David Culp's Brandywine Cottage during a tropical storm

I am a fair-weather gardener, although my definition of just exactly what constitutes fair weather may differ from yours. Sunny days are my favorite, and warm ones too. I'd be out working in 80-90+ days long before you'd catch me out when it's cold and rainy, or even just thinking about being rainy. So when Tropical Storm Ophelia showed up on the second full day of the Philadelphia Fling I was not happy. I laid in my comfy hotel room bed (at 7am Eastern time, 4 am Pacific, my time) listening to the wicked winds and pouring rain thinking; "you don't have to do this, it's okay to just stay here in bed...this is supposed to be FUN and tromping around gardens all day in the rain is not going to be fun!" But, when was I ever going to see these gardens again? I got up.

The first stop for my bus that day was at David Culp's Brandywine Cottage. David surprised us by getting on the bus to talk about his garden, a smart move since, yes, it was pouring. I can't remember exactly what it was he said but I was smitten.

We all followed him down a narrow pathway and into his garden. We were walking thru interesting plantings but there was no stopping to take photos, this was a single-file march. We had a destination. Thankfully once we arrived in the garden proper we slowed a bit and fanned out.

Some folks broke off and went towards the house.

Others followed David walking down what felt like a gravel driveway.

That's our fearless leader, Philly Fling organizer Karl Gercens with the red and grey umbrella—note his footwear. 

I went the same route, knowing my feet would dry much quicker in flip-flops than the shoes I'd brought with me. We left for Philly a few days before the Fling began and when I packed the forecast wasn't yet predicting such nasty weather, otherwise I would have brought boots!

I believe this photo was taken near where Karl was standing in the above image, looking out over the garden from that gravel (which later turns into lawn) drive.

There were agaves!

I called this a house earlier, but since David refers to it as a cottage so should I.

He and his partner Michael Alderfer have lived and gardened here for over 30 years.

I am so glad I didn't stay in bed that day, seeing David's garden and hearing him talk about the making of it and how important it is to bond with like-minded gardeners was a Fling highlight. 

I do wish I hadn't let the horrid weather keep me from exploring more, not that I had any choice in parts of the garden. I mean there's no way I could have gotten to that agave without trampling on plants that were flopped over.

I had to rely on my camera for that.

There's David mid-stroll towards the cottage, he's the one in the dark jacket and baseball cap.

I was taken with the tall plant with the huge green leaves. It was vaguely tetrapanax-like, but it's a castor bean, Ricinus communis.

A fenced vegetable garden that I did not explore at all, unfortunately.

How hard was it raining? Look at the moat around the bed on the left.

Here David is gesturing out towards the garden, I wish I knew what he was saying.

A side entrance to the cottage, and a Fling friend who was making a "I'm miserable in this rain" face that I chose to hide.

This lounge and the table and chairs you'll see in the next photo were in a lovely secluded front courtyard sort of space.

I'm not sure what that building is used for, it's not the house/cottage but sits next to it. Perhaps a carriage house? After all, the home dates to the late 1700's.

David had a fire going inside his home and invited us to come in and get warm, how kind was that?

The old well (I didn't catch if it was still operable) serves as a place for potted plants.

I briefly dried off inside and under the porch overhang but worked up the nerve to go back out in the rain.

There were a lot of containers dotted across the landscape.

This area was thick with my fellow Flingers in the previous photo of it so here it is again, sans people.

I don't know what possessed me to walk around to the street-side of property (an area we didn't see as we arrived), a spot also accessible via a gate in the fence that I totally missed from the other side. However it was that I ended up here I'm glad I did...

It's a charming corner that David calls the ruin garden.

Because I feel like I only saw a small part of the magic of this garden, and because I'd like to hear more from David, I've signed up for the webinar "Holidays in (& out) of the Garden—with David Culp" for Garden Design Magazine (register here). You can also find more about David on his website, here.

To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note; these are sent from a third party, you’ll want to click thru to read the post here on the blog to avoid their annoying ads. 

All material © 2009-2023 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.