I just love my summers at Skylands, my beloved home in Maine.
Every year, I try to spend a few weeks - give or take - at my beautiful refuge in Seal Harbor, Maine. I always have a spectacular time with family and all my dear friends who visit. We all eat very well, feasting at local restaurants, on private yachts, at my home with produce from the farmers’ markets, and of course, my own gardens.
Here are photos, enjoy. And be sure to go to my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 for more.
It’s been a very busy summer. After a whirlwind trip to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, I went straight to Skylands, my home in Maine. Here I am sitting in the front seat of my 1958 Edsel Roundup station wagon. I use it every time I am in Maine. It was a gift from my daughter, Alexis.
One of the first meals I hosted at Skylands this season was a luncheon for the Friends of Beatrix Farrand Society. This is my dining room, where we set the long table and then three other smaller tables for a total of 22 guests.
Here is one of the smaller faux bois dining tables dressed with brass and ferns.
The place settings include a gorgeous Spode plate, each with a local Bar Harbor scene. I collect them and have been lucky to find and amass stacks of these historical plates.
Here’s Cheryl DuLong who helps me care for Skylands.
Our lunch was so delicious – oysters two ways, Oysters Casino and Oysters Rockefeller. Do you know the difference? Oysters Rockefeller was first created in New Orleans in the early 1900s, named after John D. Rockefeller. Oysters Casino is from the East Coast and is known for its distinctive combination of bacon, peppers, and breadcrumbs. This is Oysters Casino.
Oysters Rockefeller includes a mixture of spinach, breadcrumbs, butter, and a blend of flavorful herbs, baked until the topping forms a crispy crust.
Here’s one plate – everyone loved both kinds.
We also had salad niçoise prepared by Federico, Louis, and German.
Everything was so delicous and fresh with vegetables from my gardens and of course eggs from my wonderful chickens at my Bedford farm.
For dessert, we had fresh peach ice cream served between homemade lemon cookies. And yes, the peaches are from my orchard.
My dear friend and longtime publicist Susan Magrino spent several days with me at Skylands. Here we are “emerging from the door.”
For lunch on another day – tacos by our young chefs “du jour.”
Here is the salsa verde – made fresh.
At Skylands, most of the meals are served casually in my kitchen at this long metal topped table. In the back of this room, I have what I call my “Great Wall of China” where I keep a large collection of all white dishes used for everyday dining.
I am always in awe at how much these plants grow during the warmer months. I dedicate Memorial Day Weekend every year to come up to Maine to usher in the summer season and plant all the decorative urns on my giant terrace.
On this day, I went to Peter Trout’s Tavern & Inn in Southwest Harbor. Here, the various foods are labeled.
We had the crispiest fried chicken served with homemade ranch dressing.
And fried chicken served on brown butter waffles and maple butter.
That night, our supper was lobster and street corn, cooked perfectly.
Along with baked potato, sour cream, and caviar.
During my several week stay at Skylands, nature is enjoyed inside and out. My gardener, Wendy Norling, arranged lovely gladiolas and Coral fountain amaranths, also known as Love Lies A’Bleeding, in my Living Hall. It’s quite the eye catcher.
I always try to visit the local farmers markets whenever I am in Maine. At one vendor, I saw boxes and boxes of sweet, wild blueberries. I also grow wild blueberries at Skylands and they’re the best I’ve ever had.
Recognize these handsome fellas? Phurba and Pasang, two members of my outdoor grounds crew from Bedford came up to Maine for a week to help with some tree maintenance. Here they are enjoying one of their many seafood dinners.
During lunch on the yacht Rebecca, we all enjoyed this beet carpaccio made with beet purée. It was excellent.
We also had fish with asparagus, tomatoes, and microgreens.
Here’s one of the last lunches I made – tomato tart, crab cakes, and fresh beets from my garden served with tartar sauce. It was so, so good.
Here’s a group photo of this year’s Skylands Team. On my last night, I’ve made it a tradition to take everyone out to dinner. We ate at Havana in Bar Harbor.
Summers at Skylands are always among my favorite vacations spent with family and friends. I hope you had a good summer with all your nearest and dearest. I’ll share more from my days at Skylands in my next blog.
Aside from their beauty and intoxicating sweet scents, roses can continue to flower throughout the summer.
I adore roses and have grown them for more than 30-years. Here at my farm, I have roses in my perennial garden, in my allée of lilacs, and in a more formal space behind my main greenhouse. The 68-foot by 30-foot rose bed includes floribunda, hybrid tea, and shrub roses - all with gorgeous color, form, and fragrance. And all bordered by lush green boxwood. This week, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew spent some time in this garden, pruning and mulching the plants and shrubs.
Enjoy these photos.
In order to grow beautiful, healthy roses, they must get an abundance of sunshine. I planted more than 120 roses in this space a couple of years ago. The plants have definitely grown. They get nutrient rich soil and fertilizer, and regular maintenance through the year.
The entire garden is surrounded with boxwood. Large boxwood shrubs anchor the corners and mark the middle and main footpath. These smaller boxwood, which I’ve nurtured from bare-root cuttings fill in the rest of the perimeter.
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. Boxwood is native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Boxwood leaves are evergreen and remain on the plant through the winter. They range from half inch to one inch long and are dark, glossy, and green on top. The back of the leaf is usually a lighter green with a distinct white mid-vein.
