My 2021 Holiday Gifts Catalog is here and it's filled with lots of innovative ideas to delight you and everyone on your list - start shopping right now!
It's less than three weeks until Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season. And this year, it's more important than ever to start preparing early. Martha.com offers all your favorite products in one easy-to-shop experience - items for decorating, cooking, baking, working from home, and more. And, if you're hosting a holiday gathering, I also have all the must-have tools and tabletop essentials to help you make your celebration perfect. Just click on the highlighted links to go straight to our Holiday Gifts Catalog!
Here are some photos, enjoy! And be sure to visit my web site at Martha.com.
I’m so excited about our shop at Martha.com. Martha.com and our trusted partners are celebrating the season with inspired collections for the holidays. This year, you can find decor, gifts, kitchen tools, and supplies all in one spot. Click on the highlighted link and start shopping this weekend!
This is my Pre-Lit Artificial Christmas Tree with energy efficient globe lights and memory wire branches. It is so life-like and so easy to assemble – it can be put up in minutes.
At Martha.com you can find lots of beautiful jeweled ornaments that will look striking on any tree or hanging from the mantel.
If you like gold, here is my Pre-Lit Champagne Tinsel Tree. This style tree is available in a range of heights to accommodate rooms and homes of all sizes. This tree is equipped with pre-shaped memory wire branches that will hold up all the many ornaments. Plus, lots of pre-strung lights to add the prettiest glow to the room.
This is my Champagne Shatterproof Ornament Set complete with 75 shatterproof pieces that will fill the spaces and sprigs on the tree in a cohesive, elegant fashion. The baubles come in an assortment of metallic tones with shiny, satin, flitter, and frosted white finishes, so there is a balance of sparkle, shine, and luster among the lights. Best of all, they’re durable, safe, and yes, shatterproof.
Light up your winter nights with the easy, elegant glow of my Flameless Candles. These come in sets of two wax candles shaped like full, bountiful pine trees and are available in green and gold finishes. The plastic flame flickers and shines with a realistic warmth and brightness, and is easily operated with the included remote.
Foods always look best on white. Here is my Hillington 12-Piece Dinnerware Set. It is comprised of four 10.8-inch dinner plates, four 9-inch dessert plates, and four 6.5-inch cereal bowls, each made from fine ceramic with a high-gloss finish.
I love this Nativity Set – it sits in my foyer for all my guests to see as they enter my home. It’s inspired by a set I made myself and has 14 figurines — 3 camels, 2 shepherds, 2 ox, 3 wise men, an inn keeper, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This set creates a complete scene of the first Christmas.
Nothing is more welcoming than a gorgeous holiday wreath, Here is my LED Pre-Lit Green Natural Shape 30-inch Wreath. The full boughs have a realistic, fresh-from-the-forest appearance with layers of soft, deep green needles and pliable branches. The greenery is lit by embedded LED lights that illuminate not only the entire wreath and but also its surrounding area.
If you’re hosting this year’s holiday feast, make sure you have my Vanowen 12-inch Baker. The 12-inch size provides ample space to expand the recipe to feed a crowd, and the dishwasher-safe design means cleanup will be so easy. Behind it is my Patterson 2.5 Quart Pitcher – also available on Martha.com.
My Ruxton 14-Piece Cutlery Set with Ashwood Block is great for your kitchen and that of your favorite home-cook. This set comes complete with an 8-inch chef’s knife, a 7-inch santoku knife, a 5-inch utility knife, a 3.5-inch paring knife, 6 steak knives, and kitchen shears. Also included in this set is an ash wood block to store the knives and sharpening steel. Each of the blades is forged from high-carbon, taper-ground stainless steel, then fitted with a triple-riveted handle for balance and control.
Cooking anything is better with my Lockton 10-inch Nonstick Aluminum Frying Pan. It is constructed from heavy-gauge aluminum with a riveted cast handle for a comfortable grip. Perfect for searing, sautéeing, and making easy-release pancakes, crepes, and eggs.
