Friday at the Philly Fling

I'm continuing to reminisce about the recent wonderful Garden Fling in the Philadelphia area. On Friday, we toured some incredible gardens featuring a wide range of styles and conditions. The first stop was Belvidere, Andrew Bunting's garden in Swarthmore. Notice the Banana Tree among Andrew's wonderful arrangement of potted plants? We saw Banana Trees (Musa spp.) at just about every garden stop.



Andrew's home is surrounded by botanicals of all shapes and sizes, and the Fling attendees (including myself) were motivated to tour all the nooks and crannies. So much to see; just a few observations...



Patches of Hubricht's Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) were thick and healthy, and I can only imagine how gorgeous they soon will be in full fall color.

Portions of the garden were devoted to gravel/succulent plants, like Yucca (Y. filamentosa?) and Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia).



And edibles were plentiful, too. While similar to the lush, ripening tomatoes and other produce at home, it sure was tempting.



I promise I didn't eat any, but these blackberries (Rubus spp.) were getting ready for consumption.



On to Hedgleigh Spring, the second garden we toured, also in Swarthmore. It was created by the great-grandfather of the current owner, Charles Cresson. The garden is anchored by its lovely, quaint Georgian-style home, surrounded by lovely landscaping plants.

Vines, shrubs, Cannas, Caladiums, and other lush plants decorated the side windows.



A favorite at home and while traveling, Cardinal Flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) appeared at Hedgleigh and in many of the gardens we toured during The Fling.



The familiar Closed Bottle Gentians (Gentiana andrewsii) were prevalent, too.



This bloom, however, was out of this world! I'm not sure what variety of Dahlia this was, but it was stunning and it broke my heart.



This quaint structure along the path has a story in the history of this garden, I'm sure...



Our third visit was to Michael Bowell's Create A Scene garden, in Malvern. His garden has been called "colorful," which seems like an apt description. Garden art and interesting plant combinations were around every corner.



Michael and his collaborators' business offers plant and floral design, installation, and maintenance; the expertise is evident throughout the garden.



Great combinations of plants and structures throughout provided fodder for next year's planting.



I loved this pond surrounded by colorful annuals and perennials.



More ideas for pots and garden accessories.



I saw a few monarchs during the trip, including this beauty enjoying Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) at Create A Scene.



The final private garden visit of the day was Carol Verhake's Boulder Haven, in Berwyn. Beautiful pathways and landscape plantings were evident here, too.



Carol placed photos throughout the garden of "befores," and the garden itself served as the "afters." It was amazing to see the improvements made to the property.



For example, what a beautiful, welcoming front pathway, which didn't exist before.



My full-scale photos of Carol's "moon gate" didn't turn out, but you can see the bigger picture and the story behind it at this link. The stone/slab structure and the plants around it are truly lovely.



This beautiful waterfall and stream caught me by surprise...wow.



And the bees were loving this Abelia (Linnaea x grandiflora). I think this might be 'Peach Perfection.' Yum.

Our final stop of the day was Chanticleer! I'm still processing the magic of that world-renowned garden (sigh), and I'll share my impressions at a later date.