ARRIVAL TIME The two gardens have different opening times, so arrival time may depend on where you chose to start the day. I will be at Clark Gardens at 8:00 a.m., but intend to visit both locations before lunch.
LOCATIONS
Chandor Gardens (Opens at 9:00 a.m.)
711 West Lee Avenue
Weatherford, Texas 76086
817-598-4334
Adult admission is $5.00; Children 12 and younger are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Chandor Gardens does not accept cash or American Express, so bring a non-American Express credit card.
Clark Gardens (Opens at 8:00 a.m.)
567 Maddux Road (This is west of Weatherford toward Mineral Wells off U.S. 180.)
Weatherford, Texas 76088
940-682-4856
Adult admission is $10.00; Seniors are $8.00; Children (4-12) are $5.00; Children younger than four years of age are free. If you visit the Gardens and do not find an attendant in the admissions booth, please use the "Honor Box" located on the front of the booth. All funds are used to maintain the Gardens. Motorized cart tours are available by prepaid reservation. Visit the Clark Gardens Web site for more information.
WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT
Chandor Gardens: Douglas Chandor (1897-1953) was a renowned British portrait painter who, in his lifetime, painted about 200 portraits of notable people including Great Britain’s Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Ministers, U.S. Presidents, celebrities and nobility from around the world. Five of his paintings are in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
In 1934, having relocated to New York City, he met and married Ina Kuteman Hill from, of all places, Weatherford, Texas. They built a house and portrait studio on some of her family’s pastureland in Weatherford along with beautiful gardens unlike anything seen in Weatherford, or probably, Texas at that time. They named their home and gardens “White Shadows,” and they divided their time between Weatherford and New York City. When he unexpectedly died at the age of 55 in 1953, he was buried in Weatherford, and his wife renamed their home “Chandor Gardens” in his honor. She lived there until she passed away in 1978.
After she died, the place fell into disrepair until it eventually was purchased by a couple in 1994. They restored the home and gardens to their former beauty. They rented it as a wedding venue and charged admission for garden tours until the property was acquired by the City of Weatherford in 2002. Since then, the city has maintained the gardens and the house and made the gardens accessible to the public. Chandor Gardens appears on most lists of the best public gardens in Texas. They are designated a Texas Historic Landmark and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The beautifully maintained gardens provide numerous opportunities for photographers with a wide variety of flowers, trees, insects, water features, architectural features, and a koi pond. The 3.5-acre gardens have well-groomed, mostly paved, paths making it easily accessible. Since it is a compact location with crowds on weekends, no tripods are allowed unless you pay the professional photographer fee of between $30 and $100 per two hours. If they think you are a professional photographer there to photograph people within the venue, they will charge the fee. So, just to be safe, when you pay your admission, inform them you are a nonprofessional photographer there to photograph only the gardens.
In addition to the cultivated gardens, there is a 0.8-mile nature trail that includes an upper loop. It can be accessed from the parking lot. It takes visitors through a Western Cross Timbers ecozone. Information and maps for both gardens and the nature trail are included in this announcement, below.
The day my wife and I visited Chandor Gardens for reconnaissance, it was a chilly day at the end of the Garden’s winter season. There was not much in bloom. But, by the time of our visit, it should be spectacular. I have been there when the flowers were absolutely stunning, and that is what I anticipate for our field trip.
Clark Gardens are about 20 minutes west of Chandor Gardens toward Mineral Wells off U.S. 180. The Clark Gardens have their own interesting back story. Max Clark began developing the gardens in 2000 as a gift to his wife, Billie. She died in 2012 and is buried at the top of While Garden within the Clark Gardens. Max commissioned a sculpture of himself and his dog near her grave with the inscription, “If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.” Max, now 93, still lives in a private area of Clark Gardens, still works in the gardens, and he regularly visits Billie’s grave, often leaving notes for her.
Unlike the 3.5-acre Chandor Gardens, the Clark Gardens are quite expansive filling about 35-plus acres with beautiful flowers, trees, shrubs, lawns, and water features. Well-groomed paths allow visitors good access to all the public areas that include a small chapel, statuary, shady groves, a meditation garden with hammocks, a “large ladybug” (a vintage red VW Beetle painted with large black dots and eyelashes), and a G-scale model railroad. Again, we visited the Clark Gardens at the end of the winter season, so roses, columbines, tulips, and irises were just getting ready to explode. The daffodils were already in bloom. It should be spectacular by the second half of May when we visit.
You may wish to spend the morning in one garden and visit the other after lunch. Or, if you don’t have that much time, it’s totally possible to start at Clark Gardens when they open at 8:00 a.m., and hurry back to Weatherford to spend some time at Chandor Gardens before lunch. Or you may prefer to spend your time exclusively in just one of the gardens. They’re both great!
TRAVEL
Clark Gardens open at 8:00 a.m. Chandor Gardens opens at 9:00 a.m. From the Heard Nature Center, it is about a 1.5-hour drive to Weatherford. The easiest way to get there is to go west on I-20. I suggest using your car or cell phone GPS to guide you to westbound I-20, since every different starting point will need different directions. Once you get to Weatherford, again, your GPS will be the best resource to get you to whichever of the two gardens you wish to start with. I have room for one, possibly two, to travel with me if anyone needs a ride. We can work out where and when to meet. I plan to visit both gardens over the course of the morning.
LUNCH
Skinny’s Hamburgers has been a Weatherford institution for 25 years. It’s maybe five minutes from Chandor Gardens and a good 20 minutes from Clark Gardens. Both the parking lot and the restaurant, while large, can get crowded at lunchtime. They have quite a bit of space, both indoors and outdoors, so we should be fine. I suggest getting there before noon to get ahead of the lunchtime crush. They serve excellent burgers and chicken sandwiches (both breaded and grilled). Their fries and, especially, their beer-battered onion rings, were great.
People should plan to start arriving at the restaurant a little before noon. I plan to be there at about 11:30 a.m. While the restaurant does not take reservations, it is always helpful for me to know who to expect and who not to expect for lunch. So, please let me know in the comments when you register if you plan to join us for lunch.
Skinny’s Hamburgers (Opens at 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays)
504 Palo Pinto Street
Weatherford, Texas 76086
817-594-3101
https://www.skinnyshamburgers.com
SIGGESTED EQUIPMENT
· Wide-Angle Lens (A zoom lens adds flexibility.)
· Macro Lens, Extension Tubes, or Close-Up Diopters (For macro [extreme close-up] shots of flowers, plants, or insects.)
· Due to crowds at both gardens, and especially Chandor since it’s much smaller, both locations prefer that we not use tripods. They said monopods are fine if we do not block pathways.
· Extra Batteries and Memory Cards
· Water
· Snacks
· Sturdy Walking Shoes (Web sites for both locations recommend sturdy, closed-toed walking or hiking shoes, especially if you plan to hike the nature trail. I believe good walking or hiking shoes are advisable for either location.)
CONTACT INFORMATION: Contact me if you have questions:
Tom Martin
HNP Field Trip Coordinator
469-261-3045