Philadelphia Area Fling and Andrew Bunting’s Belvidere

I spent each past week successful the beauteous countryside astir Philadelphia for the 14th yearly Fling (formerly known arsenic Garden Bloggers Fling), touring backstage and nationalist gardens with astir 100 different plot writers, bloggers, Instagrammers, YouTubers, and different societal media gardeners. We were hosted by the irrepressibly enthusiastic Karl Gercens. He manages the conservatory astatine the show-stopping Longwood Gardens, truthful I knew it would beryllium a Fling to remember.

Still, much is more! I flew successful 2 days aboriginal and spent an other afloat time astatine Chanticleer Garden, followed by buying and meal astatine Terrain with a fewer friends. After that, it was go, go, spell connected the 3-1/2-day Fling tour. Highlights included a behind-the-scenes circuit of Longwood Gardens’ accumulation facility, meal and dancing astatine Chanticleer, a sojourn to David Culp’s Brandywine Cottage, luncheon astatine the playful and colorful plot of Jenny Rose Carey, and overmuch more. It was a terrific circuit — adjacent if Tropical Storm Ophelia drenched america during the last 2 days — and I person hundreds of photos to stock with you implicit the coming months.

Let’s leap into the circuit with the archetypal backstage garden. Located successful Swarthmore, Belvidere is the location plot of plantsman Andrew Bunting, the vice president of horticulture astatine the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Leafy vines soften his charming chromatic cottage, which overlooks a gravel plot of diaphanous grasses, yucca, euphorbia, and different dry-loving plants (see photograph astatine top).

Amsonia and a blushing hydrangea smother a woody seat successful the beforehand garden.

In a model box, reddish foliage plants echo rosy glassware displayed inside.

Heading astir back, I saw a potting seat conveniently located by the backmost door.

It makes a beauteous spot to show much reddish plants.

Metal flowers adorn a spot of trellis work.

Andrew indulges his emotion of tropicals connected the backmost patio, with dozens of potted, big-leaved plants making a foliage-centric display.

Canna looking pretty

A bromeliad successful bloom

In a shady spot, a mossy seat is fractional swallowed by a hydrangea and different lush foliage.

Here began my banana sightings. It seems that gardeners each astir Philadelphia fancy the dramatic, paddle-like foliage of bananas. I curse I saw bananas successful each plot we visited.

Going bananas astatine the Fling

I was truthful struck by each the bananas that 1 time I declared to a chap tour-goer, who hails from the Pacific Northwest, that bananas mightiness beryllium the signature works of the Philly Fling, and wasn’t that a small surprising? She said, “But everyone tin turn bananas.” Her constituent being that we tin each turn tropicals successful summertime and either haul them indoors for the wintertime oregon enactment them successful the compost astatine the extremity of the season. That’s true…

And yet close past I realized that bananas and different big-leaved tropicals are acold much fashionable — adjacent commonplace — successful different parts of the state than they are present successful Central Texas. I mean, I astir ne'er spot bananas grown arsenic patio plants present successful Austin. I tin deliberation of an exception oregon two, but successful wide we’re overmuch much into agaves and yuccas and grasses and autochthonal perennials. Why? I deliberation it tin lone beryllium due to the fact that it’s truthful blisteringly blistery and droughty present successful the summer, and we’d person to h2o tropicals perpetually to support them looking good. Instead, gardeners successful Central Texas person embraced waterwise autochthonal oregon near-native plants. Not exclusively, of course, but predominantly. It’s an absorbing taste difference, 1 I mightiness not person noticed but for going connected plot tours successful different regions. Such discoveries assistance maine recognize the gardening civilization of my ain location crushed a small better.

But backmost to the tour

Enough astir bananas — backmost to Belvidere! Andrew converted a dilapidated chromatic store into a beauteous summerhouse. One of the rooms is unfastened to the elements and functions much arsenic a patio. Notice Andrew’s silver-themed decor: a pewter mannequin torso presiding implicit a postulation of grey tillandsias and galvanized watering cans.

At the different extremity of the building, a afloat sheltered antheral cave offers a cushy leather sofa, a glowing chandelier, and…

…a postulation of books and knickknacks to marque a cozy retreat that overlooks the garden. Everyone coveted this inviting space.

Here’s the summerhouse arsenic seen from the different broadside of that multipaned window.

At the acold extremity of the garden, shadiness plants enclose a beauteous circular pond, which I neglected to instrumentality a photograph of, astir apt due to the fact that I was waiting for a wide changeable and forgot to spell back. Chairs designed by Chanticleer’s Dan Benarcik connection an invitation to beryllium and enactment a while.

Andrew recovered further abstraction for a rootlike plot by taking implicit a information of his neighbor’s gait — with permission, of course. A bosque of 4 trees shades a woody array with a planter moving down the mediate — besides crafted by Dan Benarcik. You tin larn much astir the plan of this space, and each of Belvidere, successful a video of 1 of Andrew’s talks astatine the JC Raulston Arboretum. It’s worthy watching conscionable to spot however overmuch a plot evolves implicit time.

Those Benarcik chairs are tucked into the plot everywhere.

As are the bold tropical leaves of colocasia and banana!

Up next: Charles Cresson’s garden, Hedgleigh Spring, successful Swarthmore.

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Digging Deeper

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The station Philadelphia Area Fling and Andrew Bunting’s Belvidere appeared archetypal connected Digging.