Stoneleigh native-plant estate garden and Flingers

Our banquet meal astatine the Philadelphia Area Fling was held successful the expansive aged Tudor Revival mansion astatine Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden, located successful Villanova, Pennsylvania. Before dinner, we were acceptable escaped successful the plot to research for an hour.

Let’s commencement with the location garden, wherever a big dormant London planetree, cabled for safety, has been near lasting arsenic a snag for wildlife. In the drizzle of a grey September afternoon, it added a gothic touch.

House garden

Stoneleigh has precocious transitioned from backstage ownership to a nationalist garden. The speedy backstory: successful 2016, the children of the precocious owners, John and Chara Haas, donated the 42-acre property to Natural Lands, a onshore conservation nonprofit based successful Media, PA. Stoneleigh opened to visitors successful May 2018, escaped of charge, a park-like oasis that joins the galore expansive property gardens successful the Philadelphia region.

“Once a household home, present a nationalist garden, Stoneleigh celebrates the quality of autochthonal plants and the value of biodiversity. We anticipation to animate our guests to deliberation astir however gardening successful performance with quality is indispensable to improving the wellness of our planet.”

https://stoneleighgarden.org/garden/home/

A weeping histrion with purplish leaves — Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’ (thanks for the ID, Audrey) — harmonizes with the grey chromatic of the house.

A wine-red seat continues the colour scheme.

Majestic trees operation astir the house, adding a consciousness of history.

This whitethorn beryllium different 150-year-old planetree?

A ‘Morioka Weeping’ katsura histrion gracefully spreads its little branches connected the tract similar the hem of a greenish gown.

Behind the house, goldenrod sizzles nether ‘Kintzley’s Ghost’ honeysuckle vine.

Another look

A mown meadow way leads toward much beauteous trees, but I didn’t research precise far, mindful of meal starting soon.

Bog plot terrace

A chromatic terrace adjacent the location flows astir land beds, amazingly planted with carnivorous pitcher plants. In back, a swooping clipped hedge encloses the space.

These are pouch rainfall gardens, sopping up runoff from the patio.

Colorful pitchers — similar organ pipes!

Near the parking lot: sword-leaved yuccas nether a bigleaf magnolia with frilly, banana-like foliage (thanks for ID, Loree)

A mossy limb

A wider view

The trees truly are thing here.

One large trunk bears a heavy carving of a bosom and the initials M & N. I privation I knew what the communicative is here.

Pergola garden

A chromatic pergola swagged with vines backs a beauteous borderline of shrubs and flowers.

And inside, the agelong view

Outer view

Long consecutive paths and axis views opposition with…

…casual, winding paths and naturalistic plantings.

Catalpa Court pond

One of the grandest trees astatine Stoneleigh is this past catalpa successful the Catalpa Court garden.

It overlooks what erstwhile was a tennis court. Today there’s a modern pond with a waterfall borderline and biofiltration done plants successful the center.

Blocks of grey chromatic are staggered on the infinity borderline of the excavation — a striking plan that harmonizes with a chunky chromatic arbor.

From different angle

Strawberry bush (Euonymous americanus) caught my oculus with its clusters of reddish berries.

Raindrops connected strawberry-esque seedpods

Flingers

As we wandered the gardens and awaited dinner, the Flingers had amusive visiting with each other, including Barbara Wise (@crescentgarden) and Jean McWeeney (Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog).

Layanee DeMerchant (Ledge and Gardens) told a comic communicative that gathered a crowd.

Here she is reenacting a cardinal portion of the communicative with Jean. I’m cracking up conscionable remembering her hang-gliding adventure!

After a bully meal we heard an absorbing presumption astir Stoneleigh…

…and got a preview of next year’s Fling, which volition beryllium held successful Puget Sound adjacent Seattle!

Detour to Swarthmore College

The adjacent morning, we made a halt astatine The Scott Arboretum astatine Swarthmore College for our radical photo.

I hung retired connected a Swarthmore structure for a portion to enactment adust and recovered David Stacey, Jim Charlier (Art of Gardening), Kimberley Protzman (Cosmos and Cleome), and Andy Young (CobraHead) doing the same.

Natasha Nicholes of We Sow We Grow braved the drizzle successful her cute patterned overalls — 1 of galore pairs of Duluth Trading Co. overalls successful her collection, she told us.

And present we each are — astatine slightest those of america inactive hanging successful determination connected the past time of a wet, chilly Fling. Still smiling! Hats disconnected to our host, Karl Gercens, who’s crouched successful front. I’m successful the yellowish raincoat, connected the steps astatine middle-back. Onward!

Up next: An exploration of Jenny Rose Carey’s fanciful and colorful Northview Gardens. For a look backmost astatine colorful Owl Creek Farm garden, click here.

I invited your comments. Please scroll to the extremity of this station to permission one. If you’re speechmaking successful an email, click present to sojourn Digging and find the remark container astatine the extremity of each post. And hey, did idiosyncratic guardant this email to you, and you privation to subscribe? Click present to get Digging delivered straight to your inbox!

__________________________

Digging Deeper

Tour respective Austin gardens connected Saturday, November 4, connected the Garden Conservancy’s Open Day circuit for Travis County. Tickets indispensable beryllium purchased online successful beforehand and volition beryllium disposable opening September 1st.

Come larn astir plot plan from the experts astatine Garden Spark! I signifier in-person talks by inspiring designers, scenery architects, and authors a fewer times a twelvemonth successful Austin. These are limited-attendance events that merchantability retired quickly, truthful articulation the Garden Spark email database to beryllium notified successful advance; simply click this nexus and inquire to beryllium added. The Season 7 lineup tin beryllium recovered here.

All worldly © 2023 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

The station Stoneleigh native-plant property plot and Flingers appeared archetypal connected Digging.