In August 2022, Jeanne and I visited Chanticleer Garden outside of Philadelphia. It’s taken me quite a while to share these photos, but it’s a garden I highly recommend. Just don’t go when it’s hot!! The multiple gardens are all gorgeous, especially the water gardens with huge koi. Streams run through the wooded and open areas.
From the website: “Chanticleer has been called the most romantic, imaginative, and exciting public garden in America. The garden is a study of textures and forms, where foliage trumps flowers, the gardeners lead the design, and even the drinking fountains are sculptural. It is a garden of pleasure and learning, relaxing yet filled with ideas to take home.
The garden has evolved greatly since the death of the owner in 1990. As the home of the Rosengartens, Chanticleer was beautiful and green with impressive trees and lawns. Most of the floral and garden development you see today has occurred since 1990, designed by Chanticleer staff and consultants.
The Tennis Court, Ruin, Gravel Garden, and Pond Garden focus on hardy perennials, both woody and herbaceous. The Tennis Court builds on the idea of foliar display introduced in the Teacup. The Ruin is a folly, built on the foundation of Adolph Rosengarten, Jr.’s home. It is meant to look as if the house fell into disrepair. The Gravel Garden is hot and dry, a touch of the Mediterranean in Pennsylvania. The Pond area is exuberantly floriferous.
Asian Woods and Bell’s Woodland are shady areas. The former features natives of China, Korea, and Japan; the latter, plants of eastern North America. The Serpentine celebrates the beauty of agricultural crops. The cutting and vegetable gardens produce flowers for our arrangements and food for our tables. Surplus goes to a shelter. The parking lot is our “low maintenance” area, with hardy plants that are neither irrigated nor fertilized. Staff build furniture, fences, gates, bridges, and drinking fountains during the winter in converted garages.”
Here are some photos from the dry garden.
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Dry garden
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Swallowtail on liatris
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Dry garden
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Dry garden
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Swallowtail on liatris
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Dry garden
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Dry garden
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Liatris in dry garden
There are many interconnected water gardens that have beautiful lotus plants, water lilies, and koi.
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Water garden
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Koi
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Water garden
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Koi
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Water garden
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Water garden
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Lotus bud
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Lotus flower
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Koi
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Lotus flower
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Koi
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Lotus plant
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Koi
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Lotus
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Water garden
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Koi
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Water garden
The extensive vegetable gardens include a fenced area.
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Vegetable gardens
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Entrance to fenced vegetable garden
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Sunflowers in vegetable garden
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Vegetable garden
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Sunflowers in vegetable garden
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Fenced vegetable garden
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Tomatoes
Other areas of garden.
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Tiger lilies
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Main house
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Pool and pool house
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Swallowtail
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Coneflowers
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Damselfly
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Folly wall
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Shade pergola
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Jeanne in shade pergola
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Shade pergola
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Wooded area with stream
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Swallowtail
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Garden with thalictrum and tiger lily
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Stairs
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Damselfly
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Yews
One of my favorite spots was a garden full of tiger lilies and thalictrum. In the fall, in a small area of my own garden, I planted tiger lily bulbs and thalictrum plants that I started from seed.
Garden with thalictrum and tiger lily