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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...

More roses



"Veilchenblau" on archway, "Mutabablis" below. "Mutabalis" is a bit puny from the winter die-back but it is rebounding.


Roses on top of the pergola - "Russell's Cottage Rose" on the left and "Rambling Rector" on the right.

Rose along the pergola border - "Double Knock-Out" on the left. On the right you can see "Gourmet Popcorn" (white miniature), "Gartendirektor Otto Linne", "Russell's Cottage Rose" and "Rambling Rector".


The hybrid musk rose "Moonlight" always put on a good show.




"Daydream" is a modern shrub rose that I purchased on a whim at Home Depot a few years ago. It is beautiful when it first blooms but usually tends to get blackspot later in the summer.


"La Marne" - all around fantastic rose.


"Peggy Martin" aka The Hurricane Katrina Rose, is growing up the trunk of a declining cyptomeria.


Near the back driveway entrance and alongside the street is a hedge of "Gartendirektor Otto Linne".


Behind the fence is "Tausendschön", also known as "Thousand Beauties".


Along the front border "Marjorie Fair" blooms on the right. The center row of roses are "Alba Meidiland" which are just beginning to open. Also in the border but harder to see are the roses "Marchella Boccella", "Frederic Mistral" and "Marie Daly".


"Marjorie Fair", aka "Red Ballerina" on the right. The light pink rose on the left is sold by the Antique Rose Emporium as "Lavender Pink Parfait". The tall pink rose in the back is "Frederic Mistral".

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. Phillip...they are out if this world beautiful! !!

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  2. Breathtaking. I can only imagine how fragrant and delightful it is to walk along the paths in your garden.

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  3. I drool over your garden! It is the most gorgeous thing. When I read your blog, I pretend I'm sitting in
    your beautiful space. Thanks for creating such a work of art
    jane in tx

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    Replies
    1. Just added vielchenblau myself. I hope it has that kind of display someday

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  4. Oh I did enjoy that tour ! Some lovely roses blooming there ! Love Veilchenblau - mine is nearly out, but not quite ... can't wait !!
    What sort of care do you give them - organic/ non organic ?

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  5. Wow is about all I can say. Happy GBBD.

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  6. Jane, I have experimented with various things over the years but I have not fed them with anything for the past 3 or 4 years. I find that the best thing is to keep the soil healthy and rich and I add leaves and compost in the fall and sometimes again in the spring.

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  7. wow - your garden is a riot of roses!!

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  8. hmmm...was thinking to add Veilchenblau on my fence, but maybe it needs more room. Yours is stunning! <3 Is that only one plant?

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