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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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Japanese Maples Fall Color

'Skeeter's Broom' is the most colorful maple in our garden.


I have just returned from a 2-week trip to Japan. This was my first ever trip outside the United States. It was an amazing experience and one I will never forget. Japan was wonderful - they really have their act together and I think the U.S. could learn a few things from them.

There was one disappointment on the trip - the fall color had barely begun there and was really just beginning as we left. That is okay because the gardens were still spectacular, and I got a nice shot of fall color when I got back.

'Ryusen'


I missed a few things - our ginkgo had just turned a glorious color the day before I left, and the leaves were gone by the time I got back. 

'Sango-Kaku'


I came home to many leaves on the ground but still a lot on the trees. 'Osakazuki', a beautiful red maple always changed color very late and therefore doesn't usually last long. When I left there was no color but a few remaining blood-red leaves were lingering when I returned. Still, not enough for a good photo. Michael tells me that it was beautiful. 

A scattering of leaves from 'Skeeter's Broom'

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Kris PetersonNovember 17, 2024 at 6:51 PM

    Beautiful maples, even if you didn't catch all of them at their peak!

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  2. AnonymousNovember 18, 2024 at 7:56 AM

    The fallen leaves are just as gorgeous when skirting the earth bellow! That last photo is spectacular.
    I hope you'll post about your trip in Japan.
    Chavli

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  3. tz_gardenNovember 18, 2024 at 10:00 AM

    Welcome home! I just got back from a 2 week trip to Cambodia and Thailand and still feeling wobbly and jet lagged. Japan sounds wonderful, I've always wanted to visit. The colors are brilliant on Skeeter's Broom - WOW!

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    1. Phillip OliverNovember 18, 2024 at 10:30 AM

      Welcome back home to you too. I didn't think I was affected by that but I just slept until 10am today and I haven't done that since I was a teen.

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    2. Ardith FergusonNovember 19, 2024 at 7:39 PM

      The Skeeter's Broom is so stunning! Beautiful colors throughout your garden. Can't wait to hear more about your trip.

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