If you're looking for something new and different to plant outside your home, take some time to visit your local nurseries to learn what specimens do well in your area.
Yesterday, after a long and busy morning of shoots, phone calls, and meetings, I stopped in at Select Horticulture Inc. in Pound Ridge, New York to check on their current inventory. Select Horticulture offers an extensive collection of premium quality trees and shrubs including large sizes, unusual and rare specimens, with both stand-alone and mature espaliered options. I'm always searching for interesting and healthy plants and trees to add to my gardens, allées, and now my living maze. And there's always something for everyone at Select Horticulture Inc.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Select Horticulture Inc. has locations in Lancaster, Massachusetts and here in Westchester, New York right off route 137. It is owned by Scott Richard and Jim Freeborn who are often at the nurseries ready to answer any questions.
The nursery is filled with beautiful and well maintained specimens, which can be seen from the road.
Every row of trees and shrubs is neat, tidy, and every item properly identified. It is so nice to see such a well organized nursery.
Among the many specimens – evergreen shrubs and mature trees.
During my recent visit, I quickly spotted two Picea orientalis ‘Skylands.’ Do you know… why this is one of my favorite trees? Its name is “Skylands” after all – the same as my beloved home in Maine.
Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’ is a yellow-needled cultivar that grows to around eight to 10-feet tall with an erect, conical to pyramidal habit.
Ilex x aquipernyi ‘Dragon Lady’ is a narrow, hybrid, columnar holly with stiff, glossy, dark green foliage.
The glossy dark green leaves are oval to almost rectangular, with downward-curling tips. And it will produce red fruit in fall and winter when planted near a male blue holly.
Thuja plicata ‘Green Giant’ a large, woody, needled evergreen tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It is a hybrid cultivar of the western red cedar and Japanese arborvitae that was developed in the 1930s in Denmark and introduced to the United States in 1967 when the U.S. National Arboretum received a specimen.
Thuja plicata ‘Green Giant’ has dark green sprays of small, glossy, scale-like needles that keep the deep green color through winter. This tree can grow three to four feet per year in optimal conditions and reach a mature height of 40 to 60 feet with a width of 12 to 18 feet.
These giants are columnar Carpinus betulus Frans Fontaine – a dense hornbeam with a narrowly upright and columnar growth habit.
Every tree is connected to an extensive water irrigation system. There are multiple stakes in each root ball that connect to the water source.
Here’s a closer look at the stakes, which feed the water directly into the root ball.
I always notice the boxwood right away. Select Horticulture Inc. has a beautiful selection of boxwood. These boxwood shrubs come in a variety of sizes from small to medium-sized specimens to mature giants. I have many boxwood shrubs at my farm.
This is Buxus ‘Green Mountain.’ It is a vigorous evergreen shrub with bright green foliage that retains good color throughout winter. The upright, naturally cone-shaped habit makes it an excellent candidate for planting free-form or for a sculpted hedge.
Buxus ‘Green Velvet’ is a full-bodied boxwood well-suited for dense, low hedges. Its foliage also retains its rich green color throughout winter and develops a vigorous form.
These are Bloodgood Japanese maple trees – several being trained on this trellis. In its maturity, the Bloodgood Japanese maple will reach between 15 to 20 feet tall, with a small narrow trunk.
One of the most attractive features is its ability to retain its color throughout the seasons – a deep burgundy in spring that lasts throughout summer and then changes to a bright red in fall.
This is Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula’ – a weeping blue atlas cedar. This is a beautiful, pendulous evergreen tree. And because it is a free-form weeping plant, it can be trained, trellised, espaliered, and even grown as a bonsai to fit various garden spaces.
The pendulous branches are clad with clusters of bluish-green needles.
Taxus media ‘Viridis’ is a slow-growing, narrow columnar tree with light green foliage. It grows to about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches.
Taxus med ‘Viridis’ has bluish-green evergreen foliage which starts as chartreuse in spring and then holds its bluish-green color through winter.
And here’s one you may recognize – it’s a ginkgo tree, and its leaves are already a bright autumn golden yellow. I have many ginkgo trees at my farm. These yellow leaves remain until after the hard frost sweeps down the east coast. Then this ginkgo, along with countless others in the area, drops its leaves to the ground leaving a gorgeous carpet of color below. If you’re looking for a selection of quality trees or shrubs, and live in or around Pound Ridge, New York, or Lancaster, Massachusetts, be sure to visit Select Horticulture Inc. You’ll learn a lot and most likely find something you love to take home.
