Last week the boys and I ventured to Chanticleer, an amazing garden in the Philadelphia area. This is the point where frequent readers of this blog might think haven’t we read about this before? Well, yes, you are sort of right, you have read about my insistence on Philadelphia area gardens before.
I have written about my visits to the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia and Grounds for Sculpture located in Hamilton, New Jersey. I never wrote a post about Longwood Gardens but I have included some highlights in this post from 2021.
Also my husband asked for my hand in marriage at the Jenkins Arboretum and Gardens located near King-of-Prussia. It was the site of one of our first dates.
I guess you might say that I have a fascination with fancy antique gardens. In 2017, I was delighted to tour the garden at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and wrote America’s Garden Capitol. The area surrounding Philadelphia has a number of ornamental gardens, most of which are located on grounds of estates of formerly wealthy people who donated their properties to trusts after their deaths. Chanticleer is located on the former Rosengarten estate.
I do not know what fuels my interest in visiting fancy gardens. Truthfully, I aspire to garden ever year but do not really do it for the most part. My raised bed are currently filled with weeds.
Perhaps, my interest in antique gardens is fueled by the knowledge that a number of interesting historic gardens are located within a one drive from where I live. I almost feel like it is my duty to explore them. I have always been a bit of a fan of local tourism. My philosophy as always been that it is well and good to travel to learn more about the world. However, there are plenty of interesting culture artifacts are located near where I live and it is my duty to pay attention to those things. I am often surprised when I talk to other people and they do not seem to be interested in the treasures in their own backyard.
Because of this specific interest, I have on several occasions taken my children to these places even if they are resistant at first. Let me tell you, they often are. Mr. Man has demanded that we leave on more than one occasion (hello Morris Arboretum).
When I first arrived, I thought that the boys weren’t going to tolerate our visit. It was 87 degrees and sunny when we arrived at Chanticleer at 1 pm on Wednesday, August 24th. We found the restrooms, sat on a bench to eat lunch, and began exploring. The first area we visited was the vegetable garden. They weren’t impressed. Preschool Nugget didn’t seem to want to leave the celler type figure he was standing in and Mr. Man asked when we were going to leave.
Truthfully, I thought we might be leaving within the next hour tops, if I was lucky.
However, something happened then, that has happened before. We found a path with more tree cover and they boys started to be intrigued by the interesting paths and artistic elements we saw as we walked.
As it turned out, once we tucked ourselves under some trees and the boys discovered the treasures of Chanticleer, we all has a good time.
I feel like I should point out that Chanticleer: a pleasure garden is exactly how Chanticleer is listed on all of their literature and on its website. The name says it all. Chanticleer: a pleasure garden is designed to invite pleasure. It is an intriguing, interesting, open sort of place. It is designed for visitors to enjoy themselves.
If you are planning a visit to the Philadelphia area, I would like to make a case for you to visit Chanticleer. It is smaller than Longwood Garden but very enjoyable in its own right. Be sure to check the website before you visit as it is not open during the cooler months of the year and is only open Wednesdays-Sundays.
Here are some reason’s to plan your visit there:
Five Reasons to Visit Chanticleer: a pleasure garden
Reason Number 1: It is a very chill place! There is a chill vibe in the air and it exists for both visitors to Chanticleer and the staff that work at Chanticleer. People who visit seem to want to experience the garden and they seem open to behaviors that are sometimes frowned upon at other Philadelphia gardens. Some gardens, I am not naming names here, can be a little uptight and make me a little nervous to bring small children to see. But Chanticleer is completely different in that respect. For example, I saw multiple people walking around in bare feet. People seemed so tolerant of bare feet that when we arrived at the Pond Garden section of Chanticleer and Mr. Man and Preschool Nugget wanted to ditch their sandals, I let them. Then I let them walk around on the rocks barefoot and put their feet in to the water. Also Preschool Nugget almost completely climbed into the fountain in the Ruin Garden and it was fine. There were other visitors in the area at the time and nobody batted an eyelash.
Reason #2: There is seating everywhere. There are Adirondack chairs galore. It seems like the recreation planners really want you to sit and experience the scenery while you are there. We were only there for a few hours, and the boys ran around non-stop, but I can imagine someday when I will return I would like to sit and take it all in.
Reason #3: Chanticleer has great bathrooms. Both bathrooms we visited at Chanticleer were noteworthy mini pieces of art. I can’t say enough about how artistic and amazing the bathrooms were. They were clean and cool on a hot day and artistic. Everyone knows I love a great bathroom. Remember this old gem?
Reason #4: The people who work there are really nice and helpful. The gardeners don’t seem to mind if visitors want to talk to them or even help them with their gardening. I talked to several people who worked there and they all seemed very visitor focused.
Reason #5: The elements at the garden really are a feast for the senses.
We enjoyed our visit greatly and if you decide to give it a try, I think you would enjoy Chanticleer too.
One more little nugget about our visit: Towards the end our visit, Preschool Nugget walked past the rope keeping visitors away from the swimming pool so we got up close and personal with the pool. Luckily, he didn’t go in. It is a neat pool though. It reminded of the pool at the Hemingway Home, a former residence of Ernest Hemingway located in Key West, Florida. I visited that site during the same week as our Chanticleer visit in 2014. Crazy huh? Both pools are very small by today’s standards. One of the buildings on the Chanticleer property also reminded me of the Hemingway Home. Maybe they were build around the same time, I don’t know.
While we were at Chanticleer, Mr. Man asked if we could look at the ‘merch (meaning merchandise). That’s where found this great little pocket guide gratis! Much like other passport books, there is a place in the back of the book for passport stamps. Also it includes great descriptions of the places included in the America’s Garden Capitol program.
Where will Katie and company visit next? I am sure we will be visiting local parks within the day. As for arboretums and gardens, I have an interest in traveling to Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope this fall. It seems like a delightful place for me to take the entire family. I have also been interested in visiting the Tylor Arboretum in Media, PA for sometime now.
In terms of long range plans, someday I would like to visit the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware and Winterthur Museum, Library and Garden also in Delaware. Those are perhaps adults only trips or maybe trips for the whole family in a few years.
That is all for now. We loved our visit to Chanticleer and we would all go back and visit again.
