Plants hold court at Chanticleer’s Teacup and Tennis Court gardens
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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Digging Deeper
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It’s just dreamy. Maybe I will be able to visit it myself one day.
I hope so! It’s a magical place.
The color in the arrangement in the restroom fills my winter worn eyes with exciting color. Even all the greens of the garden leap out of the computer to me in a comforting way.
I’m happy to be able to send a little flora color your way on this winter day, Lisa.
Thank you so much, Pam, for these virtual visits to Chanticleer. I read your remark that this is your favorite public garden to visit; same for me (although I love Winterthur, too, and thank you for those pictures also). The last time I visited Chanticleer was June 2019, and the tennis court garden was just being planted in its new arrangement. I was astonished at the change, but also excited about the new design. Your pictures are fabulous; you are a real artist with your camera. My favorite place to wander at Chanticleer is the pond garden, and I look forward to your photos of that area. Again, many thanks for providing this great pleasure to your readers/viewers/fellow gardeners. The comment above from Laura is testimony to your gift for conveying the spirit of a garden when she says, “It’s just dreamy,” because Chanticleer is just like that, isn’t it — a beautiful dream-like garden.
Chanticleer IS a dreamy garden. It’s a masterpiece. Thank you so much for your kind words about my photographs. I’m honored.
Oh, to have a well-funded public garden nearby that can afford to frequently change out plants on that scale! Sherman Gardens in Orange County manages to do that, albeit on a much smaller scale. (Sherman is just over 2 acres in size.) I’ve loved every iteration of the Teacup Garden I’ve ever seen. The Mangave stairway planter is fantastic, especially when they don’t start out with dinky specimens like I do 😉
I don’t know Sherman Gardens, but I’m going to look them up. And yes, that mangave stairway was swoony!
Pam,
I was delighted to see this feature!
And furthermore to see that much of our little pleasure project had your lens act on it. We strive to have an exciting and enticing garden for all to see but unfortunately not everyone can get here, but with your luxurious images it truly is the next best thing.
Thank you again for your kind words, your beautiful imagery and the time you took to craft such a favorable narrative.
Warm regards,
Dan Benarcik
And thanks to you and the other staff for creating such a magical garden, Dan! It’s a delight to explore Chanticleer every time.
Dreamy indeed. I love all the many versions of the teacup garden and your photo looking back at the mangave stairs is perhaps the best use I’ve ever seen of these “it” plants.
Oh my god, that mangave stair. I LOVED it.
“Circling around the house, you come to a shade garden under a large oak”. That particular photo made me forget how big the house is or how massive the gardens are. At that moment, I imagine this is a small country cottage, with an enchanting bedroom balcony opening into the garden. I could live there…
The iron handrails are fabulous.
Yes, indeed. That space alone would be an exceedingly lovely home garden.