Today, as part of our occasional series visiting great public gardens, Kevin Kelly is taking us to Wayne, Pennsylvania, just northwest of Philadelphia, to visit a truly spectacular garden.
I recently made a trip to visit Chanticleer in Wayne, Pennsylvania. The Chanticleer estate was the country retreat of Adolph and Christine Rosengarten and was built in 1913. The garden opened to the public in 1993. There are seven horticulturalists, each responsible for the design, planting, and maintenance of certain areas of the garden. The areas change greatly from year to year, which keeps up the excitement and desire for frequent visits. They reuse, recycle, and compost. This is a beautiful garden to visit and has been my inspiration garden for my own home garden. Here are a few pictures.
The Teacup Garden is named for the signature fountain that is the focal point. The plantings around the fountain change annually.
Here’s a beautiful example of good design, using layering, texture, and color echoes.
Opuntia (prickly pear cactus, Zones 5–10) grows on the border of the gravel garden.
The gravel garden was still showing wonderful color and texture well into October.
This fun and somewhat “creepy” fountain is located within the Ruin Garden.
These chairs are made by staff members at Chanticleer from wood collected within the garden. They usually work on projects like this during the winter when the garden is closed to the public.
Every day the staff collects fresh blooms to layer on the water in this container. There is seating around this bowl, which makes it a wonderful place to sit.
This water feature is in a courtyard behind the main house.
This Colocasia ‘Pharoah’s Mask’ (Zones 7–10) is stunning.
This is one of several interconnected ponds that make up the pond garden and can be easily viewed from the higher elevation of the main house.
A Muhlenbergia capillaris (Pink Muhly grass, Zones 5–9) is beautifully backlit.