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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...

Aralia cordata "Sun King"



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. A gorgeous color and form for the garden.

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  2. I bought one of these in May, and have yet to figure out where to put it, but I had to have it.

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  3. Great plant, Phillip. I spent ten minutes trying to figure out why the genus Aralia sounds so familiar to me, but I can't. Do you know if it's hardy to Zone 5?

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    1. Some sources say zone 3, most say zone 4. So it should work for you!

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  4. Beautiful!

    I'm trying to grow native Aralia racemosa this year for the 1st time.

    So far, it's been a steady if not spectacular performer, but I have a feeling it's just settling in for the long haul...

    (At least, I hope so!) :)

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  5. I just planted some a few weeks ago and they still have a way to go before reaching that size, thanks for the timely inspiration!

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  6. Beautiful! I really love these. Ya gotta love a bright plant for shade. :o)

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  7. That really lights up a shady spot! Wonderful. The three leaf textures in the foreground, so simple and elegant. It is interesting that while that lovely plant is not appropriate to my climate, we have a golden Duranta that provides the same effect.

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  8. Phillip, this is beautiful a beautiful aralia. I love the color! I must do some research to see what growing conditions it likes, but I suspect if it will grow for you, it will grow for me too!

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