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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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May Showers Bring June Flowers

Clematis 'Proteus'

This is turning out to be a peculiar spring, cooler and wetter than we've experienced in the past seven years we've lived here. People who've lived here all their lives say that it used to rain up until July 4th but that is certainly not the case these days. June has always been dry but here we are with an atmospheric river on Sunday and damp and dreary since. Warmer and sunnier temps start tomorrow.

We did luck out and had nice weather on Saturday for our open garden. It was cloudy but remained dry with only a slight drizzle right at the 10am opening time. 

I don't think it has been warm enough to really wake up the perennials and the containers are still kind of pathetic. On the other hand, there are plants were abundant blooms this year, particularly the dogwood trees and roses.

Here is 'Wolf Eyes' which is prettier than it has ever been. Check out all those flowers!





And not to be outdone, Cornus kousa 'Celestial Shadow' in the front garden has has an equally profuse abundance of blooms this year -



As I said earlier, the roses are taking off. Not all are blooming yet, but most are.

'Phyllis Bide'




'Buff Beauty'

'Cornelia'



'Cornelia'

'Plum Perfect'

'Marchesa Boccella'


'Crown Princess Marguerite'

'Tess of the D'Urbervilles'

'Darcey Bussell'

'Gertrude Jekyll'

'Gold Medal'

More beauties -

Clematis 'Samaritan Jo'


Clematis 'Nelly Moser'

Climbing Hydrangea (anom petiolaris)


Persicaria 'Golden Arrow'


And I leave you with a photo of us taken by a garden visitor on Saturday - do we look happy or just tired?






Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. AnonymousJune 5, 2024 at 8:00 AM

    You sure have a way with Dogwood 'Wolf eyes'. I first noticed it in your Alabama garden and fell hard for it! Wish I had room for one of those beauties.
    Fortunate for you and your garden visitors that the rain held back on Saturday. You and Michale look happy and proud of your garden, as you should be.
    Chavli

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  2. Kris PetersonJune 5, 2024 at 10:34 AM

    Such a beautiful display, Phillip. Your hard work did the trick! You look happy to me ;)

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  3. tz_gardenJune 5, 2024 at 3:23 PM

    Woah! Your garden is just perfection, I'm glad the weather cooperated. Clematis 'Proteus' is especially ruffly, I like that. 'Wolf Eyes' is so glorious, I can't even believe it's real. Your garden is beautiful and lush, I think you both look happy in the picture. I'm sure exhausted, too!

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  4. Ardith FergusonJune 5, 2024 at 5:14 PM

    Wow, your garden looks amazing. That's a great photo of you and Michael as well. I'm glad Saturday's event went well. Having just moved here from Colorado I have much to learn from you and fellow gardeners. This is such a beautiful city and I can't wait to get my hands in the soil.

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  5. HummingbirdJune 6, 2024 at 8:31 PM

    I was so sorry to miss your open garden....it looks beautiful, you two! Debbie

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