My long and winding pergola is putting on such a colorful and gorgeous display - all the spring flowers are just spectacular this time of year.
Soon after I bought my Bedford, New York farm, I built a long pergola along the carriage road leading up to my home specifically for clematis. Over the years, I've added lots of bulbs and perennials that bloom at different times throughout the season. Right now, the Camassia and alliums are covering the area in an eye-catching palette of purple and blue - it's just stunning.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
It’s amazing what a difference a few weeks make in a spring garden. This is the pergola garden on April 22nd. It’s green and new growth is just beginning – everything around the farm is showing signs of life once again.
One week later on April 28, the foliage of many of the flowers has emerged. This pergola starts across from my perennial flower cutting garden and runs along one side of the carriage road leading to my Winter House. The uprights for this pergola are antique granite posts from China – originally used as grape supports in a valley that was going to be dammed and flooded to create a reservoir.
This is the garden yesterday – filled with varying hues of purple and blue – it’s breathtaking.
This palette of colors is a big favorite at the farm – it grows more colorful and vibrant every year. In a few weeks, this border shall transform once again and feature lovely shades of orange.
The most prominent plant right now is the Camassia – it’s blooming profusely and so beautifully.
Camassia leichtlinii caerulea forms clusters of linear strappy foliage around upright racemes.
Camassia is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to Canada and the United States. It is best grown in moist, fertile soil, and full sun.
Camassia also comes in this lighter shade of blue. Both the lighter and darker shades look so good growing together in this garden.
On this, one can see the six-petaled, two-inch, star-shaped flowers.
The flower stalks stand 24 to 30 inches tall and display dozens of florets that open from the bottom up.
Camassia is also known as camas, wild hyacinth, Indian hyacinth, and quamash. The bulbs are winter hardy in zones 4 to 8 and both the plant and the bulbs are resistant to deer and rodents.
In the garden, Camassia blooms in late spring, after the daffodils and just before the peonies and other early summer perennials. Camassia is incredibly valuable since it naturalizes well when left undisturbed in a good spot.
Alliums are often overlooked as one of the best bulbs for constant color throughout the seasons. They come in oval, spherical, or globular flower shapes, blooming in magnificent colors atop tall stems.
An allium flower head is a cluster of individual florets and the flower color may be purple, white, yellow, pink, or blue.
Alliums require full sunlight, and rich, well-draining, and neutral pH soil. This is Allium ‘Ambassador’ – among the tallest and longest blooming. It is intensely purple with tightly compacted globes that may bloom for up to five weeks.
This is Allium aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’, with four to five inch wide violet-purple globes.
Alliums are rabbit-resistant, rodent-resistant, and deer-resistant, but adored by bees, butterflies, and pollinators. They look so beautiful dotting this border.
Spanish Bluebells, Hyacinthoides, are unfussy members of the lily family, and native to Spain and Portugal. They are pretty, inexpensive, and good for cutting – they add such a nice touch of blue.
The boxwood are growing wonderfully every year. There are more than 300 boxwood shrubs planted here. These boxwood shrubs were grown from small saplings nurtured in one area of my vegetable garden next to my chicken coops. They’ve grown so much since we planted them five years ago.
Behind the pergola and across the “soccer field,” where my grandson, Truman, loves to play whenever he visits, are six matched standard weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus ‘Pendula’. Weeping hornbeams can grow to be about 50-feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 40-feet. These are very rare and precious trees and I am so happy they continue to grow well here.
I am so proud of this pergola garden. It is among the first one sees when they arrive at the farm, and some of it can also be viewed from my terrace parterre outside my Winter House kitchen. I am looking forward to watching it transform once again later this summer. What flowers are blooming where you live? Share your comments in the section below.
Spring is the perfect time of year for dining al fresco with good friends.
Last weekend, after a most delightful and successful morning at the Trade Secrets Rare Plant and Garden Antiques Sale in Lakeville, Connecticut, we drove to a tranquil town in New York State, where we enjoyed a lovely lunch at the weekend home of friend and colleague, Patsy Pollack. It has become a tradition to go to Patsy’s after Trade Secrets. This year, she served a delicious buffet of Moroccan-inspired dishes. On the way to her charming home, we stopped at Christopher Spitzmiller's Clove Brook Farm to see his gardens.
