Chanticleer Garden

Chanticleer Gardens was a great treat to visit. This meticulously maintained garden served up the best of Pennsylvania horticulture in an incredible display garden. The terrain is rolling and we “Flat-Landers” from Florida were not up to the task of viewing the entire property of 35 acres open to the public. The temperature was around 90 degrees for our visit and between hills and heat we took short cuts on our tour. We missed a number of interesting gardens on our trip that will necessitate a return visit in a sedan chair.

One garden that captured our Florida attention was the tea cup garden that was loaded with familiar tropical garden friends. Tropical plants are over-wintered in basements, bathrooms and other cool facilities on the property. Many plants are in pots and beautiful color combinations give the visitor lots of gardening ideas.

I enjoyed the entrance to the main house that had the most incredible display of hydrangeas I have ever seen. This mix of plants had lace cap, mop-head and flower forms in a tremendous variety of colors. Hydrangeas are a relatively new buzzword with horticulturists who have developed many new types including those with repeating bloom that really extends the flowering season for this group of plants. You felt like you were on a cloud passing through these plants. This was a garden highlight for me.

We visited the vegetable, cut flower and the ruins garden which were also very interesting. The ruins garden featured many succulents which you do not associate with the Northeastern states. The gardens change dramatically from spring to fall with every plant having its special show-off time as its season of beauty unfolds. This peek into the gardens at the end of June just gives a hint of what Chanticleer is all about.

Visit the Chanticleer web site at http://www.chanticleergarden.org/ for more information. This garden is a must for anyone in the Philadelphia area to see.