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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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Open Garden - The Wisner / Orloff garden


Believe it or not, I had not been to any of the Open Gardens this year, that is, until yesterday. I knew I would be kicking myself at the end of the season if I didn't see some of the incredible private gardens that are open every weekend and Monday evenings on the HPSO (Hardy Plant Society of Oregon) Open Gardens Tour. I spent yesterday afternoon and evening touring 3 beautiful gardens.

The first garden is Flicker Farm, the creation of Linda Wisner and Chet Orloff. It is located on pastoral Sauvie Island, just outside the St. Johns area of Portland. It is an incredible place, filled with farms, orchards, a great nursery (Cistis) and calming idyllic properties like this one.

The garden is comprised of 1.3 acres and features lush perennials, herbs and vegetables, sculpture, artwork and a wonderfully inviting courtyard underneath a grape-covered pergola. The garden was recently featured in Country Gardens magazine.


























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  1. GRACE PETERSONJuly 11, 2017 at 4:08 PM

    Yeah I'd say you started off with a bang. That is a fabulous garden. I love the Mimosa and Filipendula. You got the angle just right to complement both with the blue sky behind it. Very nice.

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  2. organicgardendreamsJuly 11, 2017 at 5:16 PM

    Hi Phillip, this is a great garden! I especially love your second photo of it and the last with the lavender poppy. I have been to plenty of open gardens on our England vacation, but none so far here in San Diego. Your are so right, it would be sad not to see some local ones this year. So I will try to find out which are open in the near future.
    Warm regards,
    Christina

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  3. Lisa at GreenbowJuly 11, 2017 at 5:58 PM

    What a colorful garden. I have the Country Gardens Magazine. I hardly recognize the place. Your photos show off the place much better than the magazine did. I can't wait to see more. Do share.

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  4. outlawgardenerJuly 12, 2017 at 8:12 AM

    Thanks for sharing this gorgeous garden! I love Sauvie Island. Do you suppose the owners would mind if we moved into their garden?

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  5. RobinLJuly 12, 2017 at 12:48 PM

    Your photos are certainly doing justice to this lovely garden! Every time I see these showpiece gardens, I immediately wonder how they care for that much space!

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  6. rebeccaJuly 12, 2017 at 3:32 PM

    Oh my.

    So glad you got to go

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  7. AnonymousJuly 12, 2017 at 11:13 PM

    Thank you for sharing. Like you I haven't visited gardens this year but finally got around to it this week so glad I did

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  8. GailJuly 13, 2017 at 5:25 AM

    Every weekend you can see a beautiful garden! You have moved to paradise! So loved this garden tour and look forward to any more you share.

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  9. AaronJuly 13, 2017 at 7:16 PM

    Bravo on the pic of the blue sculpture with the grasses. Well done!

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  10. RebeccaJuly 14, 2017 at 2:27 PM

    Everything looks so green and lush. Just beautiful! What a wonderful open garden program. I'll have to investigate if there is something similar here.

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  11. Lee@A Guide to Northeastern GardeningJuly 15, 2017 at 4:54 PM

    These gardens are absolutely gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing.

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