The Art of Gardening: Design Inspiration and Innovative Planting Techniques from Chanticleer, R William Thomas, Timber Press, 2015
In the nearly 100 gardens I visited in 2015, Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, PA was by far the most inspiring. I came home and implemented design ideas from a Northeast garden into my Southwest landscape. Bill Thomas is the executive director and head gardener of Chanticleer and in the introduction he says the “book aims to be a conversation between our staff and you. . . Our garden exists to inspire and is filled with ideas to try at home.”
Chanticleer is a pleasure garden and all of the gardeners are artists creating in paint, wood, stone, metal, clay and plants. Their work is intricately woven into this beautiful place. Their inspiring prose and shared ideas make you love gardens even more. The book focuses on design and plants.
My copy is conveniently digital, I love escaping into such beauty and inspiration while waiting for my next flight. The hardback edition is so beautiful it begs for prime placement in your home.
The Chanticleer property is a 1976 gift of Adolph & Janet Rosengarten Jr. They created a foundation establishing the mission of the garden to “Operate the property as a beautiful public garden, maintain the house as a museum and educate amateur and professional gardeners.”
Adolph wrote “One of the great joys of my life has been gardening. It’s a wonderful way to express yourself. To create a garden is to search for a better world.” If this is your goal, this is your book.