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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 from Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens



The Franklin Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Columbus, Ohio was well worth the drive from Marysville (about 30 minutes). It was an overcast day with mild temperatures - perfect for a garden visit. Although the conservatories were awesome (see my previous post), the outdoor gardens were lovely as well. I saw workers everywhere tending to stunning displays. The above photo shows a raised bed near the front entrance which contained a striking agave ("Whale's Tongue"??), ornamental grasses and coneflower.

Ornamental grasses and goldenrod -



More coleus surrounding a palm in a container -



A red ribbon memorial to AIDS victims made of begonias along the driveway entry -



I grow Lespedeza (bush clover) in our garden but it not as stunning as this one because of our shade.



The centerpiece in the perennial gardens was a dramatic sculpture.
Sedum was another popular plant in Ohio - I saw throughout this garden as well as in a lot of private gardens.




One of the prettiest displays of Beautyberry (Callicarpa) that I have ever seen. This was actually on an outdoor terrace outside of one of the conservatories.



Another terrace outside the conservatory -



The Bride's Garden - a beautiful spot for a small wedding.



Seven Sons Tree (Heptacodium miconioides) -


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. They do have some dramatic plants. My Beauty Berry is a handsome plant. It looks great with a little more room to spread.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such beautiful photos! Colors so bright and pretty.

    ReplyDelete

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