Classics scholars and art historians will be familiar with Arcadia. It is the Greek name for a place of rural peace and calm, originally derived from a pastoral area on southern Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula. Few people know there is also an Arcadia in Australia, tucked 44 kilometres away from Sydney’s CBD. Aptly named, it is also a place of peace, calm and serenity.
Developed in the 19th century as a fruit-growing area to make the most of a temperate climate and good soil, this Arcadia became renowned for its peach and citrus orchards. In the 21st century, it’s also proving to be the perfect place to make a cool-climate garden.
“Arcadia is situated at the second highest point above sea level in the Sydney area and, although winter temperatures drop below zero and we have epic frosts, the seasonal highlights of spring and autumn make gardening here so wonderful,” says local gardener Grada Shipway.
Before she moved to Arcadia 17 years ago, Grada had a commercial nursery growing roses on Bells Line of Road, near Bilpin. Sadly, the property was destroyed in the devastating bushfires.
But now Grada is the chief creator of a beautiful and stylish Arcadian — in both meanings of the word — garden she named Chanticleer, celebrating the rows of Chanticleer pear trees, Pyrus calleryana ‘Glen’s Form’, planted in the formal courtyard. “When I named the property Chanticleer, I didn’t know there was a large and famous botanic garden of the same name just outside Philadelphia in Pennsylvania [USA],” she says. “I was more interested in these fast- growing ornamental trees.”
Grada and her husband Peter have sourced many more trees since they bought their two-hectare property all those years ago. “It was just bare paddocks back then — we hunted around the wholesalers to find every mature tree we could,” says Grada. Peter adds: “As soon as we took possession, we were planting out advanced trees with the help of an old Kubota tractor that kept losing its rear wheel!”
At the same time as the couple was sourcing their established trees, they enlisted the professional help of landscape architect Melinda Bargwanna.
“The property had been an alpaca stud farm with a few struggling native trees,” says Grada. “Melinda helped us design the large beds and the sight lines from buildings into the garden. In addition to the pears, we have planted golden elms to form one of the main avenues. We hope that they will soon grow together and arch over the lawn. It will be a lovely setting for weddings under a natural arbour.”
Entry to the garden is through wrought-iron gates and along another avenue, this time of plane trees, to where the Shipways’ home sits on the crest of a rise. Walk through a small parterre garden and then you are in for a big surprise. The formal lines of the avenues give way to a glorious profusion of flowers massed in large S-shaped beds.
At first glance, it appears to be an almost careless jumble, but on closer inspection it is a textbook example of how to create the look of the English cottage garden. Grada, an artist as well as clever gardener, is clearly skilled at combining colours, form and foliage. ”I knew what would grow well here, so the beds are filled with roses and perennials. I just love David Austin roses. My Dutch heritage shows up,” she says, laughing. “My favourites are those with the big cabbage rose flowers (Rosa x centifolia) that Austin favoured in his breeding program. You see them in those wonderful Dutch still-life paintings.
“At one point, I had 260 rose bushes, but I’ve reduced that to about 40 of my absolute favourites: ‘Radio Times’, bred by Austin in 1994, is a pale-rose pink and repeats well, and ‘Abraham Darby’, a glowing cream and pink with a strong, spicy, almost fruity, scent.” They star in a pink rose bed that shifts from pale pink to mid-pink, deep pink and then red with a dark-red shrub rose, ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’, a feature. The reverse side of this deep bed is home to vibrant yellow roses, such the iconic ‘Graham Thomas’ and the charming, soft-yellow blooms of ‘Molineux’.
Scattered throughout the David Austins is a careful planting of iris, poppies and perennials, their flowers complementing the roses. Leeks make a quirky surprise addition. “I love their statuesque, twisted forms — they make a great contrast to the roses,” Grada says.
Through summer, the garden is drip watered. Grada says, even with restrictions, she managed to keep most of her plants alive in the heat of last summer, “even after that terrible 46-degree day.”
As summer then morphed into autumn at Chanticleer, the garden was once again flush with flowers. “Then the asters, dahlias and sedums took centre stage. I have masses of the annual rudbeckias, as well as the perennials — they are such a vibrant yellow,” says Grada.
If you’re planning a visit to Chanticleer on the next open days this October, you may be surprised to learn it is a mere 50-minute drive from the hustle and bustle of the Sydney CBD — yet this peaceful paradise seems a world away.
VISIT Chanticleer
The garden at Chanticleer will next be open to visitors on October 3-5, 9:30am-5pm. High teas will be provided. For further information on the garden, including future events, go to chanticleergardens.com.au
PhotographerBrigid Arnott
WriterChristine Reid
