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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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A quick look around Portland Nursery


This morning we went to Portland to go to a sewing business and we got there an hour before they opened (here is a good tip - NEVER trust business hours posted online). Anyway, the initial plan was to drop Michael off and I would go three blocks down the road and walk around Portland Nursery. So, we both ended up going to the nursery to kill the hour.  

 Although sunny, it has turned cold again and I mean chillingly cold. Michael had on a light jacket and he went back to wait in the car. 

The witch hazels were blooming all over and I regret not planing one. They get so large and I'm not sure where I would place one now. They are certainly stunning when in bloom.






 Another stunning winter plant is the 'Pacific Fire' vine maple. I do have one of these. 


 The following maple is probably 'Sango Kaku' but I could not see the label.



 The rooftop garden over the little shed looks good -


 So many lovely conifers -













 They also have many beautiful pots and statuary. I love this tuteur but oh my lord, it was $300!







It was a bit of relief to step inside the warm gift shop to escape the bitter cold. They have quite the houseplant collection. When I got back to the car, Michael said that they could not have any houseplants left because he had watched so many people leaving with them. 








Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. debsgardenFebruary 2, 2020 at 7:48 PM

    Hi Philip, one thing I love about the Pacific NW is all the wonderful conifers. I could spend all day in a nursery like that, drooling over the selection. I would have to wear some extra layers, however!

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  2. Lisa at GreenbowFebruary 3, 2020 at 10:58 AM

    Strolling through those aisles chocked full of plants would be a major temptation to me, especially through the conifers. I love them when they are small like in that one picture. Just seeing the pictures makes my heart go pitty patter especially when it is 60F today. Crazy February weather here but I love it. We will pay when it dips back down to the 30's tomorrow night. It will be back to reality.

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  3. Hoover BooFebruary 4, 2020 at 1:50 PM

    Maybe everyone was buying houseplants because that is where it was warm. Nice place--thanks for the tour.

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