All of these roses came from Danielle Hahn, author of the new book “The Color of Roses,” published by Ten Speed Press.
This garden includes a variety of different pastel colors from pink to apricot to lavender, yellow and creamy white.
A rose is a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae. There are more than a hundred species and thousands of cultivars.
This rose is just beginning to unfurl. Given the right care, healthy roses can bloom all the way until early fall.
The leaves of the rose are described as “pinnate” – meaning there is a central rib and then leaflets off to each side, with one terminal leaflet. Rose leaves can have anywhere from two to 13 leaflets.
And rose stems are often armed with sharp prickles – they aren’t thorns at all. Unlike a thorn, a prickle can be easily broken off the plant because it is really a feature of the outer layers rather than part of the wood, like a thorn.
I keep a good eye on these roses and remind my crew when they need maintenance. The roses were pruned and groomed after the peak of bloom earlier this summer. Now they are being pruned again for height and for regular maintenance – removing any dead or dying leaves, buds, branches, or stems.
Our summer gardening intern, Matthew Orrego, uses these Okatsune pruners – they are very dependable and long lasting. Everyone on my crew has a pair.
Matt identifies the dead branches, which are brown as opposed to the bright green live ones. And then he cuts the dead branches back to the base of the plant.
He also removes any weak growth and cuts all the rose bushes down to waist high.
At the same time, my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, brings in mulch for the entire garden. Mulching benefits roses through soil amendment, water conservation, weed control, and disease and insect control.
I am fortunate to be able to make my own rich mulch right here at the farm. Chhiring drops the mulch in small loads and then spreads a two to three inch layer evenly through the rows.
It also makes the garden look very neat and tidy.
Matthew also works on pruning and grooming the boxwood. Here, one can see all the new growth.
Matthew uses Japanese Okatsune shears. The shears are user friendly, and come in a range of sizes. They allow him to sculpt and groom as well as prune the foliage.
Matt prunes the stray branches lightly and gives the entire boxwood a good, round shape.
They should all look similar in size and shape after trimming.
This rose garden is flourishing. I am so pleased with how it is doing.
When it comes to dahlias, I love the big, bright, colorful blooms most of all.
Dahlia is a genus of tuberous plants that are members of the Asteraceae family and are related to the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum, and zinnia. They grow from small tubers planted in the spring. And from late June until the first autumn frost, these flowers bloom in stunning colors, sizes, and forms. Yesterday, my housekeeper, Enma Sandoval, picked some to make several summer arrangements for my home.
Enjoy these photos.
Here at my farm, we all love seeing the gorgeous dahlia flowers in summer. New ones open every day. Dahlias come in shades of pink, red, yellow, orange, purple, white, and various combinations of these colors.
Dahlias produce an abundance of blooms throughout early summer and again in late summer until the first freeze.
This white dahlia recently opened with striking yellow markings. It is several inches in diameter.
The various forms range from charming single, daisy-like flowers to the popular double varieties which can range from the two-inch-pompons to 12-inch dinner plate size. They are divided into 10 groups: single, anemone, collarette, waterlily, decorative, fall, pompon, cactus, semi-cactus, and miscellaneous.
The majority of dahlia species do not produce scented flowers, but they are brightly colored to attract pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies.
To prevent wilting, cut only in the early morning or late afternoon. And only cut them after they open to mature size – dahlias will not open after cutting.
Dahlias can grow on both tall and shorter stems, so Enma makes sure to look both high and low for the best looking blooms. She also looks at the entire flower before cutting to make sure the back leaves have not started to fall off. The petals should not be wilted or discolored.
Enma picks enough dahlia blooms for several arrangements. They are placed in plastic bins topped with simple baking cooling racks from the kitchen. The stems just fit through the holes and are free to dangle underneath without getting damaged.
This day is especially warm, so once the dahlias are indoors, Enma carefully pours water into the vase as quickly as possible.
For the first arrangement, Enma chooses shades of salmon pink.
When arranging, always strip off all the leaves that would be below the water line in the vase. This is true for all flower arrangements, not just dahlias. When leaves stay underwater, they decay and release bacteria that shorten the vase life of the flowers.
Here is the finished arrangement. I often display cut flowers on my servery counter, where I can enjoy them every day.
Next, Enma starts an arrangement in darker pink. Dahlias need a lot of water to stay hydrated and vibrant in a vase. Dahlia stems are hollow, so they absorb water through the outer layers. Keep the vase filled and change the water regularly.
Enma selects the largest and most striking flowers to be the focal point of the arrangement and then adds other blooms to fill surrounding spaces.
Out in the garden, cut the stems long and then trim to adjust for the vase being used. Enma cut these just right to fit my vessels.
These dahlias are on my kitchen counter, which like yours is the hub of my home, where I often take calls, have meetings, and gather with guests – everyone can enjoy them as soon as they come inside.
Here, Enma gathers the lightest colored blooms of pink and cream.
This arrangement is on another counter in my servery – just a handful in a vase. Flower arrangements do not have to be huge or elaborate to be stunning.
Here is a vase filled with all dark burgundy pink dahlias – so many different kinds of dahlias and every one of them pretty.
This arrangement is placed on a table in my sitting room under an collection of Wedgewood drabware.
At the end of the growing season, dig and store dahlia tubers for the winter to replant next year.
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