Enjoy these photos.
Here I am on the porch at Clove Brook Farm, the gorgeous home of my friends Christopher Spitzmiller and Anthony Bellomo. All the topiaries and potted plants surround the chairs and chaise longues.
Here’s a stunning view of the Clove Brook Farm pond where Christopher’s geese love to visit.
Here is one of several staghorn ferns hanging on the porch wall. Staghorn ferns also go by elkhorn fern and antelope ears. Each one has antler-like foliage as well as a flat, basal leaf. The flat leaves are infertile and turn brown and papery with age.
Lead stag heads atop stately pillars watch over the entrance to the property.
Patsy’s New York State weekend cottage is nestled among tall trees and lots of green foliage. It is always so relaxing to come here. There are several quaint seating areas on the property, including this unique faux bois bench at the edge of Patsy’s shade garden.
Just inside off the terrace is this inviting enclosed porch filled with many of Patsy’s “finds.”
Across from the main house is a charming garden shed. The walking paths are covered with quarter-inch round stone – a beautiful ground cover for the bold green of the boxwood. The wisteria on top of Patsy’s shed is just beginning to flower. Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, that includes 10-species of woody climbing vines.
The ferns are doing so well this year – look how beautiful they are in this area near the garden shed. Planting multiples of one plant in a section of a garden can look so stunning and dramatic.
Patsy’s Japanese viburnum is blooming so beautifully. This bush blooms profusely in mid- to late spring, with white flowers held in flat-topped clusters reaching about four inches wide. On many varieties these clusters contain showy, five-petaled infertile flowers that surround small fertile flowers.
Lamium ‘Beacon Silver’ is a semi-evergreen perennial commonly called spotted deadnettle. It is an herbaceous plant with a low-growing, mat-forming, and spreading habit of heart-shaped, silvery leaves with narrow green edges.
Polygonatum, also known as King Solomon’s-seal or Solomon’s seal, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae. This plant reaches 12 inches to several feet in height, blooming in April through June with white bell-shaped blossoms below attractive, arching stems. Flowers become bluish black berries in late summer and the ribbed foliage turns a golden yellow in autumn.
On the expansive wrap around porch is a very inviting space with a large, comfortable sectional for cool summer evening chats.
On a rustic wooden table on the other side of the porch is this vase of lilacs – it adds just the right amount of color. All the lilacs are blooming so wonderfully this season. I hope you saw my recent blog on the lilac allee at my farm.
On the terrace – more seating for gathering and talking before lunch.
Lunch was served buffet style. Tan and gray plates are stacked and placed at the end of the table – everyone was very hungry after walking and shopping at Trade Secrets.
Refreshing ice cold drinks are served outside. This day was unusually warm and humid.
This is couscous with herbs and cherry tomatoes – a perfect accompaniment to our barbecued chicken and beef kebabs.
This is watermelon and feta with fresh vegetables.
All our plates were filled, and then filled again. Here is my plate with a large pita bread, tzatziki, meat kebabs, and couscous. Also on the skewers – grilled grapes, inspired by recipes from Chef Yotam Ottolenghi. Everything was so flavorful.
A whimsical stone squirrel sits nearby. Patsy has been collecting stone garden pieces for many years. Stone garden pieces are very alluring in any outdoor space. In areas where temperatures dip below freezing in winter, it’s a good idea to turn containers over to drain or bring them indoors. A winter freeze can crack or crumble any kind of stone.
Soon after lunch, the table was set for dessert. These are glasses for the “affogato al caffe” – an Italian coffee-based dessert made with a scoop of vanilla ice cream “drowned” in a shot of espresso.
And look at these homemade blueberry loaves. There was enough for everyone to have a big slice.
This stone bench sat nearby. Flanking it are more of Patsy’s beautiiful stone vessels. It was a wonderful lunch and a refreshing afternoon – thank you so much, Patsy.
I always make it a point to attend Trade Secrets every spring. This past Saturday, a group of colleagues and friends accompanied me to the event in the picturesque town of Lakeville, Connecticut. The philanthropic sale draws growers, dealers, and artisans together to sell unusual plants, garden antiques, and other unique outdoor objects. Trade Secrets was developed by interior designer Bunny Williams in the year 2000 when she conducted the very first sale to downsize her collection of plants in her greenhouse. It was a success from the very beginning and the proceeds go to the Women’s Support Services in northwestern Connecticut.
It's a wonderful sale and a very important cause - here are some photos. Enjoy.
I always like to get to Trade Secrets bright and early. This year, the sale was held at its new home at nearby Lime Rock Park. We left my Bedford, New York farm promptly at 5:45am and pulled into the parking lot shortly after 7am.
Betsy Mauro, director of the Women’s Support Services in Sharon, Connecticut, greeted me when I arrived.
Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury. The views on this day were gorgeous.
At least 50-vendors from around the northeast region set-up under tents on the Lime Rock grounds.
One of my first stops was the Orangerie Garden + Home tent. The Orangerie is owned by my friends Anthony Bellomo and Christopher Spitzmiller. There were many beautiful plants and other garden objects to see. The Orangerie Garden + Home shop is located in Millbrook, New York – do stop in if you’re ever in the area.
Orangerie Garden + Home also had lots of cut flowers for sale.
Judy Milne always has many beautiful outdoor garden planting containers. Judy Milne has a shop called At Home Antiques and Design in Kingston, New York. She carries folk art, furniture, decorative accessories and garden antiques.
Dave and Bonnie Ferriss are dealers from Lake Luzerne, New York who specialize in art, prints, architectural pieces, and country furniture.
The Marston House is located in Wiscassett, Maine. On this day, they were selling these handsome copper containers.
Hammertown Barn is a longtime Trade Secrets vendor. This year, they sold many of these gardening aprons – so handy for holding tools, seed packets and other small items while gardening.
In another basket were these fun summer handheld fans.
Period to Mod was another tent featuring stone garden ornaments such as this whimsical squirrel.
And these indoor ceramic animal planters. There is a lot of energy and spirit at this sale – everyone always walks away with some kind of treasure.
This particular booth was run by Hillside Nursery, a small nursery, plant culture lab, and research facility in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. I visit this tent every year. This is Cypripedium ‘Tilman’ – a rare orchid hybrid with a creamy ivory pouch and burgundy interior along with a striped yellow and red hood and tendrils.
You may be familiar with this if you follow my blog – I have many of these plants in my shade gardens. This is Syneilesis aconitifolia, the Shredded Umbrella Plant. Hillside Nursery sold all their umbrella plants this year.
River Song Antiques had this pretty find – and it was picked up quickly by my friend, Patsy Pollack, who collects fruit paintings.
Some of the vendors were from other states. Hoffman & Woodward is located in East Berlin, Pennsylvania. They displayed many interesting and more utilitarian objects for the home and garden, such as these copper and glass cloches. A cloche is a covering for protecting plants from cold temperatures.
There were also botanical themed glasses for sale.
Peony’s Envy sets up their tent every year at Trade Secrets – most if not all their peonies always get sold.
Glendale Botanicals from Glendale, Massachusetts also had some beautiful plants for sale.
Pergola is based in Litchfield County, Connecticut. On this day, they brought these flower presses to sell.
Trade Secrets has so many beautiful plant specimens from which to choose. Issima had flats of these – Eryngium avavifolium, a South American sea holly with apple green, serrated, elongated leaves rising from a central rosette.
One can always find some frogs at Trade Secrets. These frogs – used for keeping cut flowers upright in their containers were for sale.
And so were these frogs – charming garden ornaments.
I also admired this garden statue of a little boy on top of a frog.
Many displays mixed and matched plants with garden ornaments and supplies.
When buying items at Trade Secrets, everyone is assigned an ID number, which is then tagged on each purchase and taken to a holding area for pick-up at the end of the visit. This very organized system makes it convenient for patrons to continue shopping. It is always so nice to see how much people buy for this great cause. Trade Secrets benefits Women’s Support Services, an organization which offers free confidential assistance to victims of domestic violence.
All my plants and other purchases are ready to be loaded onto the trucks. Ryan carefully checks each item off the list to make sure we got everything we bought. Everything arrived safely back at the farm. It was another successful Trade Secrets event. Hope to see you all at Trade Secrets next year!
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