The terraces at Skylands are bursting with plant life and color once again.
I spent Memorial Day weekend at my home in Maine to carry out my yearly task of planting the large urns, pots, and planters that adorn the exterior of the house. It’s quite an undertaking, but I always enjoy the time, especially with the group that accompanies me from year to year. The greenhouse at Skylands isn’t large enough to accommodate the big plants during winter, so many of the tropical and exotic specimens are stored in hoop houses at my Bedford, New York farm, and then carefully loaded onto a trailer and delivered to Maine for the summer months. As soon as I get there, I design the layout of where things should go, and then we all get to work.
I have a sizable collection of tropical specimens. Here are some of the plants after they’ve been pulled from the hoop houses. Once they are outdoors, they are groomed and displayed. Most of the plants are placed in various locations here at Cantitoe Corners, but a selection also goes up to Skylands.
Fernando, Pete, and the rest of the crew work very hard to get all the plants out. They are all grouped by type, so I can easily assess which plants go where.
I take more than 100 tropical and exotic plants to fill the many pots at Skylands. Here are the plants heading north for the season – all packed safely in the trailer. The trailer and the team going by car leave a day or two ahead of me, so everything can be unloaded and put in place by the time I get there.
This year, I left the day after the plants. A group of good friends and I board a plane early in the morning for Maine. This day and the entire weekend were expected to be very pleasant.
After just an hour and a half, we can already see Maine and the roads and bridges to Mt, Desert Island.
Here I am with the Tradewinds and airport crew. It was a very safe and smooth flight.
And here are some of our hard working gardeners and outdoor grounds crew – Peter Grub, Amos Price, Rick Andros, Wendy Norling, and Ryan McCallister who traveled with me from Bedford.
Here are some of the bigger plants taken out of the trailer and placed on the driveway. I decide where each plant will go before they are moved – staying organized saves lots of time and energy. This year, we brought agaves, alocasias, palms, and so many more.
Agaves are long-leafed succulents with shallow roots and showy, spiked leaves. A little extra care should be taken whenever working with such sharp plants – always protect the eyes and face when handling agaves.
We also had trays of smaller plants and ground covers to use as under plantings – helichrysum, dichondra, and lysimachia.
Before we start planting, we make sure all the supplies are ready. Here we have trowels, pruners, hori hori gardening knives, gloves, and plastic bags. The bucket is filled with clay pot shards for drainage in the pots. And a refreshing can of seltzer water, for the gardener at this station of course.
Here are bags of soil mix, our wheelbarrow and tarps to catch any soil that falls or cut foliage. Using tarps makes it so much easier to gather the soil and put it back into a container. For planting, we use Pro-Mix BX Biofungicide + Mycorrhizae – a general-purpose growing medium that is great for a wide variety of plants and transplanting applications. A good potting mix will include a mix of sterile soil, very well rotted leaf mold, and compost. On the right, a bag of Osmocote fertilizer – we always remember to feed the plants.
It’s always a busy, but fun weekend at Skylands when we fill the planters with beautiful specimens. Look at all the planters and troughs waiting to be filled. The vines on the walls are ancient actinidia, which are small kiwi. They are original to the home and have done exceptionally well all these years. This great, fast-growing, sturdy vine is fruit producing.
The plants are carefully placed around the terrace, in or close to where they will be displayed for the season.
To protect the rather porous and fragile pots, I like to line them with garbage bags, so the pots don’t soak up too much water. The garbage bags have drain holes at the bottom and are neatly tucked inside the pot, so they are not visible.
We also put in a layer of bubble wrap – this is a great way to reuse and repurpose all that bubble wrap that may have accumulated over the winter months from package deliveries. Filling the bottom of large planters with something other than soil also benefits plantings in several ways – it is more economical, easier to move, and better for drainage and root growth. A good amount of bubble wrap was placed right at the bottom of this urn.
Here’s a wider view. This is one of two giant Soderholtz pots – Ellis Soderholtz was a pioneer in American garden pottery at the turn of the last century, turning concrete into these gorgeous vessels. This plant is an Alocasia with its pretty large leaves. Alocasia is also known as elephant ear.
