By Kathy Conner Cornell
Southside Master Gardener
Back in the early 1900’s, it was fashionable for the Philadelphia elite to have summer homes in the nearby countryside. Adolph Rosengarten, Sr. and his wife Christine built their country retreat in Wayne, Pennsylvania near the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The family's pharmaceutical firm would become part of Merck & Company in the 1920s. Charles L. Borie designed the house, completed in 1913 and the Rosegartens named it Chanticleer after the estate "Chanticlere" in Thackeray's 1855 novel The Newcomes. The fictional Chanticlere was "mortgaged up to the very castle windows" but "still the show of the county." Indeed the mansion is beautiful and can be toured with prior reservations.
It was the gardens that drew me to the estate. I was fortunate to hear a program about Chanticleer’s gardens by Bill Thomas, Executive Director and Head Gardener and author of An Insider’s Look at Chanticleer and chief contributor to The Art of Gardening: Design Inspiration and Innovative Planting Techniques from Chanticleer. I fell in love with the concept of the garden - the staff wants you to leave with a bigger smile than you came with and this is very easily accomplished. Some friends and I visited in September. I was impressed by the riot of color in a season where for most plants the party is over. All well-designed gardens have four-season appeal and indeed Chanticleer did not disappoint.
So what makes Chanticleer such a joy to behold – a combination of things where even small details make such an impact. The gardens opened in 1993 and Bill Thomas joined the team in 2003 with 26 years experience at the wonderful Longwood Gardens. Early on there was no restriction on what the garden should be. There are two big houses on the 47 acre estate, the main residence and the entryway. A third house was turned into a ruin with a lot of play on life and death.
As you enter the garden you are greeted by the Teacup Garden, the focal point being a fountain found in Florence, Italy. The display in this garden is changed out frequently. In the spring various colored lettuces are planted that give the garden a mosaic quilt feel. In summer, color coordinated tropical and subtropical plants are used to give you a sense of ordered chaos. In other words, you are grabbed by the delight of the gardens at first sight.
Bulbs are used in the hillside meadow but the foliage is allowed to die back naturally, a sustainable method vs. yearly replantings. Spring bulbs of Spanish bluebells and daffodils delight first. Ornamental grasses come on next hiding the brown foliage. The grasses are mowed in fall to show a display of autumn crocus and Lycoris.
The Asian Wood features tall native tree species and is underplanted with Korean, Chinese and Japanese plants. However, the design is not Asian but an American woodland garden. In this area is a restroom that resembles a teahouse. Here I found delights of the cutting garden. In each restroom and in other interior places are beautiful flower arrangements. How special to see something so wonderful in the Ladies Room. You feel the garden experience even on the inside.
Each garden area is assigned a horticulturist and it is their job to design and maintain their space. Although Bill Thomas oversees all, this is a very autonomous working environment. The horticulturists are rotated every few years to keep the garden design fresh. The gardens are open basically April through October. The wintertime is still an active time. The gardeners are encouraged to attend special training for artistic crafts that they make themselves and incorporate into the gardens. Throughout you will see examples of their handiwork in gates, bridges, pathways, edging, chairs, tables, decorative planters and even water fountains.
Chanticleer not only takes care of their employees but gives back to the public. They have a large vegetable garden and an orchard. Vegetables and fruits are distributed to the staff and any leftovers go to a women’s shelter. After the spring display of daffodils in the orchard, warm season grasses emerge that are baled for hay in July. The gardens participate in staff exchanges. For example, they have sent staff to Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden in South Africa to help train their employees.
I have only touched on a few of the features of Chanticleer. You will also find a creek, pond, a serpentine garden and an amazing gravel garden. Consider taking a long weekend and spending time at Chanticleer, http://www.chanticleergarden.org/, and then visiting Longwood Gardens the next day, https://longwoodgardens.org. You will leave feeling inspired and itching to try something new and beautiful in your own garden.
The Southside Master Gardener Association (SSMGA) supports the Virginia Cooperative Extension and its mission to “enable people to improve their lives through an educational process that uses scientific knowledge focused on issues and needs”.
