I have a new outdoor space for entertaining family and friends here at my Bedford, New York farm.
Last fall, after cutting down a large yew tree at my former East Hampton home, I decided the lumber would make a beautiful table for my new pavilion outside my pool. To make it, I called on the help of master artisan Peter Billow, owner of Peter H. Billow Fine Woodworking in Brooklyn, New York. Peter's experience with yew was limited to veneer, but he researched the wood's properties and behaviors and got right to work. Peter started with milling and cutting, and then moved on to the process of joining, planing, gluing, balancing, and then finally sanding and finishing. It took several weeks to complete, but I am so pleased with the final result and exquisite woodwork.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Yew wood, Taxus Baccata, is a species of evergreen tree in the conifer family. Yew is native to Western, Central, and Southern Europe, Northwest Africa, Northern Iran, Southwest Asia, and is also known as common yew, European yew, and English yew. After the yew was cut and made into usable lumber, I stored it in my run-in shed until Peter could pick it up.
Wood from the yew is classified as a closed-pore softwood, similar to cedar and pine. Look at the beautiful wood with all of its knots. Yew is easy to work with and is very flexible.
Peter relocated all the yew to his shop in Brooklyn, where all the work happens. The heartwood of yew tends to be an orange-brown, at times a darker brown or even purplish hue. It is often used for cabinetry and tool handles. The hard, slow-growing wood is also used to make gates, furniture, parquet floors, and paneling.
Peter and his team started with the rough milling. While the wood was kiln dried, the wood showed significant signs of checking and warpage, so Peter had to be very careful to mill it properly. He found that the internal tensions and stress of the wood made it a bit challenging to saw.
Here’s a closer look at some of the typical burls, knots, and intricate patterns.
Peter had to cut around major checks and knots as the wood would bind on the saw – this part of the process was slow going.
Here are the cut pieces spaced with smaller wood shims to allow air to circulate between the pieces and allow the wood to acclimate after milling.
Here are the cut pieces for the trestles and legs.
Once the rough cutting was finished, Peter and his crew moved the wood to the jointer and planer. Planing the wood happened over many days. They “opened” the wood up and let it sit to acclimate over a period of time before “thicknessing,” or bringing each piece of wood to a consistent thickness throughout its length. This is done to minimize the wood’s internal tensions.
Here, the trestle pieces are joined and glued. Fortunately, yew glues, finishes, and turns quite nicely.
Once Peter had all of the wood “thicknessed” down to the desired size, it was time to lay the wood out. Peter checks that all the pieces have the same thickness throughout.
Holes are made in the criss-crossed center of the trestles for the horizontal support.
And this is one base after the cross piece was secured to the trestles. By definition, a trestle is a a framework consisting of a horizontal beam supported by two pairs of sloping legs, used in pairs to hold up a flat surface such as a tabletop.
For all the legs and trestles, Peter needed to glue up pieces to gain the desired thickness. Balancing is very important here as an unbalanced board will warp.
Balancing the tops is also very important and it took a significant amount of time to achieve the balanced tabletop that also looked great.
Once the tables were built, Peter moved on to the patching and filling of the voids and checks. This was very time consuming. If you go too far, this process can take away from the table’s natural look, but too little work and it looks unfinished. Peter had to get it just right – and he did. When this was done he started sanding. The team sanded up to a grit of 180 and then applied the first coat of finish. Pete likes to use Osmo oil with a UV additive. In between coats they re-sanded with 240 grit. Afterward, the curing process of the finish takes approximately three to five days.
And finally, the tables were delivered bright and early one morning last week – three total. English Yew ranges from durable to very durable when it comes to decay resistance. And, it is also resistant to insect attack. I knew it would be perfect here at the pavilion.
Peter’s crew carries the three tabletops to the pavilion one by one.
Look at the beautiful finish. Peter did not use any epoxy to fill the knots and natural holes in the wood – he left them as is.
I love the joinery in the trestles. The top peg is made of walnut, a very strong and stable wood that can take intricate carving.
Here is the third and last tabletop. Once all the tables were in place, all three were butted up against each other to make it one long table.
Here’s Peter in front of the long table after all the tops were well secured to the legs and trestles. Each table weighs about 300-pounds – wind will not bring it down.
Although it's been unusually cool and quite windy here at my Bedford, New York farm this week, the gardens are showing off lots of springtime blooms.
