  5. sweetbayApril 9, 2013 at 5:48 PM

    That picture of Irene Fowler's garden is incredible.

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  6. Rose Petals NurseryApril 9, 2013 at 6:47 PM

    I 2nd Lisa at Greenbow's comment..... magnificent The Gardener looks forward to your post on the tour ☼

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  7. David - Pinewood CottageApril 9, 2013 at 7:57 PM

    Wish I lived closer too. What an diverse group of excellent gardens. Hope you have a great turn out.

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  8. Phillip OliverApril 10, 2013 at 1:22 PM

    Sweetbay, Irene's garden is wonderful. If you'd like to see more photos of it, see my earlier post - http://phillipoliver.blogspot.com/2010/11/alabama-gardener-cover-story.html

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