This time every year, if my busy schedule allows, I try to visit Miami, Florida's modern and contemporary art fairs - these events are full of information, inspiration, and fun.
Not long ago, I attended the Art Basel fair in Miami - the premier venue for collecting, exhibiting, collaborating, and discussing collectible design and upcoming trends in art. While there, I also fit in a brief visit to the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, some antiques shopping, and a wonderful dinner with none other than Clive Davis.
Enjoy these photos.
We arrived in Miami under the bluest of skies. One of our first stops was Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, previously known as Villa Vizcaya. It is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay. The early 20th century estate includes Italian Renaissance gardens, native woodland landscape, and a historic village outbuildings compound.
The Sutri Fountain is the centerpiece of Vizcaya. It was originally constructed in 1722 for a town just outside Rome. The fountain was disassembled in 1908 in favor of a smaller fountain and eventually purchased by James Deering and transported to the United States. It is made of Tivoli travertine in a design attributed to the Late Baroque architect Filippo Barigioni.
The ornate landscape and architecture of Vizcaya were influenced by Veneto and Tuscan Italian Renaissance models and designed with Baroque elements. F. Burrall Hoffman was the architect, Paul Chalfin was the design director, and Diego Suarez was the landscape architect.
The exterior gardens were also inspired by French Renaissance parterres. They continue to be well-manicured and maintained today.
Here we drove by the Miami Biltmore Hotel – a luxury hotel in Coral Gables. It was designed by Schultze and Weaver and was built in 1926 by John McEntee Bowman and George Merrick. The tower is inspired by the Giralda, the medieval tower of the cathedral of Seville. When completed it became the tallest building in Florida at 315 feet holding the record until 1928 when the Dade County Courthouse was built.
This brightly colored building is the Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ built in 1923. It is considered a fine example of Spanish colonial revival architecture and listed on the national register of historic places. The church is the oldest established building and organization in Coral Gables.
That night was warm and pleasant – it was nice to be able to dine out with friends once again. We ate at the Italian-American restaurant, Carbone.
Look closely, I had dinner with record producer, Clive Davis and his cousin, Jo Shuman Silver, along with my longtime publicist, Susan Magrino, my makeup artist, Daisy Schwartzberg Toye, Kevin Sharkey, Clive’s friend, Greg Schriefer, and his well-behaved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Dinner was served al fresco, meaning “in the open air.” Here is another photo of me and my new furred friend.
The next day, I fit in some antiquing and shopping. I always take photos of the items I see – they provide great inspiration for my business. This chair is in the Michel Contessa Antiques gallery which specializes in 20th decorative arts.
I also came upon this mirror with such an interesting frame.
That evening, we went to a great restaurant in Brickell called Komodo – an expansive eatery that spans three stories and features 300 tabletop, booth, and bar seats. Its cuisine offers a take on Southeast Asian dishes. See more photos on my Instagram @MarthaStewart48.
And then the next morning, we hit the art-scene. Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Miami Beach, Florida; Basel, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city’s local institutions to help grow and develop art programs.
works by masters of Modern and contemporary art, as well as the new generation of emerging stars.
This piece is called “Inseparable” by artist Bob Pruitt. It is made using acrylic, enamel, and glitter in a hand-painted frame.
This is is “Farmed Painting” – organic matter on canvas by artist David Balula.
Artist Ulrich Erben created this untitled piece. Here he “defines the Infinite” with acrylic and pigment on canvas. It was completed in 2019.
This piece is by Raymond Jonson. It is called “City Ultimate and was done in 1936. This oil on canvas piece imeasures 54-inches by 38-inches.
This piece is aptly named “Cosmic Connection.” Made in 1971 by James Phillips using acrylic on canvas.
And this untitled work is by artist Seung-Taek Lee. Art Basel Miami is the most celebrated art show in the Americas, with more than 260 prominent galleries taking part from North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. This art fair exhibits the works of thousands of artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. If you’re ever in the area, I encourage you to attend Art Basel and Miami Art Week – you’ll want to go back year after year.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm temperatures this week have been in the high 40s to low 50s - quite mild for this time of year. Nonetheless, I am very glad many of my cold-sensitive boxwood shrubs are now protected under burlap.
