A Visit to Chanticleer

Some of the areas are planted very formally, others in a more casual style. I loved the bright purple of the massed purple flowers in this bed.Getting closer, I realized the purple flowers weres violas! I’ve never seen them used in such a formal way before, and loved the effect. (Sidenote: if you’ ve ever wondered what the difference is between pansies and violas, check out this article.)

There are hundreds of pots of plants at Chanticleer. I loved this combination because there were so many textures and shapes and shades of green, all from foliage (leaves).

I spent a lot of time in the fenced in vegetable garden. It has most of the usual food plants you’d expect, including some exotic varieties of fairly common plants. This plant caught my eye immediately–it’s variegated horseradish–because I have one and it’s never, ever, looked this good in my garden. Mine always reverts to being almost solid green. This one was a showstopper.

A place to rinse off freshly picked vegetables in the vegetable garden–creatively put together but immensely practical. I want one!

I thought it interesting that potatoes were being grown in raised beds edged with woven fencing.

Unlike many botanical gardens, there are no name tags on individual plants at Chanticleer. Instead, within each garden area there is a box with a plant list that visitors can borrow while they are there. Chanticleer has an amazing collection of plants–I could’ve written a long post just on the plants alone–so appreciated being able to look up names of ones that I didn’t recognize or of particularly striking varieties. Each plant list box is unique, and is meant to match the area it’s in. This one was my favourite, largely because of the hand clasping the latch. So clever!

This little structure used to be where the estate owners stored fruit. It doesn’t look like much from outside (if I hadn’t read the book on Chanticleer before I went I’m not sure that I would’ve bothered stopping to take a look). But inside, Chanticleer staff have painted it to look like a magical forest world inside of a hollowed out tree, with charming chipmunks busy stashing their treasures. I expect this is a favourite place for young visitors, but I enjoyed it so much I was in no rush to leave.

I caught one of the full time residents of Chanticleer in silhouette while hanging out on a rose.

A fireplace mantle created from succulents, in the ruin garden was so interesting. The ruin garden is a “house” without a roof (and missing a few walls) where Chanticleer’s gardeners have brought to life floral and stone interpretations of the various rooms. I’d need to show you at least 20 pictures to start to explain it properly so I’ll just stop and say it’s magical; you need to see it for yourself.

Metalwork details like this banister of oak leaves are all over the garden.

Unlike most gardens open to the public, there are no cafes or restaurants at Chanticleer. However, there are several lovely areas with picnic tables where visitors are encouraged to enjoy their own picnics.

One of the delightful things about Chanticleer is continuing to stumble upon clever bits of humour as you travel through the garden. When you first come into this area you take a look, think “no that can’t be what I think it is”, look closer, and then smile when you realize yes, this is a life size Flintstones style stone couch and set of chairs! All of the details are there, including a stone tv remote with coloured stone buttons, perched on the arm of the couch. So fun!