Thursday, April 28, 2016

The New York Botanical Garden’s 25th Anniversary Antique Garden Furniture Fair Kicks Off with Exclusive Benefit Buzz-Worthy Preview Party and Collectors’ Plant Sale April 28, 2016

Ken Fulk’s bee-inspired designs for the NYBG Antique Garden Furniture Fair    



Featuring a whimsical bee-design theme by Ken Fulk, New York Botanical Garden’s (NYBG) Garden Fair runs through the weekend, April 29–May 1, with the country’s leading Exhibitors showcasing the finest garden antiques for purchase.

NYBG’s 2016 Antique Garden Furniture Fair: Antiques for the Garden and the Garden Room opens with a Benefit Preview Party and Collectors’ Plant Sale on Thursday, April 28, from 6 to 8 p.m.

This event is the the country’s original, largest, and most important venue for authentic garden antiques, this year’s Fair features playful bee-inspired designs by celebrated interior and event designer Ken Fulk. As Designer Chairman for the 25th Anniversary Fair, Fulk created a showpiece; featuring items from exhibitors that will inspire and enlighten visitors about marrying antiques and modern design with an everyday aesthetic.

Adding to the excitement, Elle Decor Interiors Editor and acclaimed stylist Robert Rufino will create a festive outdoor lounge for the Fair in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyard.

Style maker Ken Fulk has given a makeover to the Antique Garden Furniture Fair that celebrates one of the most important pollinators in the garden: the beloved honeybee. NYBG describes how guests arriving tonight at the Conservatory for the Benefit Preview Party and Collectors’ Plant Sale will be greeted by a swarm of yellow-jacketed valets and led down a gold runway into the Conservatory’s Palms of the World Gallery where a display of fanciful bee skeps and a jazz trio set the stage for enchantment.

In the Conservatory Courtyard, honey-themed cocktails await and guests are beckoned into the magical garden setting of the renowned Collectors’ Plant Sale, where this year the rare and exotic plant species will be elevated to a new level with elaborate hand-painted backdrops and stage sets designed by Fulk.

A warm “golden glow” will draw guests to their final destination, where nearly 30 of the country’s leading exhibitors will showcase the finest garden antiques for purchase. A 10-foot-high beehive installation— a surreal and spiraling assemblage of rope and garden accents and backed by a towering wall of florals—will lead the eye, and anchor the room. Exclusive to the Preview Party, the night’s “queen bee,” DJ Kiss, will rave the hive, spinning favorites from her DJ booth within another Fulk-custom beehive installation.

NYBG describes how ELLE DECOR’s Robert Rufino will create a garden vignette showcasing “ladies in the garden”— that is, mannequins dressed in ball gown skirts made of Chinese newspaper, tops from pages and covers of ELLE DECOR, and Chinese straw hats—to serve as an outdoor lounge. The featured furniture, from the latest Roche Bobois collection—in areas with sofa and chair seating as well as dining—will be colorful and have an Asian influence. Atop the signature table will be a large vase with an explosion of cherry blossoms. Vibrant lanterns will hang from above, enhancing the lounge’s alluring and inviting ambience.

Amid 600 guests from the philanthropic, interior and landscape design, architecture, and art worlds, Preview Party attendees can indulge in a Silent Auction and NYBG’s Collectors’ Plant Sale, which features hard-to-find beauties, beloved varieties, and horticultural treasures propagated from NYBG collections, all chosen for their rarity and charm. Lilacs, Japanese maples, and herbaceous peonies, selected to celebrate the recent expansions of these historic NYBG collections, are among the unique offerings that will be available exclusively to Preview Party guests.  
Past Garden Furniture Preview: Barbara Corcoran & Bunny Williams
The Preview Party presents enthusiasts and collectors the opportunity to examine the plants, peruse thousands of garden antiques from leading exhibitors from across the United States offering their finest pieces for sale, and to make early purchases, while enjoying cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, in advance of the Fair’s opening to the general public. For Preview Party tickets and information, please call 718.817.8773 or e-mail cbalkonis@nybg.org.

All proceeds benefit NYBG’s Fund for Horticulture, directly supporting the work of the curators and gardeners who are responsible for making The New York Botanical Garden one of the most important horticultural showplaces in the world.