I've been covering my boxwood specimens with burlap since I first started to garden. Burlap protects the branches from splaying and breaking under heavy snow and shields the foliage from freezing windburn. Over the last few weeks, the outdoor grounds crew has been busy covering the boxwood plantings around the farm - most recently, the shrubs and hedges in my Summer House garden.
Enjoy these photos.
This formal sunken garden is tucked away behind my Summer House and completely surrounded by tall American Boxwood. This photo was taken in September before all the leaves began to fall.
Covering all the boxwood at the farm takes several weeks to complete. Rolls and rolls of burlap are needed to wrap my hedges and shrubs each winter. After every season, any burlap still in good condition is saved for use the following year. Because the areas to be covered are wide, long pieces of burlap are sewn together to accommodate them properly. These rolls come in various widths – some 48-inches and some 60-inches wide. Chhiring’s sewing skills get faster every year.
All the sewing is done using five-inch or eight-inch long craft needles specifically made for working with jute – every member of the outdoor grounds crew has his own needle. These needles have large eyes and bent tips.
Here is a frame built along one side of the garden. Building the frame at least a foot taller than the tallest shrub protects any heavy snow from weighing down onto the tender foliage.
The piping is pounded into the ground – each one about four to five feet from the next, and then 10-foot wide bow sections are secured on top – this will last quite a while and give the boxwood a lot of room to grow.
These are called tension purlin brackets. They connect the center piping to the bow sections.
Here is one fastened to the bow section and the center peak.
Next, the heavy burlap is placed by hand over the frames, one section at a time. The frames keep the burlap from touching the boxwood on all sides. Once the frame is secure and the burlap is sewn to fit, it is stretched out down the length of the footpath. The burlap is made to cover both the shrubs and the low hedge.
Phurba pulls the fabric taut and starts sewing the opening closed. Phurba has done this burlap process for several years. Each season, the crew streamlines the process making it more efficient.
Here is what it looks like underneath the burlap coverings.
Here, the sides are pulled secure and attached to stakes with wooden strips every two to three feet along the bottom.
These strips are about six to eight inches long – just long enough to accommodate two or three screws that will keep the burlap secure. These are also reused year after year – nothing is wasted at my farm.
Our burlap covers can last up to three seasons depending on the weather, but remember, these boxwood specimens also grow a little more every year, so the covers and frames have to be adjusted each time.
With the burlap secure, any snow that accumulates on top of the finished structures will sit on top or slide down the sides. Chhiring then rakes each of the beds, so they are neat and tidy.
The tall American boxwood that surrounds my sunken garden also needs protection. This boxwood is more hardy than its European cousins, so it doesn’t need burlap.
Instead, it is is protected with plastic netting to keep the branches from splaying.
Here is a closer look at the netting we use – it is pulled taut, so any snow that falls does not weigh on the branches.
I always encourage the crew to gather all the necessary supplies and tools first – the right items for the right job. Doing this saves time later.
We use these bamboo stakes to help secure the netting around the boxwood.
And then strong string is tied to the bamboo and pulled through the boxwood at different sections to keep the netting tight.
Here is a finished side – the netting is barely visible from afar.
And here is a look down the center footpath of the garden – everything is well-enshrouded in burlap.
From this entrance into the garden, everything looks completely different. These structures will provide strong protection through the winter until everything is removed again in spring.
I am so happy I can grow lots of juicy, nutrient-rich citrus fruits right here at my Bedford, New York farm.
Citrus fruits come in various colors, flavors, shapes, and sizes. Among the most recognizable are oranges and lemons. Less known, the smallest member of the citrus family is the kumquat. I love them all and I find it so satisfying to walk into my greenhouse and see them all thriving. It is actually quite easy to grow citrus indoors as long as it can be kept in a sunny windowsill or in a bright corner of a room. Yesterday my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, picked a bucket full of wonderful fruits.
