WAYNE, PA – May 9, 2024 – Chanticleer welcomes Leirion Sorensen as the new Horticulture Manager. Leirion will lead Chanticleer’s 24-person Horticulture department, further advancing our commitment to keeping the garden in excellent condition, helping the staff achieve innovative, educational, and inspiring designs and displays. This is a key position for Chanticleer’s leadership team and Leirion will work closely with Chanticleer’s Executive Director to ensure Chanticleer remains a national and world leader in public garden design, education, and management, with a strong emphasis on environmental stewardship.
Leirion brings more than 25 years of horticultural experience at both public and private gardens. For the past 3 years, she has served as the gardens manager at Mt. Cuba Center, overseeing 11 full-time employees who are responsible for conserving and stewarding more than 1,000 acres of managed gardens, meadows, forests, streams, and riparian corridors. While at Mt. Cuba Center, Leirion improved collaboration and engagement across the horticulture department and led the development of four new garden areas, adding over 24,000 plants to the collection.
A strategic and collaborative leader with over 10 years in senior positions, Leirion has strong experience leading teams, guiding staff, creating processes for improved garden management, and developing gardens to have greater ecological function and beauty. In addition to her extensive work experience, Leirion holds a B.S. in Ornamental Horticulture from Delaware Valley University
Chanticleer is one of more than 39 public gardens in the Philadelphia region, known as America’s Garden Capital. The 50-acre pleasure garden in Wayne, Pennsylvania, USA has over 5,500 accessioned taxa and is recognized as a leader in horticultural display, design, education, and environmental stewardship. Formerly the home of the Rosengarten family, the garden is a study of textures and forms where foliage trumps flowers, the gardeners lead the design, and even the drinking fountains are sculptural. The garden has evolved greatly since opening to the public in 1993. There are eight horticulturists, each responsible for the design, planting, and maintenance of an area. Contemporary design complements the historic features of the property including terraces, sweeps of lawn, and magnificent trees. Plantings range from native to exotic, hardy to tropical, and from shade to sun. Staff-made furniture and decorative features add personal freshness to the overall effects. For more information, please visit chanticleergarden.org.
