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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 Gardens: The Babbit / Bartholomew Garden

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 After spending our weekends working ourselves to death in the garden, we finally took some time to visit other gardens this past Sunday. It was a rainy day and wasn't the best to be outdoors but we made the most of it and saw some wonderful gardens in Portland.

 The first stop was the garden of Michael Babbit and Ellen Bartholomew. This is a delightful small garden that is packed to the max with beautiful plants as well as glass art (by Ellen) and metal ornaments (by Michael). We enjoyed chatting with the owners and seeing their beautiful work.

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Of course, any garden that features roses and clematis is going to win me over!

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There were many other fabulous plants as well. There was so much to see.

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The "Mozart" rose was really spectacular.

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This unidentified rose seemed to glow in the overcast lighting.


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This Alstroemeria (Peruvian Lily) was also a showstopper.

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The gardeners are also avid bonsai enthusiasts and had a large collection of plants that they are working with. I forgot to get photos but if you are interested in bonsai, this is a garden that you should see. There are a large number of gardens open now through the remainder of the season. If you are not a member of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, this is just one of the many benefits they provide.

The rain caught up with us for the remainder of the day but we managed to squeeze in five more gardens. Photos coming soon!


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Jane StrongJune 12, 2018 at 1:18 AM

    Rainy day makes nice pictures, though. I love these lush, shrub-and-flower-packed gardens. I am eagerly awaiting to see the others.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisa at GreenbowJune 12, 2018 at 5:47 AM

    Your picture taking skills bring me right into the garden. This place is a big wow. I love that red climber with purple/blue clematis joining up. All of these layers make the garden sumptuous.
    I can't wait to see more gardens.

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  3. GRACE PETERSONJune 12, 2018 at 9:47 AM

    Gorgeous. I would have enjoyed that garden too. It's good to take a break once in awhile.

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  4. outlawgardenerJune 12, 2018 at 10:28 PM

    What a gorgeous garden! It's always a delight to tour other people's gardens. Thanks for sharing this beauty.

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  5. AaronJune 14, 2018 at 7:29 AM

    I seriously thought that first pic was a repeat from your recent post of *your* garden! :)

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  6. CarolJune 14, 2018 at 7:32 AM

    very nice! you should do tours of your beautiful garden!

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  7. chavlinessJune 15, 2018 at 8:04 AM

    Overcast sky make for better photographs. This garden is so rich and lush... I loved the burgundy, asian-inspired arbor with the metal art on top.

    ReplyDelete

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