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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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Threshold to Fall

Hibiscus 'Midnight Marvel'

Last night our weatherman said that from here on out, we would have fall weather. Summer left with a bang with an almost 100 degree day at the end of the August. The heat fluctuations are a nuisance, and I miss the days of consistent temperatures. There doesn't seem to be a happy medium anymore, it is either at one extreme or another. 

The older I get, the more sensitive I get to cold temperatures. This creates major conflict in our household with Michael being hot all the time. I swear he freezes me to death. So I celebrate the end of the noisy air conditioner kicking on right as I sit down on the deck for quiet reading and the constant drone of fans inside the house. 

I'm hoping for a mild autumn where temperatures hover around the low 70s. Is that too much to ask?

I love the fall season - the colors, the brisk clean feeling in the air and the way the sun starts casting odd shadows. 




Canna 'Panache'

Hydrangea 'Lemon Wave'

Alstroemeria 'Sweet Laura'

Crape Myrtle 'Dynamite'

'Dynamite' again and the rose 'Swany' on the right. It is blooming again!

One of the best pots this year and this is its second season. I've never had much success with Huechera (Coral Bells) but this one is a winner - 'Red Lightning'. The Cape Fuchsia above it was a gift from friends - it is Phygelius 'Colorburst Yellow'. It is a good idea to always grow the cape fuchsias in pots as they can be quite aggressive in the ground.

Jasmine 'Ogon Nishiki'

Unfortunately, I lost the name of this Japanese Maple that we have growing in a pot. I'm guessing that it is 'Viridis'.


Chinese Foxglove (Rehmannia elata)


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Kris PetersonSeptember 15, 2024 at 5:46 PM

    Late summer looks a whole lot better in your part of the country than mine, Phillip! I love that Hibiscus. Do you know the cultivar name for the orange-flowered dahlia? It's gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PhillipSeptember 15, 2024 at 5:54 PM

      No, I wish I did. I tried to find it but could not.

      Delete
  2. Ardith FergusonSeptember 15, 2024 at 8:15 PM

    Your photos are exquisite! I saw the Red Lightning Huechera at Yard and Garden on Saturday and really love it. Thanks for sharing these late summer scenes from your garden.

    ReplyDelete
  3. tz_gardenSeptember 16, 2024 at 7:57 AM

    Oh my these photos are so wonderful, your garden feels so lush and green! That dahlia is stunning.

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  4. Hoover BooSeptember 16, 2024 at 5:35 PM

    Gorgeous photos of beautiful plants. The light is so much better now--without the harsh intensity of summer.

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