Three Days to Explore Antiques for the Garden and Garden Room
The Antique Garden Furniture Fair continues at NYBG from Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 1, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Respected as the most distinguished stage for authentic garden antiques and rarities, the Fair is a must-attend event for leading collectors and designers, as well as purchasers seeking advice from professionals. Included are outdoor sculpture, fountains, sundials, bird baths, gates, garden benches, antique wicker, urns and planters, botanical prints, and architectural ornament, displaying centuries of classic design inspiration gathered from America, Europe, and Asia. These antiques are not only great for the garden, but also for the garden room.


Weekend visitors to the Antique Garden Furniture Fair can browse and purchase unique items of the highest quality and provenance and enjoy a program lineup that includes Q&A with dealers, honey sampling, and eclectic live musical sets. There will be exhibitors offering an array of interesting ways to bring the outdoors inside by creating garden rooms in your home.


Experts will be on hand to answer questions on current decorating styles. They will also discuss trends in the acquisition and appreciation of garden ornament, as well as assist buyers looking for the perfect piece to complement a garden, landscape, or interior. On-site shippers are available to facilitate Tri- State New York and New England deliveries during the Fair and other shipping needs in the weeks following.




Aileen Minor Fleur New England Garden Ornaments

Some of this year’s highlighted items include a marble bust of Anacreon, the ancient Greek poet, offered by Aileen Minor and a dolphin and shell centerpiece fountain, circa 1850, from New England Garden Ornaments.




Fleur will offer a Scottish cast iron bench by Carron:





At the entrance to the Antique Garden Furniture Fair, a Specialty Plant Sale will feature an extensive selection of unusual, colorful plants representing some of horticulture’s finest growers. A variety of shrubs and trees, perennials, annuals, and Herbs will be available. Visitors may purchase refreshments here as well.

Activities throughout the weekend include live music, featuring the eco-music ensemble The Englewinds on Friday, 1–4 p.m., highlighting the importance and the plight of honeybees, and Sweet Megg & the Wayfarers on Saturday and Sunday, 12–4 p.m., in Conservatory Plaza; and honey sampling with City Island Gold Apiary in the Conservatory Courtyard each day, 12–4 p.m.

About the Designer Chairman
Ken Fulk designs experiences large and small. After 20 years as a San Francisco style maker known for his richly layered interiors and over-the-top parties, Fulk has expanded his firm in recent years to facilitate projects around the globe.

Fulk is far more than a designer. He is the curator of a lifestyle, not only creating custom looks for hotels, restaurants, and private residences, but also developing the entire branding and programming for his clients. His firm, Ken Fulk Inc, is a creative team comprised of architects, stylists, and interior, graphic, and event designers. In recent years, Ken Fulk Inc has received great acclaim for The Battery Club, private social club and Three Sticks Winery in Sonoma as well as the Vegas outpost of Carbone restaurant and the SoHo bagel emporium, Sadelle's. Next up, Fulk is charged with the design of a Miami hotel and a highly anticipated Hudson Yards high-rise residential tower, which will include a show-stopping flagship restaurant. Fulk recently launched his New York studio and will soon release a book, Mr. Ken Fulk’s Magical World.

The year 2016 marks The New York Botanical Garden’s 125th Anniversary. The Antique Garden Furniture Fair, taking place in a tent amid flowering trees, plants, and shrubs, with the institution’s Enid A. Haupt Conservatory as its glorious backdrop, is one of many public celebratory events commemorating this historic milestone. During the Preview Party, Principal Photographer Larry Lederman will sign copies of The New York Botanical Garden (Abrams), the 125th Anniversary edition, which will be available for purchase. At 3 p.m. each day at the Fair, a complimentary toast will salute 125 years of the Garden’s commitment to excellence in plant research and conservation, horticulture, and education.

The Antique Garden Furniture Fair is the ideal venue for learning about garden antiques and building personal collections, and this year’s event will be unlike any other: a perfect cross-pollination of antique and modern. Admission to the Fair on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 29 through May 1, is included with the All-Garden Pass, which also provides access to the Botanical Garden grounds, seasonal gardens, attractions such as the Haupt Conservatory, and Tram Tour. Advance tickets for the Fair are available for purchase online at nybg.org.