A visit to Italy should include a stop in Umbria - a beautiful region bordering Tuscany, Lazio, and Le Marche.
Last month, I traveled to central Italy for the 70th birthday celebration of Brunello Cucinelli, the Italian luxury creative director and chief executive of the brand bearing his name. I traveled to Perugia, the historic capital city of Umbria. Situated on a hill, Perugia is the largest walled medieval city in Italy. Then it was a short drive to Solomeo, a hamlet within the Province of Perugia, that, since 1982, has served as Cucinelli’s home and, since 1985, his business headquarters. It was a brief trip - just two days - but it was filled with gorgeous views, historic walks through the village, delicious food, and great company.
Enjoy these photos.
Right after my trip to Greenland and Iceland, I flew to Italy. Often called Italy’s green heart, Umbria is known for its medieval hill towns, dense forests, and local cuisine, particularly foraged truffles and wines. Perugia is the regional capital, steeped in history, architecture and charm.
In the afternoon, we stopped in a cafe – look at this cream. It was the best cream, which was layered on everything.
The coffees were full of cream…
… and so was this pastry, with chocolate nibs on top.
We stayed at the Hotel Castello di Reschio, which sits on a 3700-acre estate in the Umbrian countryside. The 1000-year old castle was turned into a hotel and resort with 30-suites.
Many of the rooms have views of the rolling hills and landscapes, while others looked onto the estate’s central gardens.
Dinner at the hotel was divine. This is Carpaccio – a dish of meat or fish thinly sliced or pounded thin, and served raw, typically as an appetizer. Ours also had filberts, or hazelnuts.
Crudo, literally means “raw,” and encompases fish, shellfish, or beef. Unlike Japanese sashimi where the fish is slightly dipped in soy sauce to finish off the dish, Crudo is topped with olive oil, citrus, or some type of vinaigrette to enhance the dish.
A delicious souffle topped with vanilla crème. It was perfectly baked in a copper ramekin.
The next day, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast – a perfectly perfect Italian cappuccino.
… and saccottino al cioccolato… which literally translates to little sack of chocolate, the Italian version of the pain au chocolate.
… there was also beet juice served in charming glasses…
… and quiche filled with Italian cheeses, eggs, vegetables, and baked into a deep-dish flaky pie crust.
There was also a buffet of fresh fruits, yogurt, and granola.
Did you see this image on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48? Many residents in Umbria create these tiered herb gardens in front of their homes. Very useful, very practical, and very pretty.
And here I am with my dear friend, Terre Blair – all gussied up for the big party. We were asked to wear shades of white, gray, or beige.
This photo needs no caption… but here I am with McDreamy himself, actor Patrick Dempsey.
The celebration was held in the amphitheater of Brunello’s brand Umbrian home in the hamlet of Solomeo. The cypress trees in the background – all restored by Brunello.
Before dinner, Brunello presented a show of about 60-models in brand clothing showing a retrospective of his collections. The group stood on tiers at one end of the theater.
Brunello’s daughter gifted him with a statue of Apollo playing a lyre. It was presented with the enormous birthday cake on the left with 70 candles.
For dinner, the most delicious main course was paccheri al pomodoro – prepared in copper pots by Chef Bobo Cerea.
And here is the guest of honor himself, Brunelli Cucinelli with his beautiful wife, Federica Benda. Happy Birthday, Brunelli!
If you’re planning your next vacation and want to include different, interesting sights and experiences on your itinerary, consider a trip to Iceland and Greenland. The two countries are between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans separated by the Denmark Strait and filled with gorgeous, dramatic views, excellent food, and the most welcoming residents.
If you follow my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48, you may have seen some of my photos from this recent trip. Among the highlights - I visited an inactive volcano just outside the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik, relaxed at the Sky Lagoon geothermal spa, toured the Vaxa Impact Nutrition hydroponics facility, traveled aboard the Swan Hellenic Vega expedition ship and viewed up close, some beautiful glaciers, icebergs, fjords, and landscapes. I visited small villages, met with local artisans, enjoyed dinner at the secluded Camp Kiattua, and of course, caught glimpses of the famous Northern Lights. It was a most memorable excursion with good friends.
Here are some of my photos, enjoy.
