The gardens here at my Bedford, New York farm are constantly evolving. I am always looking for pretty and interesting specimens to add to the developing beds. It's always very rewarding to see them develop and thrive.
This week, I received an assortment of plants from Monrovia, a wholesale plant nursery specializing in shrubs, perennials, annuals, ferns, grasses and conifers with several nursery locations across the country. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, and I, decided to plant Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' on both sides of a footpath leading to my Summer House garden. We also added Ajuga 'Black Scallop' and Brunnera 'Alexandria' to a bed behind my gym. These plants are small now, but they will add more texture and color to the areas as they grow.
Enjoy these photos.
Our latest delivery from Monrovia includes these very interesting ground covering perennials. Ryan loads them on the back of our Polaris off-road vehicle, so they can be taken to their new locations.
The first spot is the entrance to my sunken Summer House garden. Ryan lines up Ajuga ‘Chocolate Chip’ on both sides of the stone pavers. If you follow this blog regularly, you may recall we just made this stone path last spring.
Ajuga ‘Chocolate Chip’ is a spreading, miniature chocolate foliage plant with lacy blue flowers in spring. As these mature, they will create a tight mat of rich, brown color with dark green undertones.
Brian starts by digging the hole at least twice the size of the plant’s root ball.
These plants were going into narrow areas and were already root bound in their pots, so Brian decided it was a good idea to split the plants in half. Here is the root ball of one of the Ajuga plants – all the roots formed a dense, tangled mass that allows little or no space for further growth.
To divide, Brian first looks for the center of the root ball – a good place to divide the plant in two.
This is a Hori Hori gardening knife. It is perfect for many tasks such as loosening soil, measuring soil depth, digging up weeds, and dividing plants.
Once Brian finds the center, he uses the Hori Hori to carefully cut down the middle of the root ball.
Here is one half – still quite full, but now with more circulation between the roots and more room to grow.
All the areas to be planted are given a good sprinkling of fertilizer. Here we used an all-purpose formula with a good balance of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.
Brian uses his foot to measure the distance from the stone pavers to where the Ajuga will be planted.
And then he plants the Ajuga. Ajuga naturalizes easily, spreading by stolons, or horizontal stems that creep along the ground, so be sure to plant it appropriately.
What is so nice about adding Ajuga to the garden is they hold their leaf color and stay attractive almost all year-round.
One can see the nice row of Ajuga lining this side of the footpath. The other side is an exact match. Brian neatly rakes around the plants and then gives them all a good drink.
In the foreground is another variety of Ajuga – Ajuga ‘Black Scallop.’ In the back is Brunnera ‘Alexandria.’ Several of both kinds were placed in a garden bed behind my gym building.
Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’ is a unique perennial in the mint family Lamiaceae, with most species native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and southeastern Australia. It has lush dark burgundy-black scalloped foliage that blankets the ground when mature.
Brunnera is one of the prettiest plants to include in any shady garden. Brunnera is an herbaceous perennial with leaves that are glossy green or in variegated hues of gray, silver, or white.
The root ball of this Brunnera is not as tightly formed as the Ajuga plants, but still needs to be scarified, so the roots are stimulated to grow. This root ball was also recently watered, so everything is darker in color.
Brian plants this in a hole that is also twice the size of the root ball – a good rule of thumb for any plant – and then backfills the surrounding fertilized soil.
Brunnera is a slowly spreading, rhizomatous perennial that is loved for its heart-shaped leaves. I think these will do well here in this garden.
Because the Ajuga has more room to grow in this space, Brian does not divide these Ajuga plants, but carefully opens the bottom of the root ball and spreads out the bottom roots.
Here is how it looks just before planting. Brian will place it into the hole with the roots flaring outward, so they grow in that direction.
Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’ is also known as Black Scallop bugleweed, ground pine, carpet bugle, or just bugle. All these plants are available in the perennials section of the nursery.
These plants will soon develop into bigger ground covering masses. Don’t be afraid to experiment with color and form in the garden – it can always be changed. Do research on a plant’s care needs and always plant with a specimen’s mature size in mind. For anyone passionate about gardening, it’s always so rewarding to plant new specimens and watch them flourish.