Antique Garden Furniture Fair: Antiques for the Garden and the Garden Room 2016 Exhibitor Listing 
Arader Galleries - New York, N.Y. & Philadelphia, Pa. (www.aradergalleries.com)


Balsamo - New York, N.Y. & Pine Plains, N.Y. (www.balsamoantiques.com)


Blithewold Home, Mount Kisco, N.Y. (www.blithewoldhome.com)


Brennan & Mouilleseaux Antiques - Northfield, Conn. (www.antiqueseclectic.com)


Cherry Gallery - Damariscotta, Maine (www.cherrygallery.com)


The Cooley Gallery - Old Lyme, Conn. (www.Cooleygallery.com)


Cottage + Camp - Philadelphia, Pa. (www.cottagecamp.net)


Fine Antique Prints - Wayne, Pa. (www.fineantiqueprints.com)


Finnegan Gallery - Chicago, Ill. (www.finnegangallery.com)


Firehouse Antiques - Galena, Md. (www.galenaantiquedistrict.com)


Fleur - Mount Kisco, N.Y. (www.fleur-newyork.com)


From Here to Antiquity - Cheshire, Conn. (www.fromheretoantiquity.org)


Garvey Rita Art & Antiques - West Hartford, Conn. (www.garveyrita.com)


Hamptons Antique Galleries - Stamford, Conn. (www.hamptonsantiquegalleries.com) Jeffrey Henkel - Pennington, N.J. (www.jeffreyhenkel.com)


Barbara Israel Garden Antiques - Katonah, N.Y. (www.bi-gardenantiques.com)


Milne’s At Home Antiques - New York, N.Y. & Kingston, N.Y. (www.milneinc.com)


Aileen Minor - Centreville, Md. (www.aileenminor.com)


More & More Antiques - New York, N.Y. (www.moreandmoreantiquesnyc.com)


New England Ornaments - Sudbury, Mass. (www.negarden.com)


Pagoda Red - Chicago, Ill. (www.pagodared.com)


Francis J. Purcell - Philadelphia, Pa. (www.francisjpurcell.com)


Schorr & Dobinsky - Bridgehampton, N.Y. (www.schorranddobinsky.com)


Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge - Maryknoll, N.Y. (www.vandekar.com)


VIllage Braider Antiques - Plymouth, Mass. (www.villagebraider.com)


Withington & Company Antiques - Portsmouth, N.H. (www.withingtonandcompanyantiques.com)


The Antique Garden Furniture Fair is generously supported by Northern Trust.


Support for the Preview Party has been provided by Mr. and Mrs. Coleman P. Burke


ELLE DECOR


Mish New York

Monday, March 28, 2016

How To Design a Garden & Nature-Inspired Spring Tablescape with Marchesa by Lenox Collection

Spring tablescape design featuring Marchesa "Sapphire Plume" Collection for Lenox 

Happy Easter / Happy Spring. It was a happy holiday weekend filled with the promise of the season: beginnings. It was indeed also a first of a very special kind -- the first of an inspired tablescape design: the budding of a what I know will be an enduring love affair with my new, Marchesa fine bone china collection for Lenox.

I first heard the siren song of this Peacock, rather Peafowl, (more on this in a bit) Lenox, “Sapphire Plume” tabletop collection at the recently-concluded, exceptionally-inspiring Architectural Digest Design Show 2016 that brimmed with craft, bespoke, quality creations for the discriminating homeowner and his or her distinctive home. The Lenox Sapphire Plume collection is a poster child for this aestheticHappy Easter, Happy Spring. It was a bright, happy weekend, filled with “spring fever” and with the prom, marrying the acclaimed fashion designer georginachapmanmarchesa - that’s Georgina Chapman (three cheers for me; I have two of her dress designs, as well) - whose refined glamour pairs with the exceptional quality of America’s only maker of bone china: Lenox.

How did this star-crossed pair - meaning me and the peafowl -- come to “mate?” Destiny is the short answer. The tad longer version makes the story… By way of background -- after falling hard for this beauty, I did a bit more research on the peacock to learn more about why I am so passionate about it. I discovered that “peacock” is the male and “peahen” is the female, together they are peafowl. Have to get it right and respect these symbols of love, refinement, resurrection, and renewal. So it was kind of perfect that their association with resurrection landed on my table for Easter, given this holy day’s promise of redemption and resurrection. Coincidence? I’m too spiritual and superstitious not to consider the karma of this plumed peafowl landing in my home.

I have long been enchanted by this noble bird; their glamorous and iridescent blue hues, their history, and inspiration to artists throughout the ages. It’s said if one is feeling “blah,” the colors alone can put us in a mood to embrace our own nobility - encouraging us to show off our inner proud-as-a-peafowl! (AKA “proud as a peacock.”)

