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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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Foxtail Rosemary


Rosmarinus officinalis 'Foxtail', the Foxtail Rosemary makes a graceful statement as it cascades over the edge of a terraced bed. This is the only rosemary in the garden since the trailing variety that I had for years was damaged so badly last winter that I took it out.

'Irene' is the rosemary that is no longer with us and I miss seeing it trail down the retaining wall next to the driveway.  I would replace it but another trailer, cotoneaster, is competing heavily for space there. 

Rosemary 'Irene' in happier times


I have not planted any of the upright rosemary types. I've seen too many that became monstrosities and are impossible to curtail. I do love them though as brushing by that fragrance is such a pleasant sensation.

Back to 'Foxtail' - it really has all the same qualities as the others but is much more mild-mannered. It too sulked after last January's freeze and I did have to trim some of it back. It resides in a somewhat protected area on the south side of the house unlike 'Irene' which was next to a cold wall, in the open and facing east. 

'Foxtail' is happy in this location because of the superb drainage. It gets mostly morning sun and is semi-shaded in the afternoon by the Katsura tree. 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Kris PetersonJanuary 13, 2025 at 9:43 AM

    I'm glad you found a rosemary that works for you. I always think of it as indestructible and it surprises me when I hear that that isn't the case in many climates. Some of my "prostrate" rosemary has grown tall and unwieldy over the years so I should've given more thought to where I placed it.

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  2. Barbara H.January 14, 2025 at 12:29 PM

    Thank you, Phillip! I was hoping there would be more information about this rosemary. All my rosemary, which had done so well for many years, bit the dust when we had a severe deep freeze. Makes me hesitant to get more but I do love it.

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  3. tz_gardenJanuary 18, 2025 at 9:11 AM

    Yes, I have an uncontrolled rosemary :(. I pulled two out and need to attack the last one standing. Irene is lovely!

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  4. CarJanuary 24, 2025 at 5:33 PM

    I saw a lot of Rosemary Irene and others bite the dust in February 2024 weird cold weather. I think Irene is cheap and if not watered or fertilized she can last a long time in the right setting. Rosemary in general grows fast so I would encourage people to consider replacing their rosemary if it did well for several years. The bees love the early flowers and while I would not plant 100 Rosemary Irene for a hillside I would plant 5 or ten above a wall facing south....in a heartbeat. Foxtail looks great. I'd like to try it. The weather was so bizarre Feb 2024 that even with climate change Im thinking it will be many years before we have anything quite like it again. I hope. Interesting Blog! (especially because you are getting into the nitty gritty of how plants do here.) Thanks.

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