Here's a link to Chanticleer in case anyone would like more info.

Chanticleer

I would love to visit this garden. I especially like the topography surrounding the plantings. There is something magical that brings back childhood memories of creating unique spaces in the countryside.

Thanks for sharing.

A favorite garden is the North Carolina Arboretum near Asheville. I've spent quite a bit of time there while in NC. It's sited in a fabulous piece of land that's great for hiking.

So nice. I haven't had the opportunity to casually wander through gardens for too long. Sometimes I'm with others that aren't really plant people, and they rush through. Other times we ended up short on time while vacationing. I enjoyed your photos, Pidge.

Lovely! I actually own a dahlia that looks identical to the one you took a picture of. Maybe it's the same. I'm in love with it. Just got it this year. Happy that you and Janet get to see each other. ETA: purple adirondack chair made me tear up. Miss her. She really made think,"Why not! Life is meant to have fun things thrown into the mix".

:)

rob, if you know the name of that dahlia cultivar, please let me know. Janet was in love with it and so was Jette and they'd love to be able to find it if possible. I wish I had taken more pictures. But if anyone wants to see more, Janet has posted better pictures on Facebook. I'll see if I can find them and share them on my own FB page.

Drat! I don't know. I bought it at a box store, so no name. I can send y'all some if you want when I dig up the tubers in another couple of weeks. Seriously. I thought I got one, and it's looking like it's more like four, so it's gravy at this point. Oh, mine is about 18 inches tall.

This quote is from one of Don_socal's daily quotes list:

I'm always astonished by a forest. It makes me realise that the fantasy of nature is much larger than my own fantasy. I still have things to learn.
Gunter Grass

Certainly works for how I feel about Chanticleer.

Oh, don't sweat it, rob. Those two are always prowling garden centers and will find something close enough. But lucky you to have this gorgeous flower.

Thank you, Pidge (posting from a different computer), for the photos and link.

Gardens "back east" -- east of the Mississippi for me -- have such an exotic look to this native Southern Californian. Elements we lack such as summer rains, higher humidity (good for plants, terrible for me!), no water-wise planting mandates give such a lush look to the gardens. As much as I try to embrace our semi-arid climate, so many drought-tolerant plants are poor visual substitutes for well-grown thirstier plants and shrubs.

Nancy, what we have in PA is water, lots of it.. The mid-Atlantic was originally a forest, and I have tulip poplar trees in my back yard that are easily 100' tall. Leave a couple of acres around here fallow and you will have seedlings in almost no time. That's how we get "exotic" gardens like Chanticleer.

Nancy, if you ever get a chance to travel to the southeast, I think you would fall in love with the old city of Charleston SC and its lush gardens. We have a lot of rain and humidity here, with long growing seasons. I've lived here 7 years now and am still captivated by the tropical plants and (to me) exotic flowers that I had never seen before. There are 2 garden tours here -- fall and spring. Trees here can get enormous, too --- magnolias and live oaks, for example.

Missy and I used to belong to a few of the garden clubs around Orange county, LA county and Riverside county. We were quite involved and both did lectures for most of them. We also had classes monthly at our house and were on local tours every year. We hosted a fundraiser every year with 150 in attendance and catering. This all went on till about 15 years ago when the drought made it hard to keep up with the watering. We also got older and could not put that much energy into it Then 7 years ago I had heart problems and could not work so we are now on SS and I use canes and a wheel chair. Anyway this is what our yard used to look like.

http://www.pbase.com/missy_gardenwhimsy/root

Woodnymph, years ago I was in Charleston -- in July -- and I did experience the humidity. I actually don't remember much else other than the old slave market and museum. Maybe a square or two in a residential neighborhood. Window boxes with impatiens, ferns? Moss on bricks?

Magnolias we have, and oaks, and palms, giant birds-of-paradise, giant bamboo up the wazoo (current landscaping craze that is slipping into stop-it-already territory), philodendron -- all the stuff that you see in old Hollywood black-and-white films (except the bamboo) that make those films so easily recognizable as made in the greater Los Angeles area. (I have Spanish moss hanging off whatever offers itself. We're versatile.)

But I find that we generally lack that luxurious green palette except in shaded gardens. And as Don writes, the drought was really cruel to plant enthusiasts. And I think (maybe mistakenly) that the humidity modifies the light in photography to give the lush green hues to the gardens.