One of the first things we did once we arrived in Iceland was to take a helicopter ride to see one of the inactive volcanos. Iceland is home to around 130 volcanoes in 30 different volcanic systems. Thankfully, only 18 have erupted since 871 AD, when the country was first inhabited by humans.
We were all able to descend deep into one of the inactive volcano’s craters. A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity.
Here is our group descending into the crater of the Þríhnúkagígur volcano, the only volcano in the world where it is safe to enter its magna chamber.
This volcano is dormant and hasn’t erupted in more four thousand years. What we saw was amazing.
The magma chamber is often referred to as the heart of a volcano. Here are some of the various colors on the surrounding walls.
Iceland is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world, with eruptions occurring every few years. However, the volcano we visited shows no signs of activity in the near future.
This is the Miso Cod with glazed carrot purée, oyster mushrooms,
coriander-toasted almond salsa.
And the homemade feykir & asparagus ravioli with lobster sauce, lemon, and Icelandic chervil. If you’ve never had feykir cheese, it is a rich sheep’s milk Icelandic cheese. Everything was delicious.
Here’s my dear friend Terre Blair in front of the Sky Lagoon geothermal spa in southwestern Iceland.
These are the steps in and out of the lagoon. One can take as much time as desired in the lagoon’s warm waters.
The waters of Sky Lagoon contain minerals that can detoxify and can help remedy skin ailments. We all were so excited to take a dip. It was the best place to be on a cold, dreary day.
Here I am under the thermal waterfalls – so invigorating.
I visited the team at Vaxa, a hydroponic vegetable grower in Iceland.
VAXA Impact Nutrition produces microalgae in their state-of-the-art facility for aquaculture fish feed and as nutritional supplements for people. VAXA Technologies converts clean energy into food, producing sustainable crops rich in Omega-3 and protein.
We also tasted Omnom, Iceland’s leading chocolate maker.
Our trip across the Denmark Strait from Iceland to Greenland was on the Swan Hellenic Cruise Ship, SH Vega. WE saw some of the most amazing views from this expedition ship and learned all about the largest island in the world, Greenland.
Do you know… the difference between a glacier and an iceberg? Glaciers are located in the Arctic and Antarctica. They are bodies of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight and formed by the accumulation of snow over many centuries. Icebergs are smaller pieces of ice that have broken off, or calved, from glaciers and now drift with the ocean currents.
We saw many icebergs during our journey.
Just a decade ago, these mountains were covered in snow.
Remember this photo that I posted on Instagram? It got lots of attention. We were in a beautiful fjord on the east coast of Greenland where we captured a small iceberg for our drinks. I used some of the ice in this drink.
The cold East Greenland Current passes through the Strait and carries icebergs south into the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Denmark Strait was formed roughly during the last ice age. When the ice sheets advanced and then retreated over the North Atlantic, they created a landscape with a depression that gradually became the Denmark Strait over the course of thousands of years.
We visited a small Inuit village on Prince Christian Sound. The Prince Christian Sound is a waterway in Southern Greenland.
The tiny village is called Aappilattoq, which means “sea anemone” in the local Greenlandic Inuit language.
The cluster of colorful houses is home to just under 100 people.
Near the southern tip of Greenland is an old mining town of Ivittuut, now a collection of uninhabited houses and sheds. Ivittuut was once the world’s largest source of cryolite, an extremely rare mineral that was historically used in the extraction of aluminium from bauxite ore.
We spotted some cryolite on this step.
Here we are on the ship at night – taking some fun photos.
And here I am on the ship’s bridge with the captain.
We also visited Camp Kiattua, a secluded and exclusive camping retreat. The Inuit-inspired tents and grounds are surrounded by nature and magnificent views.
The fire pit is surrounded by comfortable, big chairs – it’s true “glamping” style.
Here I am with the proprietor of Camp Kiattua, Anika Krogh, and her young daughter. We had such a nice evening here.
I caught this beautiful view from my room on the ship.
And here they are – the Northern Lights, the natural light display in Earth’s sky seen in high-latitude regions. Also called auroras, it is a vivid demonstration of the Earth’s magnetic field interacting with charged particles from the sun. The lights show as dynamic patterns that appear as curtains, rays, spirals, or flickers. I hope you think about visiting this part of the world someday – Iceland and Greenland and the Denmark Strait. You’ll love it.
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