I’d never heard of this garden before I came to Longwood. I did know the word Chanticleer, because of the ornamental pear or Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’, but from what i can tell they isn’t any connection. The gardens are pretty amazing though!
Most of the gardens and places we’ve been visiting have focused more on the plants themselves. Like a specimen tree or a collection of a specific Genera of plants. But here, it was more about using plants to accentuate a space. Which is more of what my background in horticulture is. They played with colors and complimentary textures and other design elements. I really enjoyed seeing more of that design aspect, as that is still how my mind tends to work when I’m looking at plantings.
And besides the design aspect, there were more eclectic elements as well. Just cool things that stood out on their own. That’s one thing i loved about this garden, you could tell they had money (pretty unusual for a public garden these days it seems) and they also have ample space. So they’re able to do things not every garden can pull off.
They also had lots of container plantings, which after spending time in NYC doing landscape related things, I’ve greatly come to appreciate the creativity of such a small space. Containers can be especially cool because typically they are only for the season, so the possibilities of combinations are apsolutely endless! And I feel like Chanticleer really explores those possibilities. Some of my favorites are below.
Another really cool thing in this garden? The bathrooms! hahaha. Seriously though, such cool bathrooms in the Asian Garden area… But hey, at least I only took a picture of the entrance! haha.
My favorite part of the garden was hands down the Ruins Garden. SOOO cool. It was my style all around. “Dilapidating structure”? Haha, I don’t even know how to explain. Chaos amongst organization might be a better way to say it. You could tell it was designed to be that way, but because of the way it was designed you felt like it all just happened naturally.
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Here are some random facts about Chanticleer (excerpts from the garden guide) to accompany some random photos:
“The Chanticleer Foundation owns 47 acres, approximately 35 of which are open to the public.”
“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 in design, and even the drinking fountains are sculptural.”
Unfortunately I visited there by myself and didn’t think to take a photo of people! But in some ways, the following is proof that I was there.. haha
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