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I remember the beautiful photos of Missy and Don's gardens. I seem to recall a greenhouse with gorgeous ferns and begonias and other spectacular plants. I can manage ferns, staghorn ferns, begonias, fuchsias in a small shady patio. The moisture from the beach air allows me the luxury of these plants.

Time to stop boring everone.

Nancy, talking about gardens could never be boring for those of us who love them.

Don, I've seen many of your astonishing photos before. I always loved that wonderful space you created for your many cats. Thanks for bringing these gorgeous albums back into view/

Love the pictures and all of the garden descriptions. For some reason I was yesterday an outcast at houzz and could not post. I don't drive anymore and have no interesting gardens in walking distance, so have to use my imagination to picture garden experiences.

Thanks for sharing the photos of gardens. Places I want to visit. Michigan gets the humidity but not the longer growing season. And all the places I'd like to move to are further north. :(

This is the first time that I've ever posted anything from my home. As the ultimate introvert, I feel like I'm baring my soul; please be kind.

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Yikes, I don't know how to resize!

And I don't know how to delete this duplicate!

This staghorn fern is c 18+ years -- it didn't die so I bought some others over the years:

This is another, younger resident (the middle-sized staghorn didn't photograph well enough to post):

A glimpse of the Mediterranean jungle the size of a bowling alley lane:

And one of the larger tillandsia (with a glimpse of Spanish moss):

Can't forget to add one of the ferns:

Because there's so little space in the rear garden, I have had to use a vertical strategy -- lots of wire baskets and pots attached to the fence.

Wow, Nancy, you manage to grow a lot of gorgeous plants in a climate that you always have to consider. I love that last picture the best, glad you came back to post it.

Don, I have spent a whole lot of time looking at the pictures of your beautiful garden. Just a visual feast! Thank you so much for letting us visit.

Nancy, your photos are awesome and anything but boring! Thanks for sharing.

Nancy, love your yard and plants. Reminds me of what we had., Barring your soul is sometimes refreshing especially here where you will get much kudos and maybe a bit of sweet envy. Thank you for sharing your heart.

Sweet Betsy and others ,thanks for the kind words. There is only 10 to 20 % left of what we had and the rest is just dirt. It hurts to look out most of the windows now as the difference is shocking.

Don, I'm so sorry for the loss of your gardens. That really hurts, especially when you put so much of yourself in the creation and nurturing of your landscape.

I continually remind myself that drought will be the new normal, and try to plan accordingly. The rear garden is quite shaded (if you have good eyes you can see the spindly abutilon in one photo) and stays relatively moist even with the city's recommended watering schedule. Plus we have a mild summer climate . . . and winter too.

Basically the plants grow themselves . . . if the squirrels leave them alone when leaping around and running on the fence. And if the myopic opossums don't knock into them. And if the local raccoon doesn't dig in the pots. And if the semi-feral cats don't rumble in my postage-stamp sized jungle.

At any rate, please know that the photos that you have posted over the years of your begonias, ferns, etc. were actually my inspiration. I have had major rose envy, but I have too little space, too much shade, and lack the necessary sustained heat, so am content to view yours. (I have some sacrificial Trader Joe's miniature roses that I'm experimenting with in the front garden.)

Thank you for your kind thoughts.

There went an hour viewing gardens and critters I don't want back--so fun! I've never seen a white Rehmannia, don_socal. Even went snooping through your little critter shots--I take a lot of those too.

Oh, nancy. You tease with your lovely garden photos! I love the maybe I can squeeze-n-tuck another plant in natural look. I'm a bit envious of your climate conditions, even though mine is not very far away from yours, the difference in humidity shows in what withers here, while your plants are thriving. I keep staring at the photos and seeing more plants I recognize. It is like a puzzle challenge to see how many I can id.

Love all of the fabulous pictures. Suggestions if you are in the NW. Portland Rose Garden; Heronwood here on Whidbey Island is being brought back to its former glory & is occasionally open to the public; and Buchart Gardens in Victoria BC.

Nancy, that's EXACTLY the feel I want in my new home. I moved in two years ago, and I have been grading the back and side yard and have one bed in fully, as of a month ago. It's about 1/3 full of plants. I have a long way to go. But my front yard, I wanted to feel like the Conservatory at the Opryland Hotel (picture in the link). That's what you have. I'm going to really study it deeply. Nice!

nancy, weren't you the CA gardener I talked to about hamelia shrubs a few years ago?

gyr_falcon, I have hamelia patens growing into a small tree, so it may have been me.