I hope you saw my Instagram post @MarthaStewart48. It's that time of year again - the tomatoes are ready!
We started picking our first juicy, sweet tomatoes this week. Tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, have long been one of America’s favorite garden vegetables. They are planted in late spring and then anywhere from 60 to 100 days later, those bold red, sun-ripened fruits are ready to harvest and enjoy. And, they’re filled with excellent antioxidants and vitamins.
Here are some photos.
We plant more than 120 tomato plants each year. We always start our tomatoes from seed in my greenhouse. We don’t use any pesticides or chemicals of any kind, so we know we’re nurturing the highest quality plants. I love to share them with family and friends and use them to make all the delicious tomato sauce we enjoy through the year. This season, we also had tomato plants that were gifted to me by a friend and some from one of our trusted growers.
The plants are checked often once they are planted. Brian removes any suckers he sees — those vigorous stems sprouting in-between a “V” of the stem and side branch. He removes the suckers beneath the first fruit cluster so they won’t slow the development of the fruit. It also keeps the plant open, allowing for good air circulation.
By late June, the stakes are put up for the growing vines. If you’ve ever grown a vining plant, you know how important it is to provide strong structures to which the vines can cling and climb. Using teepee-like structures in the vegetable garden is an easy way to support these plants, and to add eye-catching texture to the garden beds. We used bamboo to build the supports. Bamboo is attractive, easy to find, and can be reused year after year.
This plant is already tall enough to wrap around the bamboo.
Here is a view from one end. Brian also secures horizontal bamboo pieces across all the bamboo stakes, which will support them even more as they grow.
Each plant is now carefully propped up next to its designated stake and secured. These supports really help to keep all these beautiful fruits off the ground and free of rot.
Brian ties a simple figure eight knot to the bamboo. I teach all the gardeners and grounds crew members to use figure eights, so the stems are not crushed.
Tomato leaves have serrated, or wavy and pointed, edging along the entire perimeter. Tomato leaves are compound with multiple leaflets growing along a common stem, called a rachis. These leaves are also slightly fuzzy to the touch, which is caused by the trichomes, or multi-cellular hairs, on the plant. Never use chemically treated wood or other material for staking climbers, as the chemicals would likely run off and go into the soil.
It takes about 50 to 90 days for tomato varieties to start reaching maturity. Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid and late season tomato harvests. In our region, tomato plants do best with direct sunlight all day long.
By early August, we had a good number of tomatoes growing on the vines.
There were tomatoes of all sizes.
Some were even red, and ready to taste.
Brian continues to check the vines every day and lifts up any that are heavy with fruits and touching the ground.
Here is a large tomato, still green, but looking great.
By the last week of August, There were many turning bright red.
Ripe tomatoes are shiny and glossy. And, given a gentle squeeze, should have a bit of “give” to it.
One can can harvest tomatoes as soon as they start turning red, or orange, or yellow, or purple, and then allow them to ripen some more in the kitchen; however, it is also okay to leave tomatoes on the plant. We harvest every couple of days.
The best time of day to pick tomatoes is in the morning, before the heat of the day sets in. This will help them to stay fresh longer.
We also grew quite a few orange tomatoes. Ryan tries different varieties to see which grow best – those varieties will go on a list for next year.
Ryan started picking this week, when we knew it would be dry. It’s important to harvest ripe or almost ripe tomatoes before a heavy rain or a deep watering. Heavy rain, especially when it follows a period of dry weather, is a major cause of cracked and split fruits, so time harvests appropriately.
Here’s Ryan picking one of our sun-ripened delicious tomatoes.
Once they are picked, they are placed on a tray stem-side down. The top of the tomato always ripens last. If a tomato is sitting on its already ripe bottom, as the bottom continues to ripen, it will start to rot. Turning tomatoes stem-side down extends their shelf life.
And here is a photo of our first harvest – trays filled with perfect tomatoes. I couldn’t wait to try them. I already took a few to share and enjoy with my daughter. I hope you all have bounties of sweet and juicy tomatoes as well. Enjoy every bite!