And just when I think the connections of color, season, symbols and renewal couldn’t get more cosmic, I found the collective for the peafowl is: a “party!”  A group of heretofore "peacocks" is a party.     How perfect is that for a table-top collection tailor-made made for dining celebrations?! Just this side of nirvana when you consider what that sage Robin Williams said: “Spring is nature’s way of saying, "Let’s party!"

So, The Party Was On
After the press tour of the nearly 50 “stunning table vignettes by top designers” for the show’s annual Dining by Design, I rather uncharacteristically stopped to peruse the items on display for DIFFA’s silent auction. But I thought to myself, ‘Let me see what’s here and I can report on it. After all it’s a fundraiser with all monies supporting the organization’s efforts to fight HIV/AIDS.’ That’s when the soft blue and white Lenox - and the pattern of gentle, elegant peafowl and exotic feathers seduced me. I know I shouldn’t have but later that night I thought, why not bid? I cringed. Not only do I love our Royal Doulton wedding china and its classic design; I had just recently added to our everyday collection with the vibrant, colorful, wild animal Palace Thai Dinnerware Collection from Williams-Sonoma. In the end, I was powerless to the pull of the peafowl. I bid more than I should have -- but it was meant to be.

Things came together quickly in a good way not long after it was confirmed I had the winning bid for the Sapphire Plume china. I was keen to use the new collection for Easter, and there was only a few days to go before the holiday weekend. Nevertheless, DIFFA and ultimately, the Lenox team, rose to the occasion in splendid fashion and managed the process with elan. Thank you, Steven, Joanne, Sherri, and Karen, Nancy, Yolanda, Daryl, Effie, Stephanie- (It takes a village!). While I was hoping for a Friday delivery - (pushing it to Saturday if need be as a nail-biter hard stop), the Lenox team had the entire 8-piece tableware collection delivered on Thursday: one or two days after setting the process in motion. How impressive!

In no time, my husband Bill and I had the individually boxed 8-piece servings out of their travel nests -
and into their bath (dishwasher) and that night I began musing the tablescape composition.






I couldn’t wait to use the new peafowl Sapphire Plume  - so before launching full steam into the presentation concepts the next morning, I enjoyed a mid-morning coffee break with some fresh-from-the-bakery, Good Friday Hot Cross Buns. A truly sweet confection, combination…


Entertaining Design Elements: First Steps 

Entertaining design is very much top of mind for me, especially now - both when I'm awake and working what seems like 24/7 and in my dreams - as I’m in the throes of writing a cocktail and garnish book with tips on presentations, in addition to working on an artful entertaining book, “The Eyes Eat First.” As you know, I am also a garden designer - therefore it stands to reason that nature -- and her keen eye for color, texture, form, shape, and composition - informs how I approach the beauty and imagery of creating a seasonal and themed tablescape. Details matter. So does perspective. Whimsy and elegance are critical to layering a tableau that is captivating. The special world you create within a tablescape should draw your guests in - and delight them with an aura of discovery. Tablescapes, like menus and gardens, should be composed and designed with the seasons…


You’re conjuring a mood and a memory with lighting: natural and added - such as candles, votives, sparklers and more - along with other sensual items including, objects (fine art and found nature art such as stones or pebbles or driftwood), music, flowers and plants, as well as fragrance. Table art is compelling, original, and personal. The possibilities are endless. 

Think about the tablescape not just as a static thing; rather as theater, unfolding in a series of acts or chapters. The table shouldn’t be “set” just for a special event, either. We should accessorize the table for everyday use. It’s important to cherish the tablescape -- after all, it’s where friends and family come together - to share not just food and drink but each other. Good tablescape design fosters convivial conversation and no small amount of joy.

Just as we add various courses throughout the entire meal; so too, check out your menu and think how the elements of the table will change or unfold throughout the entire meal or dining experience. Consider the intermissions for drink and serving presentations; as well as gift-giving, not to mention the  changing time of day and lighting…


At the same time, the design elements shouldn’t get in the way. I’ve long been an advocate for the low vases and packed floral design look. At our home, we are lucky to possess a dramatic view of the New York skyline - so besides keeping the airspace above the table free of towering urns or floral displays in order to see table mates, I want to keep those views of the glorious blue of the bay and the twinkling lights at night open and accessible. In addition, flowers are de rigueur; however the blooms and candles should not possess such a heady fragrance that interferes with the meal and its ingredients’ natural aromas.  Most often I have lilies - Casablanca, as there are here, or Star Gazer, in the floor-standing vase away from the table -- just so its rich fragrance can waft and discreetly perfume the air.

