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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...

Late Spring Flowers

The dreaded heat and humidity is encroaching!  The good news is that we have been getting rain. These photos were taken during the last two weeks and I am just now getting around to them. I have already posted some of these photos on Facebook and Twitter so if you follow me there, I apologize for the duplications!

Some close-ups from the garden -


Lady Belles (Adenophora)



Geranium "Vancouver Centennial"
Geranium "Vancouver Centennial"
Spiegela (Indian Pink)
Indian Pink (Spiegela) - love this plant!
Indigofera amblyantha (Chinese-Indigo)
Chinese Indigo (Indigofera amblyantha)
Rose "Red Cascade" and Phlox
Rose "Red Cascade" and Phlox
Rose "Daydream"
Rose "Daydream"
Rose "Sweet Chariot"
Rose "Sweet Chariot"
Aralia cordata "Sun King"
Aralia "Sun King" (Aralia cordata)
Variegated Solomons Seal and Indian Pink
Indian Pink (Spiegela) with Variegated Solomon's Seal
Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. Indian Pinks are fab. I would love to see a splash of their color here. The heat is building here too. Summer is almost upon us.

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  2. The Daydream rose is dreamy.

    Your Indian Pinks look fab. Mine are finished already! But perhaps that's because they were nursery bought and planted this spring? Maybe they'll bloom later and longer if they return next year? (I didn't deadhead, which I heard can stimulate repeat bloom, because I'm hoping to get seeds. But I don't know. They may have finished blooming before the hummingbird came back to the garden...)

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  3. Phillip I believe it was good year for Indian Pinks. Never had this many blooms. Love them too!

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  4. Phillip,
    I always swoon for your roses! Do you do anything to keep them robust -- spray, etc.? Which ones do you feel hold up best in our humid environments? Thanks!

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  5. Shenandoah, I don't do anything special to them and I don't spray. Only the toughest stay! I find that hybrid musks do well and they take our increasing shade better than most roses.

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  6. Nice photos today. I especial like the rose - Daydreams. Very nice. Glad to make the visit today. Jack

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  7. The roses are adorable. Love those small sweet blooms. You know, I've tried growing Indian pink, but it died out. I must have placed in a place it didn't like. I do love the look of it though. ~~Dee

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  8. I love those roses...the color is amazing.

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  9. I love your Indian Pink. I was given some last year, but I critter dug it up almost immediately. :( Hopefully I'll be able to find some more one day!

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  10. I love to "visit" gardens in other zones, and see the different plants. Indian pinks look really cool, I've never seen them in person. That first rose picture is absolutely gorgeous!

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