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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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Idaho Botanical Gardens, Boise, Idaho

The Idaho Botanical Garden is right next door to the Old Idaho State Penitentiary. It was once the farm and nursery for the penitentiary. When the prison closed in 1973, the grounds were unused until the botanical garden was established.

The garden comprises 50 acres (15 of which are in cultivation) in the Boise foothills and is divided into garden rooms and individual areas. There is an English Garden, xeric demonstration garden, alpine garden, children's garden, rose garden, meditation area, water garden, etc. Most of the plants in the garden are donated by industry and corporate partners  throughout Oregon and Idaho.

Parts of the garden run along the stone walls of the prison, giving a castle-like background to the plantings. 

The outer-lying areas of the garden are dedicated to native plants and wilderness trails. The Lewis & Clark Plant Native Plant Garden, opened in 2006,  commemorates the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark Expedition (1804-1806). This garden’s goal is to display 145 plant species collected during the expedition between Great Falls, Montana and The Dalles, Oregon. 

The fall color was astounding, especially with the vivid yellows and oranges of witch hazels, ornamental grasses and trees and bright red berries on pyracantha and hollies. 

The gardens also feature garden art by local artists.


The Rose Garden with the prison tower and walls as background.









 










Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Lisa at GreenbowNovember 19, 2014 at 1:23 PM

    I love the wild feeling of this garden.

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  2. EveNovember 19, 2014 at 6:46 PM

    So beautiful!! The colors are incredible! Thanks for sharing this trip!!

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  3. danger gardenNovember 19, 2014 at 9:58 PM

    We visited the Idaho Botanical Gardens in 2002(ish?), looks like a lot has changed and I would love to go back soon.

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  4. AaronNovember 20, 2014 at 7:59 AM

    Love the Switch Grasses (I believe) in the 4th photo. Mine looked kinda like that this year. Lovely.

    Aren't pyracanthas great? Wish they were a little less thorny, as I am an accident-prone klutz sometimes. I hear there are thornless (or less thorny) varieties, but apparently they are hard to find...

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  5. Edith KentNovember 20, 2014 at 11:06 AM

    Beautiful Phillip! Makes me want to go so bad. What a wonderful trip!

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  6. LesNovember 20, 2014 at 3:39 PM

    I love all the sage and tawny tones.

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  7. sweetbayNovember 24, 2014 at 6:48 PM

    I love the shot of the pumpkin patch with the fall colors in the background, and the last one with the sculpture.

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