A Visit to Chanticleer Garden in Pennsylvania
I love visiting gardens whenever I can, especially during this time of year when many trees, plants and flowers are coming to life.
Last week, while in Pennsylvania for other business commitments, I made a brief visit to the majestic Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Chanticleer Garden is an estate and botanical garden featuring more than five-thousand plants, trees and shrubs for the public to see. The garden has been called one of the most romantic, imaginative, and exciting gardens in America. Originally purchased in 1912 as a private estate for Adolph Rosengarten, Sr. and his wife, Christine, the 37-acre property eventually became home to their children before it was lovingly preserved and opened as a pleasure garden for the public in 1993. If you're ever in the area, I encourage you to visit Chanticleer Garden.
Here are some photos.
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- Whenever I visit Chanticleer, Executive Director, Bill Thomas, always greets me and gives me a lovely tour of the garden. Here I am with Bill and Director of Grounds, Jeff Lynch.
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- We walked across this expansive lawn towards the Cut Flower Garden and the Potting Sheds.
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- Along the way, we saw this bed in the Tennis Court Garden showing off a Magnolia x soulangeana and Magnolia liliflora in full flower.
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- Here is a grove of Yoshino cherry trees, Prunus x yedoensis, in full flower by the Vegetable Garden. The Yoshino cherry, also known as the Japanese flowering cherry, is a favorite in the flowering tree world. This stand-out tree is known for its vibrant display of white-pink blossoms and faint almond fragrance in spring.
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- Here’s “Monty”, Bill’s very photogenic brindle and white Cardigan Welsh Corgi.
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- This is the Vegetable Garden at Chanticleer. I admired the diagonal crop displays.
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- Each bed in the Vegetable Garden was surrounded by a walking path – we walked through the center of the garden to see what was sprouting. I cannot wait to start planting delicious vegetables in my garden back home.
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- We also visited the Cut Flower Garden. This is a Pyrus communis ‘Luscious’ – espaliered pear tree. It is an ornamental fruit tree that produces smallish sweet yellow-green pears in fall, very showy white flowers in spring and an upright oval habit – it is one of the hardier pears.
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- This is the cold frame by the Cut Flower Garden – a transparent-roofed enclosure, built low to the ground, used to protect plants from very cold or wet weather. The transparent top allows for sunlight and prevents heat from escaping.
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- One of the highlights of the tour was seeing this magnificent katsura tree, Cercidiphyllum japonica. This is a male katsura. A female specimen is planted behind it.
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- In the Orchard, we saw Prunus ‘Accolade’ with lots of daffodils peeking through the soil. Prunus ‘Accolade’ is one of the first cherries in bloom, bearing large clusters of pure pink semi-double flowers which fade to light pink. It also has a very attractive smooth reddish-brown bark, marked with horizontal lenticels. In autumn the fresh green leaves turn yellow-orange – so beautiful.
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- On the other side, a Magnolia ‘Lois’ with Narcissus ‘Ice Follies’ in the Sporobolus Meadow.
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- The Ruin Garden was built on the foundation of the Minder House, where Adolph Rosengarten, Jr. lived most of his life. For safety reasons, the only original parts of the house, were the foundation and the tile ‘rug’. Here is the 24-foot long Reflecting Pool at the base of the Ruin Garden mantle – all beneath a towering fireplace chimney.
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- On the stone wall of the Ruin Garden, we saw Chaenomeles × superba ‘Jet Trail’, a spreading, yet compact, deciduous shrub that’s excellent for mass plantings and borders. The beautiful early blooming white flowers can be used for cutting or to attract butterflies.
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- Also at the Ruin Garden, Cephalotaxus harringtonii ‘Fastigiata’, or Japanese plum yew. This cultivar has a more carefree, vertical growth habit. It is very dense, finely textured, with shiny, dark green foliage. It is great as a foundation plant or landscape specimen and is both heat and shade tolerant. It’s also deer resistant.
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- This is an Ulmus parvifolia ‘Frosty’ at the Ruin Garden. It is also a favorite among gardeners for its elegant form, its attractive bark, and its fast growth speed.
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- Near the Ruin Garden is this set of inviting Stone Furniture. We did not, however, take a seat – there was too much to see.
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- By the Pond Garden Arbor we saw this Platanus occidentalis underplanted with Narcissus ‘Ice Wings’. Platanus occidentalis, also known as American sycamore, American planetree, occidental plane, and buttonwood, is one of the species of Platanus native to North America. It is also the symbol of my Bedford farm, Cantitoe Corners.
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- In the Pond Garden’s Silver Bed, I took this photo of growing Epimedium pubigerum, Narcissus ‘Hawera’, Mertensia virginica, or Virginia Bluebells, Phlox subulata, and Muscari armeniacum. I grow all of these at my Bedford farm also.
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- Here is the Serpentine planted with Hordeum vulgare ‘Violetta’, or malted barley. I loved the linear design of this bed.
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- Here is a grove of Salix alba ‘Britzensis’, or Coral Bark willow. It is very ornamental, particularly in winter.
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- Headed toward the Chanticleer House, we saw Tilia tomentosa, or silver linden. As many of you know, I am quite fond of lindens and have two allees of linden trees back home.
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- This is the Chanticleer Pool House – the pool is located just behind the pots of Agave americana.
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- Here, we saw Muscari ‘Dark Eyes’ and Tulipa ‘Cretaceous’ in a container with Fritillaria persica ‘Ivory bells’ in the bed.
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- This is a Salix alba ‘Britzensis’ woven container with Tulipa ‘Hakuun’ and Tulipa ‘Anne Schilder’. Find out more about the branches around this urn on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 – it is very interesting.
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- Weigela florida ‘Bramwell’ is native to North China, Korea and Japan. It is a dense, rounded, deciduous shrub that typically grows to six to 10 feet tall and may spread over time to as much as 12-feet wide.
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- Here, Bill is holding a Magnolia ‘Phelan Bright’ blossom. It is a Todd Gresham hybrid of unknown parents named for magnolia enthusiast, Phelan Bright, from Hammond, Louisiana.
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- There were so many wonderful specimens on the Sun Porch Mantle, including Bellis perennis ‘Bellissima™ White’, Carex socialis, Crocus, Fragaria vesca ‘Alexandrina’, and Fritillaria meleagris.
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- Here is the Chanticleer Terrace Overlook at the main house and another willow stems woven container.
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- And finally, the gravel circle, beautifully shaded by the grand flowering cherry tree, Prunus ‘Accolade’. It is always a joy to visit Chanticleer. Please stop in if you’re in the area – it’s within 30-minutes of Philadelphia. Visit their web site for more information. http://www.chanticleergarden.org/
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