The garden beds are changing every single day. Trees are leafing out and flowers are bursting with color and energy - Fritillaria, Muscari, Epimediums, trout lilies, mayapples, the Camperdown Elms with their umbrella-like crowns and pendulous branches, and of course the daffodils.
Enjoy these photos and have a great weekend.
My long and winding pergola is just full of lush green foliage. Soon, it will display a colorful palette of alliums, lilies, and camassia.
Right now, there’s lots of Muscari in the garden beds along the pergola. Muscari is a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, most commonly blue, urn-shaped flowers that look like bunches of grapes in spring. Muscari is also known by its common name for the genus – grape hyacinth.
Commonly known as the Guinea Hen Flower, the Checkered Lily or the Snake’s Head Fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris is an heirloom species dating back to 1575. It has pendant, bell-shaped, checkered and veined flowers that are either maroon or ivory-white with grass-like foliage intermittently spaced on its slender stems. I have many in my gardens. This deer- and rodent-resistant naturalizer is native to the western Himalayas and Asia Minor, and prefers rich, well-draining neutral pH soil and a bit of light shade or dappled sunlight.
These are Snowflakes – not to be confused with Snowdrops. The Snowflake is a much taller growing bulb which normally has more than one flower per stem. Snowflake petals are even, each with a green spots on the end, whereas Snowdrops have helicopter-like propellers that are green only on the inner petals.
Viburnum a popular evergreen species, grown mainly for its dark green leathery leaves. The dark green leaves on this dense, multi-stemmed shrub are toothed and oval in shape. This broad, dense, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub typically matures to 10 feet tall and spreads to 15 feet wide.
These are the pink buds of the Sargent Crabapple. The Sargent Crabapple, Malus sargentii, generally grows about six to 12 feet in height and often just as wide.
And there are so many daffodils everywhere!
The blossoms come in many combinations of yellow, orange, white, red, pink and even green. I shared lots of photos in yesterday’s blog from my long daffodil border. I hope you saw them.
Here is an all white daffodil – one of many planted behind my Tenant House.
The hostas are also growing quickly. Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies, and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi. They are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars. I have hundreds of hostas here at the farm – many of which were grown from bare-root cuttings and stored in my cold frame before they were planted.
I also have lots of ostrich ferns growing. Matteuccia struthiopteris is native to North America. Once established, these grow to a height of three to six feet. Ostrich fern grows in vase-shaped clumps called crowns. The showy, arching, sterile fronds are plume-like and reminiscent of the tail feathers of – you guessed it – ostriches.
There are trout lilies. The delicate blooms, which resemble turks cap lilies do best in dappled light.
Another big shower right now is Podophyllum peltatum – commonly known as mayapple, American mandrake, wild mandrake, and ground lemon. Mayapples are woodland plants, typically growing in colonies from a single root. I have lots of mayapple growing here. The palmately lobed umbrella-like leaves grow up to 16-inches in diameter with three to nine shallowly to deeply cut lobes. The plants produce several stems from a creeping underground rhizome.
Syneilesis aconitifolia, commonly called shredded umbrella plant, is an herbaceous perennial of the aster family that is native to hillside forest margins and slopes in China, Korea, Japan and eastern Russia. I am so fond of the foliage. The leaves are narrow, dissected, and cascade downward like an umbrella. Emerging foliage is covered with a unique white fur. White flowers on mauve pink calyxes will tower above the foliage midsummer.
The hellebores continue to show beautifully at the farm. Hellebores are members of the Eurasian genus Helleborus – about 20 species of evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. They blossom during late winter and early spring for up to three months. Hellebores come in a variety of colors and have rose-like blossoms. It is common to plant them on slopes or in raised beds in order to see their flowers, which tend to nod.
Astilboides is an interesting plant with huge, bright green leaves that are round and flat and measure up to 24-inches across. The effect is dramatic, and beautiful among other hardy perennials.
Epimedium, also known as barrenwort, bishop’s hat, fairy wings, horny goat weed, or yin yang huo, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Berberidaceae. The majority of the species are endemic to China, with smaller numbers elsewhere in Asia, and a few in the Mediterranean region. The leaves are made up of leaflets, which can range in number from three to 50 and in size from as tiny to six inches long. They are generally heart-shaped, but can range from round to arrow-shaped.
Sprays of pink, white, yellow, orange, or lavender flowers appear this time of year. And, some Epimedium blossoms look like miniature columbines or tiny daffodils, while others appear more like spiders or stars. Species with long sprays can even resemble orchids.
