A visit to Chanticleer: Pond Garden
The Pond Garden at Chanticleer lies at the bottom of a steep hill in a wide, open space backed by a stand of trees. Though manmade, it look completely natural thanks to its setting and the coarse plantings around its edge.
Here’s an overlook of the Pond Garden. At the middle left, you’ll see the orange daylilies at the edge of the woods, which I showed up close in my earlier post.
The lotuses were in bloom, but unlike this photographer, I neglected to get a single photo. Drat!
Along the edge, golden flowers and foliage added to the sunshiney atmosphere of the pond garden. I’m always happy to see coneflowers.
But I love this variegated pond grass too. Look how the yellow-green chair coordinates with the yellow and green stripes of the plants it overlooks. The staff seem to have thought through every detail.
Purple irises contrast beautifully with the chartreuse foliage in the background.
Climbing the steep hill above the pond, you are rewarded with an overlook of both the pond and the Serpentine. Their website describes it better than I could: “a serpentine avenue of young junipers, banded by wheat and barley, winds up to an almost pagan semi-circle backed by upright gingko trees—a marriage of stone and wood, dedicated to Flora.”
A spin on the alien-designed crop circle?
Next up—the Gravel Garden and Ruin. Click here for the Asian Woods & Stream Garden.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Pam – those are beautiful pictures. It all looks so peaceful and serene there. I’m hoping to post some garden photos tomorrow when we get out of the city.
I look forward to seeing your garden tour too, Diana. —Pam
Pam, every garden you show makes me think it is my favorite. teee hee…. Can’t make up my mind.
This pond garden is gorgeous. What garden did you like the best?
I haven’t shown it to you yet, Lisa. I liked the Ruins Garden and the adjacent Gravel Garden best. But the others are all close runners-up. 😉 —Pam
Pam, Thank you for the tour of Chanticleer. I can certainly see why it’s called “a pleasure garden”. Your pictures are beautiful. If the best is yet to come, I can’t wait.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it, Jean. Thanks for your comment. —Pam
Chanticleer has everything you want in a public garden. I do love this place and want to visit sometime. I can’t wait to see what the chairs look like in the gravel and ruin gardens.
Well, I did get a picture of a simple stone bench but not the incredible stone sofa and chair that were also there, alas. —Pam
Hi Pam, you have been busy putting these together so quickly. The serpentine is full of intrigue with the pagan semi circle. Is there significance to the wheat and barley leading up to it? Some sort of offering to the supernatural?
A thanks for a good crop? I don’t know, Frances. This one kind of went over my head. But it’s still fun. —Pam
Pam, I’ve been playing catch up with these great posts on Chanticleer. Love the surface treatments with the stone textures and the chairs matching the plantings…who has time for this? Oh yeah, people who get paid to work at it! Lovely. All the pictures are great. I am enjoying this tour which I so want to take in person. How many pictures did you take on vacation? Thanks, anyway for this glimpse of perfection!
Yes, and those are both talented and lucky staff members, in my opinion. How far are you from Chanticleer, Layanee? If I lived only a couple of hours away, I’d try to go once a month just to see the seasonal changes.
I’m not sure how many photos I took on this trip. Not as many as you might think. I get inspired to shoot a lot when I’m in a garden. For general sightseeing, I carry the camera but take far fewer pics. —Pam
Not only am I enjoying the tour of the garden but I think I am learning quite a bit about how to frame a photograph from your wonderful compositions.
Well, thanks for the nice compliment, Jenny! —Pam