While visiting Paris, France one must try to see the magnificent palace and gardens of Versailles. I've been to Versailles several times and every visit was more breathtaking than the last. My gardener, Ryan McCallister, picked a lovely day of his recent European vacation to tour the historic landmark and grounds.
When the château was built, Versailles was just a small 11th century village. Today, it is a wealthy suburb about 12-miles southwest of Paris. Known simply as Versailles, it was the seat of political power in the Kingdom of France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved the royal court from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. The expansive royal gardens were designed by renowned landscape architect André Le Nôtre. They cover more than 1970 acres and include gorgeous manicured hedges, gardens and groves, reflecting pools, artfully carved statues, and perfectly edged pathways.
Here are a few more photos from Ryan's trip, enjoy.
Here is the grand courtyard and front of the Royal Palace of Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. It was a bit overcast to start, but the sun came out during Ryan’s tour of the gardens.
The Royal courtyard is all paved in marble with its contrasting colors of black and white stone.
Versailles is an excellent example of the Baroque style of architecture, which developed in the 17th century.
In 1661 Louis XIV called on André Le Nôtre with the creation and renovation of the gardens of Versailles, which Louis considered just as important as the Palace itself. Work on the gardens was started at the same time as the work on the palace and lasted for about 40 years.
Creating the gardens of Versailles was a monumental task. Large amounts of soil had to be moved to level the ground and make room for various fountains, pools and statues and to create the parterres. This is the North Parterre.
It took thousands of workers, sometimes even entire regiments, to help create this immense project of the king.
To maintain its incredible design, the garden needed to be replanted approximately once every 100 years. King Louis XVI oversaw one of these replanting projects and so did Napoleon III during his reign.
The Garden of Versailles is considered the essence of French formal garden design. This “jardin à la Français” uses order on nature by creating lots of symmetry and incorporating water features and plant life. This is the Orangerie.
Originally completed in 1663, the Orangerie was intended to supply the much smaller hunting lodge of Versailles and the small retinue, or group of assistants and advisors, which Louis XIV would bring with him in the summer. In 1678, an enlargement of the Orangerie was created by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, which doubled the size of the original. in the distance is the Lake of the Swiss Guards.
Potted palm trees, orange trees from Portugal, Spain and Italy, lemon trees, oleander, and pomegranate trees, some more than 200 years old, are all housed in the Orangerie.
Today, to keep up with the planting of hundreds of thousands of specimens each year, including the regular maintenance tasks of grooming, pruning, edging, and cleaning, Versailles employs 48-full time gardeners. This is one of the many “walks” – a hedge allée from one area to another. André Le Nôtre organised the Gardens of Versailles around two axes, north-south and east-west.
The Neptune Fountain or the Fountain of Neptune was built between 1679 and 1681.
This is called Latona’s Fountain and Parterre. The Latona fountain was built for Louis XIV. He wanted a fountain telling the story of the childhood of Apollo, the sun god he selected for his emblem. It went through several stages before it acquired its present form.
Here is a closer look at the fountain. From 1687 to 1689, Jules Hardouin-Mansart created the present fountain by turning Latona around and placing her on the top of a marble pyramid. At the base are 20 frogs cast in lead which run water towards the center of the basin.
Brightly colored flowers have been planted since the reign of Louis XIV.
Each parterre is so perfectly groomed. At the foot of the Palace on the garden side there are three large parterres – the North Parterre, South Parterre and Water Parterre.
Every parterre is meticulously designed and beautifully maintained.
Scores of trees were planted at Versailles. Originally comprising mainly linden and chestnut trees from nearby forests, it has expanded over the centuries to include more rare trees such as the American tulip tree and Virginian juniper, the Japanese Pagoda tree, the Chinese catalpa, and the giant sequoia.
Many of the tall hedges are hornbeams – just like the European hornbeams I have at my farm.
Ryan thoroughly enjoyed his trip to France and especially Versailles. I am sure it is on his list to return there, again and again, just like I have. Thanks for sharing your photos, Ryan.
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