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Ashington Manor Farm (Yeovil)

After a two-night stay at The Swan Hotel in Wells , we departed for Exeter. Along the way, our first stop was Ashington Manor Farm, the home of the husband and wife garden designers Julian and Isabel Bannerman.  Roses are a specialty of the Bannerman's, but sadly, we were too early to see any. That disappointment was curtailed by touring their magnificent farmhouse, which we were invited to roam around at leisure. And Julian Bannerman, who did most all the talking, was a very entertaining man.  Gathering at the front door - We actually entered at the side of the house, right off the patio, which led to this room, where the Bannerman's greeted us. The massive table was filled with books they had written as well as magazine articles about their gardens. As we were listening to Julian's speech, I happened to notice Isabel Bannerman's book "Husbandry" on the table and immediately recognized it as a book I have at home but have not gotten to yet. At the time, I ha...

Open Gardens: The Hardiman Garden

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I was very excited to see the garden of Lucy and Fred Hardiman. Lucy Hardiman is a garden designer at Perennial Partners. This garden certainly did not disappoint. Full of vibrant rich colors (purples, blues and pinks, a favorite combination of mine) and accented with artistic architectural structures and art pieces, as well as some favorite plants like hydrangeas and lilies. Note the big crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia 'Zuni') in the above photo. They do grow here!

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Just look at these lilies! I was intrigued by the blue flower and she told me that it is a perennial that she herself introduced to Joy Creek Nursery. It is Galega 'Lady Wilson'.

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It was near sunset when I toured the garden and the diminishing light gave it a magical quality.

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Perfectly placed art pieces

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Yarn in the garden? Why not?

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This is the front entryway garden that leads back to the main garden.
A big thank you to the Hardiman's for including their garden on the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Open Gardens Tour. It was wonderful!

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. Nice photos. Thank you for sharing. I bet the bees and hummers love this garden too.

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  2. You caught Lucy's garden in its prime! Not that it's ever lacking for charm, but I've never seen it so floriferous.

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  3. Wow! That's an incredible garden but one would expect no less from the amazing Ms Hardiman! Love the tree with all of the glass spheres!

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  4. I've seen Lucy's garden a bit later in the year, it's looking just beautiful in your photos. It's a very colorful garden. Now I know what those large shrubs are that I saw in D.C. whose flowers reminded me a bit of lilacs. They must have been blooming crape myrtles.

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  5. Beautiful photos show her incredible color discipline which gives such a dramatic effect. This looks like an entirely different garden than the one I saw almost 10 years ago, which I remember as a shared space among neighbors (?) or maybe it's just been completely reworked.

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    1. I am not sure but her neighbor's garden next door was also open. It was very small but fantastic. I plan to post photos of it next.

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  6. An eye candy this garden is. Every picture is perfect and screams Summer.
    You say: Yarn in the garden? Why not? and I say Why Knot :-)

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  7. Riffing off of Denise's comment, this garden strikes me as a fantastic mix of whimsy and color discipline. Thanks for sharing it with us virtually!

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  8. Thank you for showing this beautiful garden

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  9. Oh my that's so lovely. My kind of garden.

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  10. You captured much of what has earned Lucy her big reputation. We (Joy Creek) had Galega 'Lady Wilson' for sale at Hortlandia but because it was not in bloom at the time, it flew under the radar. Right now, everyone is exclaiming "What's That?!" when they see it in the garden.

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