Mother's Day Lunch at Chandor Gardens

Sunday, May 10, 2015
11:00 amd to 2:00 pm

Kelli Hamilton with Indulge Catering will be at the Gardens on Sunday, May 10th to provide mothers and mommies-to-be with a special Mother's Day lunch in the Gardens.

Enjoy a delicious lunch served under the canopy of our beautiful old elm tree in the courtyard (seating inside the mansion will be available in the event of inclement weather).

Menu

Sliced Beef or Grilled Chicken
Pasta Salad
Garden Salad
 Fruit Salad
 Green Beans
 Corn Casserole
 Assorted Desserts
 Coffee, Iced Tea, Water
B.Y.O.B.

Admission
Adults: $20
Children 12 and under: $10
Children 2 and under: Free
(Prices include Admission to the Gardens)

Reservations: 817-374-2697

Around the Garden

Above: Burgundy-colored foliage shines on a miniature Peach tree (left) and a cheerful pot of fragrant Lavender welcomes garden guests.

Below: Old-fashioned Petunias will soon perfume the evening air (left) and Oak-leaf Hydrangeas sport long spikes of creamy-white blossoms.

Above: This new cane of Black Bamboo (left) is indeed green...for now. It will turn black in Autumn. Our Bird of Paradise tree (right) lends an exotic look to the garden.

Below: This newly planted circle of seven Shantung Maples (left) will grow together as one entity. (right) The familiar "helicopter" seeds.

A Handful of Seeds...

It started back in the fall of 2007, when Jeanette Henderson, a frequent visitor to Chandor Gardens, gave me a handful of Bluebonnet seeds for the garden. The sky was rumbling, so I quickly put them in a jar of pebbles, shook them briskly (technically, this is called "scarification'), and cast them into a nearly bare bed on the north side of the garden. By springtime, we had about 20 Bluebonnets... a far cry from the hundreds I had hoped for. Jeanette was more optimistic; "Wait until you see them next year!"

She was right. Those 20 or so plants produced enough seed to create a wonderful show the following spring.

I did not know it at the time, but a Chandor tradition had been created.

Budget cuts hit us hard the next year, and the only way to get color plants for the garden was to grow them from seed... far cheaper than plants at a nursery. The quest for seeds led me to re-discovering heirloom plants and old-fashioned flowers that, perfectly enough, Douglas Chandor had grown here when the place was called "White Shadows."

Today, we still grow plants from seeds to save money. And we give little handfuls of seeds to garden guests to celebrate this tradition of sharing with others the beauty and promise of Mother Nature.

Above: The aptly named Love-in-a-Mist (above) features delicate flowers that seems to float around in frothy foliage.

Below: Bachelor Button (left) and Red Poppy are both easy to grow from seed.

Below: Borne of necessity, this lovely meadow is actually the result of us having to cover up bare soil... with no money. All plants are from seed collected last year here at Chandor Gardens. The tall spikes are Larkspur, the sky blue flowers are Bachelor Buttons, and the red dots are Poppies.

Plant of the Month

Tassel Flower (Emilia javanica 'Irish Poet')

Few things delight a gardener like having an unusual plant that stumps his/her gardening friends. 'Irish Poet' is a bright orange version of Tassell Flower, a normally-red tropical annual from Africa. We grew ours from seed (source: www.rareseeds.com), and you will probably never find it in a nursery, simply because it looks terrible in a small pot. Spindly and floppy when young (weren't we all?), the plant will eventually get more vigorous and begin to hold itself upright when planted in the ground. We wanted to take advantage of that natural splaying tendency, so we have ours cascading out of tall pots by the front door... prompting even seasoned gardeners to ask, "What is that?" As to which Irish poet inspired the name... we'll leave that up to you.

Parting Shot

Wading through the Trellis Pond one cool spring morning, horticulturist Steven Chamblee came across a mammoth-sized dragonfly still in its torpid state from the night. Kind enough to pose for a photo before buzzing its wings to warm up, it was off into the sky just seconds later.

Chandor Gardens Memberships

A membership to Chandor Gardens is the gift that gives all year long. Annual memberships are available:

• individual ($20)
• family ($60)
• contributor ($100)
• corporate ($500)

For more information give us a call at 817-613-1700 or email .

Chandor Gardens | 711 West Lee Ave. | Weatherford, Texas 76086 | 817-613-1700
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