Serve your delicious desserts on my Patterson Ceramic Cake Stands. Measuring 12.2-inches in diameter and 5.4-inches high, this piece provides ample space as a platform for full-size tiered cakes or smaller cupcakes, cookies and other confections.
If you know me, you know how much I love jadeite. So whether you’re building your own collection like mine, or just looking for one piece to make a statement, or give as a gift, we’ve got lots of pieces to offer. Handcrafted out of milk glass, these pieces will hold up dinner after dinner, season after season, and year after year.
This is my Mango Wood 10-inch Serving Board. Crafted from durable eco-friendly mango wood, this cutting board and server is perfect for sharing artisanal meats and cheeses. And the handle design allows for easy transport.
This 5-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Round Dutch Oven is another must-have. Details like a durable nonstick coating and self-basting lid make this the perfect pot for weeknight meals and special occasions alike. The pot’s generous 5-quart capacity is perfect for making family sized batches of soup, pasta, hearty slow-braises, and crusty loaves of bread. This item is also available in a 3-quart size.
If you love caviar as much as I do, you’ll definitely want to order the ROE White Sturgeon Caviar Gift Set. The caviar has been cultivated on a farm in Northern California and salted once a month for freshness. The caviar boasts a buttery, briney, nutty flavor profile and contains no borax or preservatives. It is one of my favorites.
Keep your gardening workstation clean and organized with this convenient Soil Broom. Crafted with a solid wood handle, in varying wood types of ash, cherry, and walnut, and featuring a perfectly-designed row of soft and sturdy bristles, this broom will make easy work of the post-planting cleanup.
Enjoy a mixed assortment of Martha Stewart Wine Co. wines this holiday season. My wines are perfect for gatherings and gift giving. I hand selected all the flavorful varieties myself – you’ll love every one.
Go ahead, indulge and treat yourself or a lucky recipient to these stunning Baccarat Martharita Glasses, Set of 2. The Martha Collection by Baccarat is the result of a creative collaboration between me and the iconic company – perfect for Martharitas or your own favorite cocktails.
I’ve got all the best tools for your favorite gardeners – secateurs, weeders, pruning saws, trowels and of course, my handy Hori Hori knife. Visit Martha.com to see them all.
Be sure to feed your visiting feathered friends with my Premium Bird Seed. The mix includes black oil sunflower seeds (high in fat and rich in oil) and millet. Use it in my copper bird feeder. Constructed with real copper, the feeder is washable and refillable and will attract many different birds.
And cozy up in my Faux Fur Coat from my Outerwear collection. Whether you’re layering it over a formal look for a nighttime event, or throwing it on over jeans for a fabulous finish to your weekend wardrobe, the faux fur will provide insulation and the snap closures will ensure you’re securely snuggled in. Best of all, despite the lush look of this piece, it is fully machine-washable, so you can continue to look and feel your warmest and best for many winters to come. Get it with my matching Faux Fur Pull- Through Scarf. See all these products and so many more on Martha.com. It’s time to get into the holiday spirit! Have a safe and wonderful season.
Come spring, I'll have more gorgeous peonies blooming than ever before here at my Bedford, New York farm.
I simply adore peonies and have been collecting them for quite some time. I have a long tree peony border planted under the semi-shade of giant sugar maples at one corner of the farm. I have a giant bed completely dedicated to pink and white herbaceous peonies just across the carriage road from my home. And, I also have tree peonies planted in the sunken garden behind my Summer House. Recently, I received a large collection of intersectional Itoh peonies grown by Monrovia, a wholesale plant nursery specializing in well-nurtured shrubs, perennials, annuals, ferns, grasses, and conifers with several nursery locations across the country. I decided these hybrid peonies would be perfect in the formal Summer House garden beds surrounded by my green boxwood hedges. Yesterday, my gardeners planted about 50 yellow and salmon Itoh peonies - I just can't wait to see them bloom in May.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
As a serious and passionate gardener, I am always looking for ways to add more beauty and texture to all my garden beds. When these peonies arrived, I already knew where to place them. All of them are from Monrovia, where they grow more than 18 different varieties of these “Itoh” peonies.
