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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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Fuchsia Friday

 

'Little Giant'

It has been a while since I've posted photos of our fuchsias. We have lots on the deck in containers. Many were overwintered in the garage. However, I've learned that they are so slow to regain their growth and start blooming again, that I think it might be best to just purchase new ones every year. Some are cold hardy and I've transplanted several in the ground (one of them is 'Little Giant' pictured above).

Some others growing in the garden are:

'Cardinal'


 

'Lady Boothby' can be considered a climber. It is scrambling up our paperbark maple and has so far reached at least six feet.

 

'Lady Boothby'

 

'Queen Esther'

'Santa Claus'

'Hawkshead' - one of my favorites. It is all white and about 3' tall.

'Voodoo'

And some of the potted fuchsias -

'Erecta'

'June Bride'

'Shrimp Cocktail'

'Delta's Sarah'


 

'Whiteknights Pearl'

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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Comments

  1. Hoover BooSeptember 11, 2020 at 1:38 PM

    Love them all. They are beautiful, Phillip. When I was growing up Fuchsias were everywhere in Southern California. Everyone seemed to have them in their gardens.

    The plants we remember from childhood somehow seem more special.

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  2. Lisa at GreenbowSeptember 11, 2020 at 2:18 PM

    One of my first gardening loves. I will never forget the first fuchsia I ever saw and it has always been my favorite.

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  3. ksSeptember 11, 2020 at 4:33 PM

    I do love my Fuchsias ! It is hard to find some of the more interesting named varieties here in California I remember the days back before Fuchsia gall mite when the selection was abundant. I get most of mine now mail order from Joy Creek. I'm intrigued by Lady Boothby -I may have to seek her out !

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  4. Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax!September 12, 2020 at 4:03 AM

    Such pretty ballerinas!
    I try to persuade myself that if we throw away cut flowers, it's ok to throw away old plants too. It's hard though.

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  5. chavlinessSeptember 12, 2020 at 9:28 AM

    A nice collection. I'm not growing fuchsia, but than again, never say never.
    I'm fascinated with the photo of 'Shrimp Cocktail': is the two-tone of the flower unique to that specific bloom? The out-of-focus bloom next to it seems to have no stripe.

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