Premiere Peafowl Table Art
I put one leaf into the dining table, then set out a service for eight. I decided to use tulips as the flower of choice because it’s spring and they’re a classic rite of the season. I wanted it to be all about soft colors - not the jelly-bean bright blooms - rather sigh-worthy white tulips and bouquets of white with a stripe of a “Broken Tulip,” featuring a lavender color to complement the china.

Plus I was thinking we’d be serving a kind of French 75 champagne cocktail with a lavender, violet liqueur. So there was a nice pairing there, too.

I looked through my inventory of home decor accessories that I store in an antique “pie safe” or cupboard, located in our Laundry Room. There's beauty everywhere if you know where to look… There I saw what would work. I figured two glass bowl vases with some blue glass stones in the bottom to anchor the white tulips, and three aqua blue-ish forcing vessels I could use for the Broken Tulips.
How much do we love these tulips?  Tabletop jewelry! 

The blue and white ginger jars from our bedroom could anchor the floral centerpieces at three points; a classic element that tipped its hat to the collection's visual narrative. I set small glass bunnies and one mini bunny snow globe around the center vase and the bigger glass bunnies at table ends. All the glass was reflecting the natural light - creating gleaming, light prisms. So far so good!

I used two, mini, green-heart topiaries from my writing desk / secretary that added a kind of “earring charm” - meaning just enough subtle bedazzle.


The place holders for the name tags are garden ornaments and topiaries with a greenish patina. I also used the handmade, blown-out and dyed eggs with their etched on names as the seating place holders - perched in pretty egg cups.  (Egg cups come in a variety of creations that can be used in many tabletop designs - and not just for eggs.)  
Lastly, I had a few dozen robin egg blue decorative “eggs” that I scattered, er, placed, throughout the tablescape. The blue linen napkins with painted light-blue butterfly napkin holders and beaded, azalea pink/purple dragonfly for the host and hostess settings retained the glamorous, nature mood. And the cocktail napkins repeat the blue and white ginger jar motif; with birds - as seen in the photo with Chandon Carol Lim designed champagne bottle.
 (more on this in related post; for now please note it's so very pretty and festive, yes?!)  


Overall, the blue hues and green shades with a whisper of lavender are redolent of a peafowl’s glorious tail feathers. Nice… At each course, the Lenox Sapphire Plume revealed itself: a layered nuanced tablescape fashion show.
All agreed the collection's sculptured coffee cup is the sophisticated way to drink the end of meal coffee (or tea) rather than the HUGE mugs that all too often accompany a service setting. Too often, I feel like I slipped down a rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass with those too-big to manage vessels. Thank goodness our Easter, signature coconut cake (from the local James Beard Award winner, The Flaky Tart didn’t come with any “Eat Me” instruction. Ha.  But we did enjoy our version of “wonderland” - with a truly wonderful meal, family and friends, and a sophisticated, elegant tabletop design featuring our new Sapphire Plume collection.


Our guests delightfully oohed and ahhed about the tablescape, with one vowing to own a Marchesa by Lenox design for herself. Let’s see which one it will be.

I hope you agree that Table Art design is a wonderful way to express your entertaining style.


Be sure to experiment and have fun. Remember, the authentic ingredient that makes it all special and artful - whether it’s the tabletop design or creating the menu -- is love.

So glamorous…








Happy Spring 




Wednesday, March 23, 2016

New York Botanical Garden Winter Series final lecture 3/24 with Luciano Giubbilei






The 16th Annual Winter Lecture Series: Chelsea Gold presented by the New York Botanical Garden is coming to its springtime final lecture. Tomorrow, Thursday, March 24, will feature a highly anticipated talk by Luciano Giubbilei.

It might well be a sell out so be sure to get to the Garden early, if you didn’t purchase the series tickets.

The Chelsea Gold featured in the series highlights the fact that all three speakers are winners - winning multiple times, in fact - at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show - that Olympics/Super Bowl/WorldCup annual garden design event -- but bigger. I for one vote they trade in the moniker, though. It should be the RHS Chelsea Garden Show. Yes, there are acres of flowers but all those petals, blooms, and leafy greens need to be shown in context -- in a design. And that’s where these garden compositions and the landscape architects and designers work their magic. For those lucky folks who have made the Chelsea pilgrimage, the NYBG series is a terrific peek behind the scenes of this flower blockbuster show. For the more plebian among us, the talks are a revelation into the process of designing a garden period. And designing for the Chelsea Flower Show. The speakers reveal their inspiration, their plant palette selections and the construction. We learn so much.