The varieties we received include this gorgeous ‘Bartzella’ Itoh peony. Itoh peonies are hybrids of herbaceous peonies and tree peonies. Dr. Toichi Itoh, a Japanese botanist, was the first person to successfully combine the pollen from a tree peony with the ovary of an herbaceous peony in the 1940s. This one features extra-large, vibrant yellow blooms. The outer layers are a lighter lemon meringue color, becoming a more rich yellow toward the center. And tucked within the fluffy blossoms are flares of red. ‘Bartzella’ also has a slightly spicy aroma. (Photo by Doreen Wynja for Monrovia)
This Itoh peony is called ‘Singing in the Rain,’ which features huge, semi-double, creamy flowers delicately flushed in apricot-salmon. The flowers have a soft, pleasing scent, and are displayed on long stems, which are perfect for cutting. (Photo by Doreen Wynja for Monrovia)
This is ‘Pink Double Dandy.’ When blooming, it shows off large, semi-double to double, lightly fragrant flowers on strong stems above a compact mound of dark green foliage. The blooms are dark lavender-pink when mature. The petals then fade to a soft pink, revealing a cluster of yellow stamens in the center. This cultivar was hybridized by Don Smith, a leading Itoh Peony breeder. Some of these pink peonies will be placed in my tree peony border. (Photo by Doreen Wynja for Monrovia)
I wanted the yellow and apricot peonies to be planted in the formal rectangular beds behind my Summer House. The hostas were moved to another area make room for the peony plants.
Here is one of the beds all cleared and ready for planting. Beneath the soil, there are also hundreds of spring blooming white snow drop bulbs, which also bloom in spring.
Ryan carefully positions all the peonies in the beds – all in lines and grouped by color.
These peonies are planted about three feet apart to give them ample room to grow. Itoh peonies are prolific bloomers. They can grow vigorously to three feet tall and four feet wide and will grow a second set of blooms – up to 60 blooms on a healthy and mature plant.
Here’s Brian as he starts to plant – more than 20 in this bed. Also called intersectional peonies, Itoh peonies share qualities with both parent plants, tree and herbaceous peonies. Like tree peonies, they have large, long lasting blooms and strong stems that do not require staking. They also have dark green, lush, deeply lobed foliage that lasts until autumn. Itoh peonies are also resistant to peony blight.
These plants are dormant now, but look at all the stems. These are also mature plants, so they should flower very beautifully next year with enormous blossoms up to eight inches across.
Brian starts by digging the hole at least twice the size of the plant. Itoh peonies are best planted in full sun to part shade and in rich, well-drained soil.
This hole is about a foot-and-a-half deep and wide.
Once the whole is dug, Brian tests its size by putting the potted plant into the hole.
Next, Brian sprinkles a good amount of fertilizer in the hole and on the surrounding soil. I always say, “if you eat, so should your plants.” For these plants, we’re using Roots fertilizer with mycorrhizal fungi, which helps transplant survival and increases water and nutrient absorption. Itoh peonies are sensitive to high levels of nitrogen, so when fertilizing in spring and summer, be sure to use a fertilizer that contains a low level of nitrogen.
Brian gently releases the plant from its container – these peonies are in excellent condition. He then uses his hands to gently loosen the roots to encourage growth.
Here he is placing the peony into the hole – the tops of the stems should just be level with the ground.
This peony is at the perfect height and should do just fine through the cold season.
Brian then backfills the hole, making sure it is packed well and all the stems are fully covered.
Because the plants are cut down and show no foliage at this time, Brian uses the empty upturned pots to indicate where they are so he is sure the peonies are planted in perfectly straight lines down the bed.
Once all the peonies in the section are planted, the entire area is top dressed with another layer of soil and then raked smooth. These Itoh peonies are late midseason plants and will flower in late spring to early summer for three to four weeks thanks to the many side buds which open in sequence.
