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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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The Late Rhododendrons



'Percy Wiseman'
'Percy Wiseman'

I am behind on my blog posts. So much work to do in the garden this time of year and so much to see.

The rhododendrons are fading but they have all performed nicely this year. Here are some of the late blooming ones from the past weeks -

First up is one of my favorites - Percy Wiseman. This is a color changing rhododendron that
"emerge in shades of peach, pink and cream before fading to creamy white" (the nursery description). I think it is just stunning.


A very popular red variety is 'Jean Marie de Montague' -

'Jean Marie de Montague'

Don't ask me how to pronounce 'Oudijk's Sensation'. I purchased this one last year based on the foliage alone. It has very pretty rounded leaves. The flowers have now faded and I've noticed that the new growth has a reddish tint.

'Oudijk's Sensation'

The rhododendron below came with the house and I don't know the name. It is on the west side of our house where there are no windows. Therefore, our neighbors get to enjoy it more than we do.

Unknown


This one is also an unknown. Don't judge me but it came from Wal-Mart during a weak moment. It was stunning. I failed to record the name but I would swear the name was 'Holden'. However, a Google search shows 'Holden' as being pink (of course, it could have been mislabeled). I love this shade of purple. No name though, which kills me.

Unknown


'Anna Rose Whitney' has been a very shy bloomer. There were only 3 or 4 blooms this year but they were spectacular. The blooms are very large. I'm thinking that the shrub may need more sun.

'Anna Rose Whitney'


'Anah Kruschke' was the first rhododendron I planted. I wanted more of a purple color and this one is more magenta. It was wonderful this year, the best it has bloomed so far.

'Anah Kruschke'

'Anah Kruschke' with Japanese Maple 'Shaina'


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. chavlinessMay 27, 2020 at 8:55 AM

    I can see why you love Percy Wiseman so much: it has gorgeous blooms.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisa at GreenbowMay 28, 2020 at 6:37 PM

    Your rhodies are magnificent. All that saturated color is wow.
    What has happened to that wall project?? Did you finish it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phillip OliverMay 28, 2020 at 7:00 PM

      Yes, it is finished and I keep putting off doing a post. It was so exhausting, I'm just glad it is over. I hope to get an update posted in a few days. :)

      Delete
  3. Endah MurniyatiMay 29, 2020 at 12:30 AM

    They are so beautiful, especially the pinky peach color at the first picture

    ReplyDelete

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