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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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Early Fall?


One of our local meterologists posted today that we are headed for an early fall. Music to my ears! It only got up to around 70 yesterday and we had an all-day marine layer. That hasn't happened in a long time. Today is equally tolerable and there has been some light rain showers.  Summer is my least favorite season so I'm happy to see it go.

On the minus side, August was one of the hottest on record for Portland and it is so dry that some plants in the garden are showing stress despite being watered. Relief is in sight - there is an 80% chance of rain on Thursday.

Some shots from the garden today -


Zinnias and Aster 'Kickin Purple'

Hibiscus 'Midnight Marvel'




Rose 'Buff Beauty'

Abelia 'Frances Mason' (a gift from Paul Bonine!)

Persicaria 'Blackfield'

Juniper 'All Gold'

Vernonia baldwinii (Western Ironweed) 



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Kris PetersonAugust 29, 2023 at 4:59 PM

    Your garden still looks very summery (and absolutely beautiful!) but I hope the prediction of an early fall is true. Summer is also my least favorite season and it's stifling here at the moment - we hit 97F this afternoon. I envy you that chance of rain.

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  2. Hoover BooAugust 29, 2023 at 8:28 PM

    I see some toasted Hosta, but overall your garden still looks fabulous. 'Buff Beauty' yes she is. 70F! Ahhhh, lovely gardening weather! We had 98F today. Not so Ahhhh. Hope you get a good rain.

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  3. JeanetteAugust 30, 2023 at 5:23 AM

    You have a beautiful garden. I, too, am ready for fall. Summer in North Texas as been extremely hot this year.

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  4. Patricia CAugust 30, 2023 at 8:07 AM

    You sure know how to knit a garden. Love seeing your posts. They are inspiring. Cheers

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  5. AnonymousAugust 30, 2023 at 8:28 AM

    Those juniper berries are great!
    The Hosta shot illustrates how some are more tolerant of sun than others. I transplanted a hosta to a morning sun-dappled shade and it's toasted. Others with greater exposure look fine, just like those in your picture.
    LOVE the stone Morrell mushroomll!
    Chavli

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