The pot is then covered with more soil mix and a ground cover that will spread and fall over the sides of the container in the next several weeks. Notice the two glazed terra-cotta sphinxes in the background. They are designed by Emile Muller and guard this entrance to the house.
Here, Peter pots up an agave. Agaves are exotic, deer-resistant, drought-tolerant plants. Agaves make wonderful container plants. Everyone takes turns doing everything – from preparing the plants to moistening the potting mix, to filling the pots, to planting.
Amos works on this alocasia in another area of the “iced” terrace.
And here I am adding some Osmocote to this potted alocasia. This faux bois planter is very old – about 1925 to 1930 – and very heavy. In fact, many of the containers date from this time.
The terrace looks excellent after it is done – I can’t wait to see it all filled out later this summer. In my next blog, I’ll share photos from all the great foods we ate and places we visited during this trip to Maine.
Early June is such an exciting time here at my Bedford, New York farm. It's when my herbaceous peony garden is blooming with brilliant pinks and whites!
Every year, I’m always amazed by the dazzling display of these beautiful flowers. It’s definitely one of the most anticipated sights - we all wait patiently for the floral show. Friends and family love the peonies as much as I do and rush to see them in all their splendor. When I first planted this garden, I knew I wanted many, many peonies in one large area. I chose a location across from my Winter House, where there's lots of room and full sun - a perfect spot outside my window.
Enjoy these photos.
In early May, my herbaceous peony bed is filled with knee-high stems and dense green foliage. Everyone is always so excited to see this peony garden explode with color. Before the flowers appear, my outdoor grounds crew puts up stakes, so the peonies are well-supported as they grow. We use natural twine and metal uprights I designed myself for this purpose.
My design includes strong steel stakes with two eye holes – one at the top and one midway. This allows for two rows of supportive twine.
A week later, look at all the buds atop the stems. When I first planted my peony garden, I focused on pink varieties, and planted 11-double rows of 22-peony types. I chose the varieties for their colors, their forms and their long blooming periods.
Here’s a closer look at one of the buds.
By the third week of May, the first blooms appear. One of the reasons these peonies thrive here at my farm is because of the soil. It has a pH of 6.5 to 7.0, which is ideal. It is also amended with superphosphate and Azomite, a natural product mined from an ancient mineral deposit in Utah. These natural additives improve root systems and overall plant vigor, resulting in this fantastic profusion of blooms.
And this week, look at the transformation – rows and rows of gorgeous blooms. The view inside this boxwood hedged garden is breathtaking.
The peony is any plant in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, Europe, and Western North America.
The leaves of the herbaceous peony are pointed with a shiny, deep green color.
Peonies are one of the best-known and most dearly loved perennials – not surprising considering their beauty, trouble-free nature, and longevity.
Herbaceous peonies grow two to four feet tall with sturdy stems and blooms that can reach up to 10-inches wide. We spaced the plants about three to four feet apart to avoid any competing roots.
Peony blooms range from simple blossoms to complex clusters with a variety of petal forms.
The peony’s fragrance can vary, but most have sweet, clean scents. And, do you know… pink peonies tend to have stronger fragrances than red peonies? Double form white peonies are also very aromatic.
Semi-double peonies are those which have single or double rows of broad petals encircling more broad petals and an exposed center crown.
This flower form is more rounded with a large number of petals rising in the center to form a distinct mound.
Here’s another rounded form in a slightly pink hue.
Here’s Enma picking some blooms early in the morning – there are so many from which to choose.
Enma cuts them shorter than other flowers, so they don’t flop over in the vase. And always use sharp pruners or scissors for cutting.
Flower colors come in white, pink, yellow, red, and coral and the various shades and tints of each.
The peony is a perennial flower. The majority of peonies are hybrids and classified as herbaceous, or as deciduous tree peonies. The peony is showy, frilly with tuberous root systems.
Peonies are considered northern flowers – they tolerate and even prefer cold winter temperatures. They are hardy in zones 3 through 8 and need more than 400-hours of temperatures below 40-degrees Fahrenheit annually to break dormancy and bloom properly.
For the most part, peonies are disease resistant. They do, however, take some time to get established, so be patient. And if you happen to see ants crawling on your peonies, don’t worry. The insects are attracted to the sugary syrup produced by the buds. Once the flower opens fully, and the sucrose has been finished, the ants disappear.
