We have come to that time of year when my gardening activity tends to consist of looking out the window of my air-conditioned home at my poor, sweltering plants and saying, “Good luck out there! Luv ya. Mean it.” Besides, I’m busy refining my Spar for the Spurtle entry. So I thought I’d revisit a garden outing from earlier this year, when it was cooler.
For years I’d been saying, “We really need to go to Chandor Gardens.” But it’s in Weatherford, which is somewhere on the other side of Fort Worth or something (my geography gets a little hazy past Irving). But after spending the night in Arlington after the infamous Opera Tailgate we were halfway there, so off we went.
The garden was the creation of Edward Chandor, an English portrait artist who married a Weatherford girl. He bought this house: And proceeded to turn the acreage around it into a fantasy of a garden. Check out the courtyard fountain: There are multiple water features and fountains, built by Douglas out of this, that, and the other. The next one is a bit more elaborate: Don’t you love gates? Open ones always seem to be an invitation. (Closed ones always seem to me like something really awesome must be on the other side. That or a big dog.) And look, once you accept the gates’ invitation, there’s a message on the sidewalk! If you like things a little funky and full of whimsy, Chandor Gardens is full of inspiration. In fact, I took so many photos of so many lovely and fantastical things that I’ll have to save some for the next post. So until then, stay cool and think happy garden thoughts.