Enjoy these photos.
My citrus hoop house is located across the carriage road from my vegetable garden not far from my chickens. My gardeners check the citrus house every day, but on this morning, Ryan is also harvesting lots of delicious, juicy fruits. They have been very productive this year.
They will stay in this greenhouse for about seven months. Citrus plants dislike abrupt temperature shifts and need to be protected from chilly drafts and blazing heaters. Dwarf citrus trees require at least eight to 12 hours of full sunshine and good air circulation to thrive.
I have many lemon trees. The Meyer lemon was first introduced to the United States in 1908 by the agricultural explorer, Frank Nicholas Meyer, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture who collected a sample of the plant on a trip to China. Citrus limon ‘Meyer’ is my favorite lemon because this thin-skinned fruit is much more flavorful than the ordinary store-bought. I love to use them for baking and cooking.
Meyer lemons are also smaller and more round than their regular store-bought cousins.
This is a Citrus hystrix, or makrut lime. It is native to tropical Asia, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The leaves of this tree are often used in Thai cooking for their delicious flavor and fragrance.
This is a Nagami kumquat, Fortunella margarita – the most commonly grown type of kumquat. The tree is small to medium in size with a dense and somewhat fine texture. These trees are quite cold-hardy because of their tendency to go semi-dormant from late fall to early spring. Unlike other citrus fruits, which have thick, pithy rinds, kumquat peel is thin and soft, and perfectly edible.
Calamondin, Citrus mitis, is an acid citrus fruit originating in China. Calamondin is called by many names, including calamondin orange, calamansi, calamandarin, golden lime, and musk orange.
The fruits of the calamondin are small and thin skinned. Its juice can be used like lemon or lime to make refreshing beverages, or to flavor fish and various soups.
These calamondins are still young and green. One calamondin is about 12-calories and like all citrus, packed with vitamin-C.
This is citrus hybrid I purchased in Florida during a recent visit – I love its striped fruit pattern.
And here is another – I always look out for rare and interesting varieties. This fruit has classic yellow skin but bearing vertical stripes of green.
The leaves are also marked with cream and soft green.
Citrus flowers are either solitary or clustered – and one can practically smell their beautiful aroma.
All citrus fruits are members of the genus Citrus and many of them have thorns on their trees. Some of the most common citrus trees to sport thorns are Meyer lemons, most grapefruits and key limes. Thorns provide protection from predators, specifically hungry animals that want to nibble away at the tender leaves and fruit.
Another citrus bearing fruit right now is the Citrus australasica, the Australian finger lime or caviar lime. Australian limes are a species of the plant genus Citrus that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. They have a minty, citrus aroma with a tangy, sweet, and slightly sour, floral, lemon-lime flavor.
It’s important to store the plants so none of them touch. This prevents a lot of diseases from being transferred specimen to specimen.
Here’s one full bucket of various citrus fruits. I always have enough lemons for whatever I need. I can’t recall the last time I actually bought a lemon.
Citrus sinensis ‘Trovita’ is thin skinned and develops without the excessive heat most oranges need to produce good fruit. The fruit is smaller, juicier, and milder in flavor.
And this is my beautiful Citrus limon ‘Ponderosa’ or ‘The American Wonder Lemon’ – this plant produces a thick mass of highly fragrant flowers, which become tiny lemons. Those lemons get bigger and bigger, often up to five pounds! This ‘Ponderosa’ citrus tree is pretty large, so it is always stored in the front just behind the doors.
Here’s a closeup of one of its fruits – it is bigger than the palm of one’s hand.
Once all the fruits are harvested, they are brought up to my Winter House where they are cleaned and placed into my refrigerator. It is so nice to know I can grow all these wonderful fruits right here at my farm. I only wish I had a bigger greenhouse, so I could grow many, many, many more — maybe one day.
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