Just outside the kitchen to my Winter House, I have two of these Camperdown Elms. Camperdown Elms slowly develop broad, flat heads and wide crowns with weeping branch habits.
Its leaves are oblong-obovate to elliptic, rough-textured and serrated.
And here is the herbaceous peony bed – it is also growing so beautifully. In June, this garden bed will be overflowing with giant peonies in pink and white. What are the spring flowers in your garden?
Brightly colored daffodils are blooming at my Bedford, New York farm. And looking at the swaths of white, orange, and yellow narcissi blowing gently in the breeze always makes me so happy.
I started developing my long daffodil border in 2003. Since then, I’ve expanded the collection, and after lots of careful planning and planting, the border now extends the length of one side of my property from the Summer House, behind my azaleas, past the stable, and down to the Japanese maple woodland. And, because daffodils naturalize easily, more and more blooms emerge each spring. Together with jonquils, daffodil flowers belong to the genus Narcissus - there is no major difference, all are the same.
There are so many varieties planted in my daffodil border. Here are some photos, enjoy.
It’s daffodil time! Here I am among these gorgeous flowers in one section of my daffodil border.
The daffodil border is broken up into various groupings – different varieties, different shapes and sizes, and different blooming times. I love photographing the swaths of blooms – they look magnificent this season.
Narcissus is a genus of spring perennials in the Amaryllidaceae family. They’re known by the common name daffodil, and there are no stringent rules as to the differences between daffodils, jonquils, and narcissus – all are the same.
The species are native to meadows and woods in southwest Europe and North Africa. Narcissi tend to be long lived bulbs and are popular ornamental plants in public and private gardens.
The flowers are generally white or yellow with either uniform or contrasting colored tepals and corona.
There are at least 50-species of daffodils, and more than 27-thousand registered daffodil hybrids.
There is also one named after me, Narcissus ‘Martha Stewart’, which I have planted here at the farm beneath my stately pin oaks.
When choosing where to plant daffodils, select an area that gets at least half a day of sun. Hillsides and raised beds do nicely.
Narcissus naturalize very easily. Lift and divide overcrowded clumps in late June or July. I take stock of my daffodils every year to see what is growing well and what is not, so I can learn what to remove, where to add more, and what to plant next.
In my daffodil border, I planted early, mid and late season blooming varieties so that when one section is done blooming, another is just opening up. Consider this strategy to lengthen the blooming season.
We planted about three thousand bulbs in this bed located to one side of my allee of lindens. Most are from Colorblends Flower Bulbs – a third-generation wholesale flower merchant in nearby Bridgeport, Connecticut. Among those we planted here include ‘Acropolis,’ ‘Barrett Browning,’ ‘Delnashaugh,’ ‘Cassata,’ ‘Snowboard,’ ‘Delibes,’ ‘White Lion,’ ‘Sir Winston Churchill,’ ‘Kedron,’ and ‘Segovia.’
Normal rainfall will typically take care of any watering requirements during the spring flowering season. The most important care tip is to provide daffodils with rich, well-drained soil.
Daffodil plants prefer a neutral to slightly acidic soil. Be sure they are planted where there is room for them to spread, but not where the soil is water-logged.
This cheerful daffodil, with its color contrast, makes a bold statement in the border. Cultivars with bold colored cups generally retain better color when planted in a little shade to protect them from the hot afternoon sun.
Few pests bother daffodils. The bulbs are actually quite unappetizing to most insects and animals, including deer and voles.
After daffodils bloom in the spring, allow the plants to continue growing until they die off on their own. They need the time after blooming to store energy in their bulbs for next year.
When cutting daffodils, they should be kept alone in the vase as their stems secrete a fluid that promotes wilting in other flowers. If you need to combine flowers, soak them alone first and then add them to the arrangements last.
In general, daffodils are easy to care for and hardy plants. Diseases common to daffodils include basal rot, various viruses and fungi.
Daffodils can also grow in containers as long as there is room to multiply and room for the roots to fill out. They can bloom well for two to three years – after that, it’s best to move them to a spot in the ground where they will come up once a year.
This daffodil has six white petals and a soft yellow cup.
The American Daffodil Society classifies daffodils by their flower shape. And depending on the type of cultivar and where it is planted, the daffodil’s flowering season can last up to several weeks.
Here’s another view of the stunning border – I love driving by these magnificent flowers every morning when I tour the farm.
But everyone enjoys the daffodils here – even my peafowl! What daffodils are growing around your home? Share your favorite varieties with me in the comments section below.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
