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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...

Open Gardens - Bostwick garden


I love seeing other people's gardens and the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's Open Gardens is a terrific opportunity to see great gardens every weekend through October. I did not visit as many gardens last year as I did the first year I lived here so I hope to do some catching up this year.



This morning we drove to Clackamus to see Michael Bostwick's garden. This is a small garden inspired by the owner's hikes in the Pacific Northwest. A pathway leading from the side of the house and into the back area is bordered by raised beds that ends in a beautiful waterfall and pond. 

There is a wide variety of plants, including dwarf conifers, maples, native plants, wildflowers, iris, trillium, orchids, hellebores,  shrubs and many unique perennials. 

A huge sumac hangs over the waterfall. It was just beginning to leaf out. I am sure that this is a stunning site when all the leaves are open.

Michael said that after this season, he would be moving the entire garden to a new location! The new garden will be on a larger property so I know he is going to have some exciting times ahead of him.





A clump of Merrybells (Uvularia grandifloria) and Candytuft (Iberis) grows on a raised berm above the waterfall. If you look closely, to the right of the Uvularia, you will see a white Lady Slipper Orchid.

Several beautiful Pacific Iris
Camassia







Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. I can't imagine moving an entire garden. I can see why he would want all of those plants though. It is a beautiful space.

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  2. The beginning of open garden season is always a treat! This looks like a splendid garden & it'll be interesting to see what Michael does with his new space.

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  3. I've always meant to get out to see this garden, sounds like I'd better get a move on!

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  4. Moving a garden seems quite a challenge. Maybe the people who move into the house will be sad it has gone?

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