Exploring the garden in summer

Summer is a beautiful time to explore Coleton Fishacre garden. Banks and borders are filled with bright swathes of colour and the exotic planting comes into its own, all against a backdrop of tree tops and sea views.

The pictorial meadow

An annual flower mix has been planted beside the café with a blend of native and non-native annuals. These were selected for their vibrant mix of flowers, and have previously been planted in front of Visitor Reception. Some of the flowers are cultivated varieties and will not come ‘true to type’ if left to seed, so we sew a new batch each year to keep the display at a high standard.

Kent's Border

The border closest to the house is the focus of a project at the moment. Over the winter and spring months the garden team stripped out all of the old planting (replanting everything from that border in other places in the garden) and spent some time giving the soil some TLC. Kent's Border now has a new planting scheme in the Arts and Crafts style, which will continue to evolve over the coming months.

The Rill Garden

The walled garden where the small stream (or rill) runs through the centre is a place of tranquillity in summer. Soft colours fill the walled garden as annuals, perennials and roses present a fragrant patchwork of pastel hues. 

The Hot Border

In front of the house the Hot Border is filled with flowers in fiery shades of reds and oranges, creating a ‘firework’ effect of upward pointing flowers in hot colours. Just some of the vibrant flowering plants include alstroemeria, cannas, dahlias, crocosmia, kniphofia and a selection of salvias.

Wellington's Wall

The wall bordering the lawn next to the house is a riot of yellows and blues as argyranthemum mederense, lithodora ‘Heavenly Blue’, rosemary, and euryops chrysanthemoides are all in flower now. A backdrop of olive trees and silvery-foliaged lavender, convolvulus and helichrysum provide a distinctly Mediterranean feel.

The Gazebo border