Skip to main content

Featured

Coleton Fishacre (Devon, England)

Coleton Fishacre was in my top 5 gardens on the tour. This Arts & Crafts style house and garden was the country home of  Rupert D'Oyly Carte and his wife Lady Dorothy Carte.   He was the well-known theater owner (The Savoy) and producer (Gilbert & Sullivan).  They spotted the property from their yacht and thought it would be a great spot for a country home and garden. Ah, to have that much money... They commissioned Oswald Milne, a former student of Edward Lutyens to design the house. Both Rupert and Lady Dorothy were interested in gardening but it was Lady Dorothy who mainly planted the garden, filling it with exotic and tender plants that survived with the influence of the Gulf stream. They employed six full-time gardeners! I often wonder if people who have that much money are really able to enjoy a property like this and actually live in it?  Their tenure here wasn't that long (a dozen years or so), although Dorothy lived here full-time in the late 19...
Post a Comment
Read more
Labels

Thomas Vetter's Garden - Another Revisit


I've been trying to catch up on visiting some of the HPSO Open Gardens this summer and one that I can't pass up is Thomas Vetter's garden in Portland. It continues to inspire me. He is a master at putting plants together. 








Persicaria 'Painter's Palette'





The above photos are from the back garden. He also has a nice collection of succulents -






In the front, a large Parrotia was recently removed. Of course, he used the logs to make an artistic monument -


And, in the back again, one more photo of the lovely Robinia Tree along the back border-


I highly recommend a visit when his garden is open. The Open Gardens directory can be found on the HPSO website. 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
Email Post
Labels:

Comments

  1. Kris PetersonJuly 24, 2023 at 11:46 AM

    Such a peaceful, painterly garden! Someday I'll get up that way to take advantage of the HPSO open gardens...

    ReplyDelete
  2. tz_gardenJuly 25, 2023 at 7:55 AM

    I can imagine putting in the forest grass, hosta, etc combination and immediately knowing that it was a stellar compilation of color/texture. So beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. danger gardenJuly 25, 2023 at 8:34 AM

    His collection of succulents has grown considerably since my last visit.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment