My busy work schedule is always filled with business meetings, events, and speaking engagements.
Earlier this week, I was invited to speak at the Greenwich Historical Society's Spring Fete: A celebration of Contemporary Design, Lifestyle and Entertainment. I, along with my friend renowned interior designer Stephen Sills, were honorary chairs of the event. At the "Designer Breakfast", I spoke about my personal design style and shared stories about projects at my Bedford, New York Farm and at Skylands, my home in Maine. I also interviewed Stephen about many of the design choices he has made over the years - for his beautiful home and the homes of his clients. More than 75-guests were in attendance. Proceeds from the fundraiser support educational and gardening programs for area students and teachers. It was a very delightful and successful event.
Enjoy these photos.
The Greenwich Historical Society was founded in 1931 to collect and preserve the history of Greenwich, Connecticut. Today, it also strives to interpret that history to strengthen the community’s connection to the past, to each other and to the future. It delighted to be invited to speak at their annual Spring Fête.
The morning began with with some photos. Stephen and I took this snapshot with members of the event board – Catherine Tompkins, Lauren duPont, Susannah Heyworth, Alexandra Kittle, and Erica Maher Silverman.
The “Design Breakfast,” included a buffet of delicious bites.
These are mini frittata bites with tomato, basil, and mozzarella.
There were also frittata bites made with spinach and feta.
There was an assortment of tea sandwiches – balsamic roasted pear with brie and balsamic glaze, cucumber and Boursin, and deviled egg salad with mango chutney.
And there was an assortment of freshly baked cranberry, blueberry, and chocolate chip scones.
The table included trays of sweets including lemon blueberry, chocolate chip, and raspberry mini tea cakes.
… and fresh fruit skewers. There was something for everyone to enjoy.
My neighbor and fashion designer Andy Yu was also in attendance wearing one of his handmade and personally designed coats.
The event was held at the historic back-country barn at Highland Farm. This structure contains much of the original exterior and interior including the hay bale tracks in the ceiling and beams. Every seat was filled.
Tori Mellot, Style Director for Frederic Magazine, gave us a lovely introduction.
I started with a brief presentation of my design style. I talked about my Bedford farm, its history and how the 153-acre property has evolved over the years.
I also spoke about Skylands, my beloved home in Maine. This photo shows me in front of Skylands next to the 1958 Edsel Ford Roundup my daughter, Alexis, gifted me when I purchased the home. Skylands was originally designed by architect Duncan Candler for Mr. Ford.
Next, I interviewed Stephen about his exquisite home and gardens. Stephen and I have known each other for many years. You can also listen to my podcast where Stephen and I talk about art, design, and gardening.
We talked about Stephen’s book – Stephen Sills: A Vision For Design, Rizzoli 2022. If you don’t already have it and are looking for excellent design ideas and inspirations, get a copy!
This is a photo of Stephen’s home, which he recently renovated. I envy his gardens and parterres.
After our discussion and presentation, the floor was opened for questions from the audience.
Each guest was given a canvas tote bag containing Stephen’s book, magazines, and a Greenwich Historical Society coffee mug. It was a wonderful and very successful event.
Time to bring all my beautiful potted plants outdoors for the season.
I have a rather sizable collection of tropical specimens at my Bedford, New York farm. During the winter, they are all stored in special greenhouses. Once the warm weather arrives, they are all brought out for display - some go to my home in Maine, and the remainder of the plants are placed in various locations here at Cantitoe Corners. It is a big undertaking to move all these plants when the weather changes. Thankfully, I have the help of a strong outdoor grounds crew and some heavy-duty farm equipment to get the job done.
Enjoy these photos.
This is the inside of one of several plastic hoop houses where most of my tropical plants are stored during the cold weather. They actually spend about seven months of the year in these temperature-controlled shelters, but they definitely thrive.
This smaller hoop house was actually moved last year to a better location near my tropical and citrus hoop houses. Old tree stumps and spare boards are used to make use of as much of the vertical space as possible.
All these structures are built using heavy gauge American made, triple-galvanized steel frames and polyethylene panels. Inside, these houses have high ceilings to accommodate the growing plants.
Every year, the tropical plants are taken out of storage, cleaned up, and repotted if needed, and then moved to their warm-weather locations. Here’s Pasang pulling out one of the potted palms.
Heavier plants such as these agaves are pulled out by tractor.
Agaves have rosettes of succulent or leathery leaves that range in size from a few inches to more than eight feet in length depending on the species.
I am especially fond of the blue agave. Do you know… tequila is distilled from the sap of the blue agave? Agave tequilana has sugars named agavins, mostly fructose, in the core of the plant that are suitable for the preparation of alcoholic beverages. In fact, the blue agave is an important economic product of Jalisco, Mexico, where tequila is produced.
The crew is always very careful when moving these container plants. I also have a large variety of special planters – antiques and reproductions, planters made of stone, lead, fiberglass and resin, and in a wide array of shapes and sizes.
One by one, the plants are carefully brought outside.
As the plants are removed from the hoop house, they’re grouped by type. Here are several potted bird’s nest ferns. Bird’s-nest fern is a common name for several related species of epiphytic ferns in the genus Asplenium.
