February 23, 2022
A teacup-shaped fountain in the entry garden at Chanticleer gives the Teacup Garden its name. Each year the plantings around the fountain are redesigned to create a bold, new theatrical vignette.
I visited Chanticleer in Wayne, Pennsylvania, last October on my East Coast road trip, and this is Part 3 of my blog series about this incredible garden.
To illustrate how much the Teacup Garden changes from year to year, here’s the garden in July 2008, when agaves, palm, and mounding groundcovers gave the space a dry-garden, Mediterranean feel.
Eight years later in June 2016, the Teacup Garden glowed with golden bromeliads set off by silvery olive trees — still Mediterranean in spirit but with an entirely new look.
Teacup Garden
Fast-forward to mid-October 2021, and the Teacup Garden was jungly with sago palms, a banana tree, and encroaching foliage. Classical columns with timbers connecting some of them have been added for a romantic, worn-by-the-ages effect. A flagstone path invites you in, providing access to the teacup fountain.
The columns create an opportunity for vertical gardening, seen in the climbing vines at left and, at right, silver ponyfoot cascading from a pot perched atop one column.
A side view
As a visitor, it’s fun to see how the Teacup Garden changes from year to year. How wonderful it would be to live close by and watch each new design evolve through the seasons.
In the adjacent Kitchen Garden courtyard, bold containers set the stage for the larger garden to come.
Even in the restroom, the garden is there to greet you.
During the winter months, Chanticleer’s staff puts their artistic talents to work in designing and creating unique garden seating, metalwork, water fountains, and more. I particularly admire their botanically inspired handrails, like this one.
From the stairs you get a new vantage on the Teacup Garden. I believe the house in the background is used as administrative offices.
At the top of the slope, a lawn path runs the length of a white-flowering double border.
Brugmansia dangles white trumpets under a tree turning rusty red.
Circling around the house, you come to a shade garden under a large oak. I don’t know why I didn’t take more pics here. It’s a lovely space.
I think this golden border is found in the lower courtyard just beyond the Teacup Garden. Gotta love that ‘Everillo’ sedge, which does beautifully in my Austin garden as well.
Tennis Court Garden
A formal stone stair leads down from the oak garden to the sunny Tennis Court Garden, where the Rosengarten family once enjoyed their tennis matches. As I descended I could hardly tear my eyes away from the stair baluster, which doubles as a planter. Mangaves of all stripes (literally) lined the stairs, begging to be admired. I obliged.
Before we go, let me show you how the Tennis Court Garden has evolved since my last visit. In 2016 its layout was formal with a central axis. Scroll back up to see how it’s changed.
These days a swooping central garden bed curves through the center, outlined by a casual flagstone path. A large arbor still beckons at back, but you are now invited to explore more slowly and must amble to get there.
Turning around, let’s admire the mangave stairs from below. One mangave at upper left has sent up a bloom spike.
So has a white-striped one in a pot. Mangaves are the “it” plant right now. I’ve recently seen striking displays at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and Houston Botanic Garden too.
And now let’s explore the Tennis Court Garden, where in mid-October it was all about golden-tinged foliage and orange flowers and stems.
This color scheme is on point for the upcoming Halloween holiday.
Reddish-pink and purple mix nicely with golden foliage too.
I love the raspberry persicaria flowers against a forest-green hedge.
The hedge swoops around, following the path back to the mangave stairs.
Exiting at the arbor end, I found pairs of Adirondacks with subtle floral designs inviting me to sit.
Beyond, more chairs in the Wave Hill style offer a view of trees and lawn scattered with early golden leaves. One of the things I love about Chanticleer is this offering of moveable, beautifully designed chairs in every garden space.
Hydrangea court
After sitting under the trees a while, I headed over to the main house and terraces. In keeping with the grand country estate’s architecture, a circular gravel court greets you, anchored by a massive split-leaf philodendron. Patterns have been carefully raked into the pinkish-red gravel.
Hydrangeas frame the circular courtyard, although few were flowering at this time of year. Luckily I saw them in full bloom July 2008.
The house terrace offers a grand view of the hillside lawn (the Gravel Garden and Ruin are up-slope to the right), plus it leads to wonderful garden spaces of its own. But I’ll save those for my next post!
Up next: The gorgeous gardens of Chanticleer House. For a look back at the mysterious Ruin garden at Chanticleer, click here.
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