Happy Friday GPODers!
We’ve got another submission from friend-of-the-blog, Carla Zambelli Mudry. However, we’re not getting an update from her garden in Malvern, Pennsylvania this time. Instead, Carla is sharing her recent trip to Chanticleer Garden.
I don’t just love to garden, I love to visit gardens.
Yesterday I visited a favorite spot fairly local to me, Chanticleer Garden in Wayne. It’s a wonderful tapestry of gardens within a garden and well worth a visit. It’s located in suburban Philadelphia.
Chanticleer was an estate. The Chanticleer estate dates from the early 20th-century, when land along the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad was developed for summer homes to escape the heat of Philadelphia. Adolph Rosengarten Sr. and his wife Christine chose the Wayne-St. Davids area to build their country retreat.
In 1924 it became more than a summer home, it became a permanent year-round home and eventually the children of the Rosengarten‘s had homes of their own on the property.
In 1990, Adolf Rosengarten Jr. left the property in his estate to be turned into pleasure gardens. The subsequently formed Chanticleer Foundation oversees it all. It’s an interesting place and they offer classes at different times of the year on occasion, which are very expensive but worth it. The gardens are always worth seeing at any time they are open. You can have a membership or you can pay to go as you wish.
I forget exactly how many people and horticulturalists are employed, but this is an amazing place and well worth a visit. One of my favorite things are the aspen trees, because they make the coolest noise in the breeze.
They have some magnificent old growth trees, and very interesting gardens and wonderful furniture scattered throughout—a lot of which was made on site from reclaimed wood. There are water features and the main art is the plants themselves.
One of the things I find most inspirational is how they work all sorts of things into planters and pots and flowerbeds.
Chanticleer knows that nothing pairs with a patio better than an array of tropical plants. Even from a distance, the entrance to the estate looks lush and enviting with tropical foliage glowing in the sunlight.
And a tight clustering of containers gives the illusion of a thick forest of plantings, while providing privacy and separating a space. Part of what makes Chanticleer so special is its distinction as a “pleasure” garden, and the horticulturists here take that name seriously. Aside from just being a place to see pretty plants, Chanticleer is an immersive experience.
This means lots of water features that introduce soothing sounds to the gardens, and very dense plantings that have lots of detail to take in and admire.
Of course, having plenty of places to sit is also essential for an immersive experience. But simple chairs and benches would not do for this space, you’ll often find seating options adorned with plant designs that give that make you feel like their another living, growing part of the grounds.
The gardens also invite you to look at plants in all kinds of different, interesting ways. Rather than traditional cut flower arrangements, large bowls of water are used to create floating flower artworks. This spread allows you to see flowers and foliage from a very different vantage point.
If you’re looking for container garden inspiration, Chanticleer is a gold mine. From the tropical plantings we saw at the beginning of this tour to these foliage options that have all kinds incredible textures. As someone who is always drawn to things that look a little other-worldly, the outstretched stems of the funky tapeworm plant (Muehlenbeckia platyclada, Zones 9–12 and commonly grown as a houseplant) steal the show for me.
A huge ‘Yellow Ribbons’ agave americana (Agave americana ‘Yellow Ribbons’, Zones 8–11) also wows as a focal point plant. And to add to its somewhat alien look, the large metal pedestal holding its pot makes it look like a UFO that has crash-landed in the garden.
Another fabulous floating flower pot, this time with some more subtle colors. The white variegation of snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia marginata, annual) makes for a beautiful contrast to the pops of pink in the hydrangea blooms.
Another seating area where the chairs are as interesting as the plants that surround.
And a public garden after my own heart, featuring a treasure trove of interesting houseplants. Of course, my favorite being the long staghorn fern trailing down the fireplace.
Finally, a lush courtyard with more water features lots of shade. If explored public gardens in the summertime, you know long treks through full-sun beds is not always the most pleasurable experience. This, on the other hand, looks like a space I could enjoy all afternoon.
Thank you for sharing this in-depth look at Chanticleer Garden with us, Carla! There is always something new and exciting to see at Chanticleer, inside and out.
And hope you all have a fabulous weekend. If you have the time, try sneaking out to your local garden or park and see what’s growing!
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