Among the varieties in my collection – ‘Elsa Sass’, ‘Victorian Blush’, ‘Fringed Ivory’, ‘Martha’, ‘Madylone’, ‘Lullaby Coos’, ‘Vivid Glow’, ‘Angel Cheeks’, ‘Miss America’ and ‘Flying Pink Saucers’.
This is ‘Star Power’. It has pure white, large blossoms with bold round guard petals and red tipped stigmas. When using peonies for display, cut those whose buds are beginning to show color and feel similar to firm marshmallows. Always cut the stems at an angle and change the water daily.
And here are some on my kitchen counter. Peonies are among my favorite flowers. The only disadvantage of peonies is that each field yields one crop of cut flowers for a couple of weeks only once a year, and then that’s it – until the next season when they bloom with splendor once again.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, we're expecting some cooler weather and hopefully a bit of rain over the weekend - good conditions for the recent over-seeding we did in my pastures.
I am very fortunate to have several paddocks where my horses and donkeys can graze. Late winter to spring is the best time to over-seed these areas. Not long ago, my outdoor grounds crew tackled two large enclosures. First, we used our Land Pride aerator to properly loosen the soil and prepare it for good drainage. Then we attached a commercial sized rotary-spin broadcast spreader to our Kubota tractor and distributed our custom high grade grass seed mix from Hancock Farm & Seed Company.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Here is a wide view of one of my horse pastures. The best day to overseed is when there is little to no wind, so the application can be done as evenly as possible. This day was perfect – no wind, mild temperatures, and a beautiful blue sky.
The ground was already aerated with our Land Pride tow-behind aerator. I am glad to be able to have all the farm equipment we need to care for our fields. Here I am in front of our Kubota tractor with the aerator attachment behind me.
Here, one can see the holes left behind by the aerating spikes.
Our aerator makes slits in the ground as opposed to core plugs that are removed from the soil. The main reason for any aerating is to alleviate soil compaction. Compacted soils have too many solid particles in a certain volume or space, which prevents proper circulation of air, water, and nutrients. Aerating also improves drainage.
Our seed is from Hancock Farm & Seed Company, a 44-year old business that grows its own seed and ships directly from its Dade City, Florida facility.
Among the seed varieties we are using is this custom seed blend that includes orchard grass, tall fescue, and Timothy. Good quality grass is important for horses. It helps provide proper fiber requirements and keeps their digestive systems healthy.
Here’s a close look at the quality grass seed we use.
This is a 3-point spreader, which can be attached to a variety of tractors to spread seed or fertilizer. My outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring, hooks it up to the center rear of our Kubota M4-071 tractor.
Our spreader features an opening system with split levers that allow distribution control.
Chhiring fills the spreader with the first batch of seed.
And then he heads out to the pasture. The other end of the tractor has our trusted Kubota L1154 front loader that helps us transport so many things around the farm and cuts down plenty of time going back and forth to the Equipment Barn.
Chhiring starts by going around the field counter clockwise from the outer edge working inward. He also overlaps his passes, so he doesn’t miss any areas.
Broadcast spreaders distribute seed in a fan-like pattern in all directions and cover a wider area per pass than drop spreaders. As the tractor moves, the fan throws the seed that falls out of the bottom of the spreader.
Over-seeding is a process where grass seed is added to an already existing area which after germination serves to increase the density of the grass plants. This process reduces the aging process or natural decline of the turf.
One can see the seed level in the spreader – it holds enough for this entire enclosure.
Looking closely at the ground, one can see the tiny seeds.
Meanwhile, Cesar is in another enclosure distributing seed by hand over some bare spots in the goose yard. Everything starts from a seed. Choosing high quality varieties truly makes a difference for my grazing water fowl and equines.
Once Chhiring is done with this pasture, he will move onto an adjacent field that also needs some over-seeding.
The entire process takes a couple of hours to do, but it is well worth it to make sure my pastures are seeded with the best grass possible.
These particular paddocks will remain empty for a couple of weeks until the seeds germinate and grow – and then they’ll be beautiful, lush, and ready for grazing once again.
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