Chanticleer Redux (2016)

An ornamental variety of redbud (Cercis candaensis)

Kali's brother, Patrick, was in town from San Diego over the Independence Day holiday.  We visited Chanticleer in Wayne, Pennsylvania, a garden we usually tour once a year and about which I have posted in the past.

Patrick and Kali

I took my camera with me, mostly to take pictures of Kali and Patrick, but also in case something caught my eye.  As soon as I took out the camera and started snapping away, Kali asked, "What are you taking pictures of?  We have so many pictures of this place!"

An incredible variety of Echinacea (usually the flowers are dusty purple)

Floating arrangement for the day

Blue hydrangeas and Adirondack chairs

The new Serpentine Walk and Garden

We did not visit Chanticleer last year, the first year after the garden installed a long, long sinuous elevated path called the Serpentine Walk.  The garden is on two levels: an upper level with the mansion and its associated gardens, and a lower level where the water gardens and stream garden are located.  These two "halves" are separated by a steep hill.  Chanticleer invested (heavily) in a long, winding, handicapped-accessible path to link the two halves of the garden.  It's spectacular.

Pink varieties of Queen Anne's-lace (Daucus carota)

Peeling bark on a streamside birch (Betula sp.)

I have yet to come to terms, personally, with the dry garden, perched on a rocky outcrop at the lip of the hill.  Every time I visit, I express my disappointment to Kali about how "sorry" the garden looks.  This year, I was not disappointed; the garden has finally come into its own.  I think that the garden was developing over the years, and I was just impatient.

The dry garden in its summer glory

Kali, in a wistful moment

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I know that I haven't been posting much lately.  Frankly, Kali and I haven't been doing much that has been worth writing about.  Hopefully, that will change.

Patterns and Textures: Chanticleer Redux

Kali doesn't have to work on summer Fridays (though she has to make up the time by working long hours Monday-Thursday).  Last Friday's weather was forecast to be tolerable for outdoor activities, with broken clouds, highs in the mid-80s, and low humidity.  So, I took a vacation day and Kali and I made our annual pilgrimage to Chanticleer Gardens outside Philadelphia.

I've posted images of Chanticleer before - and Kali chided me for taking more photographs on this trip ("Do you know many pictures you have of this place?"), so I tried to concentrate mostly on textures and patterns during this visit. 

"Chanticleer" adorning the former estate house

In the Courtyard Garden

In the Courtyard Garden

Pitcher plants in the Bog Garden (the hapless leafhopper was still alive)

In the Water Garden

These blooms were very fragrant, but Kali and I couldn't agree on what they smelled like.  I got a distinct odor of licorice or anise, but she disagreed.

Spring run

Bumblebee on teasel bloom

Walkway detail (stone and brick)

In the Ruins Garden

Kali on a whimsical bench in the Vegetable Garden

Chanticleer never fails to captivate us, and it was no different this time.

Chanticleer

Kali and I made our annual pilgrimage to Chanticleer on Friday, August 12, a rare late-summer day of low humidity and blue skies.  We agreed that Chanticleer is our favorite public garden anywhere, and we're fortunate to live only 45 minutes away.

I made and posted general images from the garden after our visit last year.  This year, I decided to concentrate on texture and pattern for my images.  The garden's ablaze in color, but most of these images are a bit more muted.  Enjoy.

Not Natural, But Nice

The Bryn Athyn Cathedral, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

Another beautiful weekend here in the Mid-Atlantic. We had a Mid-Atlantic ex-pat friend visiting from St. Paul, Minnesota this weekend, and he wanted to see some places with flowering trees since Minnesota has a dearth of spring-flowering trees.

We decided to walk around the community of Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, a tiny Philadelphia suburb that has recently been added to the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of several monumental buildings built in the early 20th century. Bryn Athyn was established in 1917 by John Pitcairn, the founder of Pittsburgh Plate Glass (i.e., PPG Industries). John was a robber baron of the Gilded Age (he owned property on the private lake impounded by the private dam that burst and devastated Johnstown, Pennsylvania). He later moved to Philadelphia, where he began to buy-up rural land to create a religious community that would serve as the headquarters of the Church of the New Jerusalem, a faith based on the teachings of 18th century Swedish mystic and scientist Emanuel Swedenborg. With the land secured, John built his yellow-brick mansion (Cairnwood) on a hill overlooking the village. One of his sons, Raymond, designed and oversaw the construction of the Romanesque- and Gothic-inspired Bryn Athyn Cathedral, and then, because it was the Great Depression, he retained the cathedral artisans to build his own castle-like house called Glencairn (now a museum).

Most of the main cathedral building is Gothic

Romanesque influences in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral

Today, the cathedral is surrounded by beautiful gardens and the flowering trees our friend wanted to see.