Skip to main content

Featured

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...

Firecracker Vine



Firecracker Vine (Manettia cordifolia) brightens the otherwise drab late summer garden with its hot red flowers. The small tubular blooms are profuse and adorn a vigorous but well-mannered vine. (Think Cypress Vine but without the headache of the invasiveness.) Hummingbirds love it!

This plant came to me from my great aunt Lesbie who loved to garden as much as I do.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. Great vine, Phillip! I'm always looking for plants for the hummingbirds and may try this as an annual next year as it wouldn't be hardy here in zone 5.

    ReplyDelete
  2. looking at the blooms that close they look like fish. i know i see everything different than the rest of the world! Hope all is well with you and yours!

    ReplyDelete
  3. LostRoses, it is hardy here and that is great.

    Carol, they do look like fishes!

    ReplyDelete
  4. One I've often thought about picking up, glad to hear it is well behaved.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have never seen this vine before. I bet it is a Southern vine. It is pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I need to give that a try next summer. I don't think I've ever seen it around here. Did you start it fram seed or buy it as a plant?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Casa, it was a plant given to me. I don't know if it is easily grown from seed.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment