Visit: Chanticleer

Every spring, when winter has breathed its last breath and everything turns green and blooms almost overnight, I put aside an afternoon to spend at Chanticleer in Wayne, PA. Termed a "pleasure garden", it has never failed to live up to the bill. Once a summer estate for the founders of Merck & Co., the gardens were opened to the public in 1993. Seven horticulturists are responsible for keeping the gardens fresh and inviting and every year the flora changes (multiple times in a season too). Often flowers are planted en masse to create a feast for the eyes. With groupings of custom-made benches and chairs dotted throughout, sitting and luxuriating in the surroundings is encouraged. Sculptures are integrated into the landscaping--stone faces hover just underneath a rectangular pool of dark water, bobbing when people touch them and delighting visitors with their creepiness. This is a garden that doesn't take itself seriously, yet offers serious relaxation and inspiration. Even the restrooms, Japanese style and always immaculate, show imagination. 

Images: Chanticleer.

Shop: Rebecca Cole GROWs

This past summer, I was saddened to discover that my favorite NYC spot--Japanese department store Takashimaya--had closed its doors on Fifth Avenue. My primary reason for making it a must-see was its basement restaurant, The Tea Box, which served healthy and affordable lunches. While there, I would check in on the shop's lush garden section for inspiration and unusual ways to bring the outdoors in. Thankfully, a new shop in the fur district looks like it has plenty of great garden and design ideas to share. 

The new destination spot comes courtesy of Rebecca Cole, author of one of my favorite garden books--Paradise Found: Gardening in Unlikely Places. What is special about her work is that she outfits exterior spaces with as much thought as we usually give to indoor rooms and makes sure that indoor spaces are given healthy doses of plant life in unpredictable ways. Rebecca has a full-service design company with an emphasis on implementing green practices without sacrificing style. Her website, Rebecca Cole Design, is full of beautiful images of her shop, rooms and gardens she has designed, and events she has planned. I love seeing outdoor furniture given the Sunday best treatment (notice the tarnished metal bench topped with a row of feminine pillows for an event on the roof of Rockefeller Center).

Images: Rebecca Cole Design.