These beds will be bursting with color next May. These Itoh peonies are sturdy, cold-hardy plants. When properly planted and cared for, these fragrant specimens can live for 100 years or even more.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, we love Japanese maples.
Earlier this week, my friend interior designer Steven Gambrel called me up and told me he was redoing the landscaping around his home and had three mature Japanese maples he no longer needed. He asked if I would be interested in taking them and of course, I said yes. My outdoor grounds crew, gardener, and I picked them up right away - 12 to 15 foot trees already dug up and waiting to be transported. Few trees are as beautiful as the Japanese maple. With more than a thousand varieties and cultivars including hybrids, the iconic Japanese maple tree is among the most versatile small trees for use in the garden. It's a big task to plant the heavy specimens, but I knew exactly where the first one would go, and it looks terrific.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I was so happy I could transplant these Japanese maples here at my farm. They will look beautiful wherever they are planted. Japanese maples are native to areas of Japan, Korea, China, and Russia. In Japan, the maple is called the “autumn welcoming tree” and is planted in the western portion of gardens – the direction from which fall arrives there.
Steven lives nearby, so we were able to carefully drive our dump truck over to get them – one by one.
I decided to plant one of them across from my long pergola and behind my gym building not far from this grove of young Stewartia trees and my stand of bald cypress. Look closely – I placed a garden marker right where the tree would be planted. The best location for Japanese maples is a sunny spot with afternoon shade. Red and variegated leaves need relief from the hot afternoon sun but need the light to attain full color. This area is perfect.
Next, plywood boards are placed from the carriage road to the new tree location to protect the lawn below during the planting process.
Meanwhile, my crew foreman, Chhiring, marks where the hole will be dug. The tree’s root ball is six feet in diameter and two feet deep, so the hole must be at least twice that size.
This is our new Kubota M62 Tractor Loader Backhoe. The M62 comes equipped with a 63 horsepower diesel engine, a front loader with 3,960 pounds of lift capacity, and a powerful backhoe, which will help with so many projects here at the farm.
Chhiring is a very skilled large equipment driver. Here, he carefully maneuvers the backhoe into place just above the center of the designated hole. The stabilizer legs secure the tractor, so the backhoe doesn’t cause it to tip when in use.
This backhoe has a maximum digging depth of about 14-feet. It saves so much labor and time during these projects.
As each scoop of soil is removed, it is carefully placed on a tarp and saved for backfill later.
Here is Pasang digging around the sides and cutting through some of the fibrous deep spreading roots of a nearby spruce.
Chhiring uses our trusted Hi-Lo to transport one of the trees to its new location.
Slowly driving over the plywood boards, Chhiring positions the tree over the newly dug hole. Pasang stands nearby to direct him.
And then the tree is gently lowered into the hole with the best side facing the carriage road. Once the tree is in the hole, the crew looks at it from all angles to make sure the trunk is completely straight.
Pasang removes the burlap and roughs up, or scarifies, the root ball to stimulate new growth.
And then Chhiring pours a generous amount of fertilizer over the root ball and the surrounding soil. It is very important to feed the plants and trees. I always say, “if you eat, your plants should eat.”
For all our new trees, we like to use Roots with mycorrhizal fungi, which helps transplant survival and increases water and nutrient absorption.
Half the hole is backfilled and then watered thoroughly to remove any air pockets and to settle the soil.
Red-leafed cultivars are the most popular of the Japanese maples. Japanese maple leaves range from about an inch-and-a-half to four-inches long and wide with five, seven, or nine acutely pointed lobes.
Pasang rakes the soil, so it is spread evenly over the tree pit.
Next, Chhiring brings some mulch made right here at the farm. It is carried in the bucket loader of our Kubota M62 tractor.
A generous layer of mulch is spread over the tree pit. But remember, don’t plant it too deeply – leave it “bare to the flare.”
And finally, more fertilizer is spread on top of the mulch. Japanese maples grow slowly, but they can live to be more than a hundred years old. I am looking forward to seeing this tree develop and flourish. That’s one tree planted – now just two more to go! Thanks, Steven.
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