The bird’s nest fern is known for its tropical fronds that grow out of a rosette in the middle of the plant which closely resembles a bird’s nest. It is also occasionally called a crow’s nest fern.
The foliage of philodendrons is usually green but may be coppery, red, or purplish with parallel leaf veins that are green or sometimes red or white. Shape, size, and texture of the leaves vary considerably, depending on species and maturity of the plant. I have many philodendrons that are growing so well here at Bedford.
This is a Bismarkia palm, Bismarckia nobilis, which grows from a solitary trunk, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base.
I go through all the potted specimens and decide where they will be displayed for the season. I always try to vary their locations.
This is Oxalis triangularis, commonly called false shamrock. It is a species of perennial plant in the family Oxalidaceae.
The trifoliate leaves resemble a shamrock and can be green to variegated to deep maroon in color. The leaves close up at night or when disturbed.
The large plant on the floor is a staghorn fern. The staghorn fern is an unusual and attractive epiphyte that thrives in the tropics. I adore staghorns and over the years have collected quite a few of these magnificent specimens. Staghorn ferns are called Platyceriums. They are Old World tropicals native to Africa, northern Australia, and Southeast Asia.
This day was rainy, so the plants got a good drink once outside.
The tall plants are Stephanotis floribunda, or Madagascar Jasmine, an evergreen woody vine. It is a climber that can grow to more than 20 feet with glossy, leathery oval leaves and clusters of pure white, waxy, fragrant flowers. Looking closely, one can see a fruit on one of the plants. Stephanotis vines also produce an inedible fruit, which looks much like a mango.
Moving these tropical specimens is a tedious task, but by the afternoon, most of the potted specimens are outdoors.
It’s amazing how many plants can fit inside the durable hoop houses. I am so fortunate to be able to store all these plants during the cold season, and then enjoy them all around my farm from now until November.
This is the busiest time of year at my farm - so many new plants, trees, and shrubs are being added to the gardens, especially in my living maze.
Viburnums have long been one of the most popular flowering landscape shrubs. This large group of plants consists of more than 150 species and numerous named cultivars. Viburnums include deciduous and evergreen specimens as well as small trees, mostly native to North America or to Asia. The flowers come in three major types - flat clusters of florets, flat umbels outlined with larger blossoms, and dome-shaped, snowballs. I grow several varieties here at Cantitoe Corners and all are my favorites. Recently, we added a section of viburnum bare root cuttings from Bailey Nurseries and First Editions Shrubs & Trees. We also added another kind of shrub that's new to my gardens - pearl bush, Exochorda, a loose, upright, spring-flowering deciduous shrub in the Roseaceae family that features long-blooming small, round, pearl-like flower buds that open to pure white five-petaled flowers.
Enjoy these photos.
This large viburnum is one of several planted along the driveway to my Winter House. Viburnums look exquisite planted in the garden, but they can also be planted in large containers. As with any planting, always consider the mature size of the specimen when selecting a specific pot or location.
This is Chinese Viburnum, Viburnum macrocephalum. It shows off six to eight inch flower clusters that open in April.
The shrub is full of these beautiful white snowballs. Chinese snowballs grow up to 12 to 20 feet tall with a dense, rounded form.
Here is the Japanese snowball, Viburnum plicatum. This shrub grows eight to 15 feet tall and wide. It has showy, two to three-inch snowball-like clusters of white sterile flowers which also start blooming in April.
I also have doublefile viburnum – one of the most attractive of viburnums, with a spreading, horizontal branching form.
This viburnum is one of two at one side of my Stewartia Garden near my Basket House. It blooms so profusely every year. This Viburnum mariesii is also doublefile.
And I have more in the perennial beds not far from my chicken coops. Viburnums are mostly moderate- to fast-growing plants. They can grow from one-foot to more than two-feet per year.
I decided to plant some viburnum in my living maze. This trench was dug to accommodate the collection of bare root cuttings. This is a fast way to plant many specimens.
The trench is dug as deep as the root ball is tall, so that the crown of each bare root cutting is no more than one or two inches below the soil surface.
Viburnum roots can grow up to 18-inches deep. They are also fibrous and can adapt to a variety of different soil types.
These viburnum bare root specimens are planted four feet apart. Remember, they are planted in the maze, so I want them to grow closer together. To calculate proper spacing in a garden, divide the mature width of the viburnum by two and plant the shrubs with at least that much space in between them.
Once it is in the trench and positioned appropriately, the area is backfilled.
It doesn’t take long before an entire row of viburnum is planted.
Nearby, another trench is dug – this time for pearl bushes.
As with all our plant holes and trenches, this one is given a generous amount of fertilizer for the bare roots.
Pear Bush, Exochorda, likes well-drained soil with full sun to partial shade.
Here are some of the pearl-like flower buds.
And here is an image of Lotus Moon™ Pearl Bush in bloom. It is a heavy spring bloomer that is covered in white round flowers through April and May. (Photo by Tracy Walsh Photography for Bailey Nurseries)
The Lotus Moon™ Pearl Bush should be planted about a foot deep with the roots spread inside the hole or trench.
After the soil is backfilled, all the bare root cuttings are given a good drink.
These shrubs will mature nicely and look so beautiful next to the evergreens in the next row. The entire maze is looking great – I am very pleased with how it is turning out.
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