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Iford Manor (Part 2)

(Continued from Part 1) ... I knew that Iford Manor was my kind of garden when I saw the statue of "Dying Gaul" perched on top of a wall. We can't afford one for our garden but we do have a little version inside the house - The garden continues uphill with areas that are naturalized as well as manicured  -  A very theatrical area with some of the statuary from Peto's travels - Peto loved curved benches. In addition to Italian gardens, he was influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement. Some think that his love of curved benches came from the paintings of Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Some copies of his works were found in Peto's files - "Expectations" by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema Small buildings also dotted the landscape - The largest building was the cloister which housed more of his classical treasures - There is even a Japanese garden - Various pathways and woodland trails led to a road above the gardens. This set of stairs was roped off, but there were more ...
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Spring

 
I feel like the new season really begins the day I uncover the water features, uncover the garden statuary and the patio furniture. 

I didn't get all that done today but I got the water feature going which took me several hours because I'm plugging it up through the garage this year. I run the extension cord through a PVC pipe underground so I had to reposition that and dig a shallow trench. I worked all afternoon on it after working this morning in someone else's garden. It was beautiful and sunny today after previous days of cold and wet.

I noticed today that plants are budding out. 

The grass in the front looks great -
 

 

In the back, not so much -
 

 

More pruning to commence after the bins are emptied on Thursday -
 

 

This morning on my Facebook memories, Camellia 'Bella Rossa' popped up as blooming one year ago today. I checked it and it has 3 blooms. More to come I'm sure as last year it was covered with blooms -
 

 

Camellia "Mathotiana' -
 

 

Spirea 'Ogon' - always the first shrub to bloom -
 

 

Euphorbia wulfenii -
 


Euonymous albomarginatus -


 
Arctostaphylos 'Sunset' (Manzanita) -



 
Awaiting an empty bin (two bins is not enough!) -


Check out this gorgeous rhododendron! This is from Rueben Hatch's garden. It is Rhododendron lanigerum -



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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