The first two speakers in the Chelsea Gold lecture series were Ulf Nordfjell, the Swedish landscape architect who interpreted his Swedish design aesthetic and his passion for ecology and the environment to his projects. He won his first Gold Medal in 2007 for his tribute to another famous Swedish plantsman: Linnaeus. He said the aim of the Linnaeus exhibit was to encourage the younger generation to pursue careers and interest in the sciences and to foster a curiosity about nature and research. “Linnaeus was the world’s first ecologist. In his pre internet world Linnaeus used a flower to distinguish all his photos…” Nordfjell won Gold again in 2009 for his Daily Telegraph and 2013 for his Laurent-Perrier gardens. He noted how he approaches his garden design as storytelling. Me too!
He said in Sweden, “We are about connecting people to nature.” This resonates with all who encounter his gardens.

He couldn’t ignore the issue of Climate Change, noting that while Sweden possesses a variety of micro-climates, it is indeed getting warmer there. “We have warmer summers and flooding.”

At Chelsea he chooses to produce modern garden with timber, steel and granite. There was a red wall -- brownish red - common to timber resin. He planted in layers: Maples, lilies, and so on. He used four thousand plants! He used pruned trees and shrubs noting it was quite common for 18th century rich people in Linnaeus’ time to have gardeners to maintain the necessary pruning.

For the 2009 Gold Medal & Best in Show with The Daily Telegraph Garden his initially reaction when they asked him, a Swede, to do the garden that they were “thinking suicide!” However, he researched the 19th century Hidcote Garden - transforming a very British garden tradition. Except that here, “Everything is fake,” he joked With 19 days to do the garden - in the rain and cold - he just wanted to survive. A trick he consider for judging days sunday night & monday morning was to use the compost to make the plants warm. “The plants are then happy and open up their blooms and blossoms - in time for the judges. The real devils of the show,” he added. He uses lots of bulbs with ornamental grasses, too - -helps cover the decaying, seasonal leaves...

He - and his team of more than 150 did the Perrier Jouet garden in a week! It was a haute couture garden inspired by two women: a French who started modern gardens in Sweden in the 50’s and 60’s used simple plants and soft, pale colors; the other is a LA designer who used breakout designs. Modern, minimalist with romantic touches.

Nordjfell also showed some of his private client gardens and public parks. He pointed out we need to safeguard the parks. “Margaret Thatcher took away all the greenhouses,” and many countries cut back funding to maintain the green spaces. He also noted that Food is most important in Europe plant trend. That and romance and more personal styling. “The young are looking back to history; they’re more aware of materials we’re using.” He added that the water issue - it is increasingly a very scarce resource is also a very major concern in Europe - and globally. “

The second speaker in the series was Sarah Price, a British garden designer, a co-designer of London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and a 2012 Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal Winner for her Daily Telegraph Garden (those newspaper folks at the Daily Telegraph sure know how to pick a winner!)

Sarah’s talk was “Gardening in the Round.” She was/is a fine artist and a painter. She showed airy, ethereal images of nature that are near her home in Wales that inspire her. Oh, those heather hillsides. She also gets a lot of her inspiration from the ornamental, native grasses of the US that she first saw in Piet Oudolf’s gardens. She sees the beauty and mystery in the environment and translates that narrative to her gardens. And she’s funny.

Sarah showed insights into her background that are the critical, basic elements of her compositions.

She uses color gradations and likes gardens without defined borders. She sketches plant forms and gets height balance out the plant shapes. She said that Chelsea launched her career.

She uses lots of nine centimeters plants so little to no deadheading. The dense planting and compatible, “no soil” reduces the need for watering.


Don’t miss “The Art of Making Gardens” Luciano Giubbilei talk at the Garden tomorrow. I learned yesterday that my garden and fellow landscape design group friend, Linda Tejpaul, of Magnolia Design, LLC, that her son had Luciano do their gardens! How lucky they have their own Chelsea Gold!    

Oh, be mindful - there is construction work at the Mosholu Gate at NYBG - and if you're arriving by train - you will have to walk the .5 mile to the next gate.  And security is not courteous about this inconvenience.  (Couldn't have made a side pathway for visitors who arrive on foot?)