Holiday & Hostess Garden Gift Guide

Gardeners are easy to buy gifts for. 

No matter the Zone.

Garden lovers are like a prism – there so many facets to a true garden aficionado.

There is the garden artist – whether a designer or a garden art patron – who divines rapture from the beauty found in the garden at home, at a botanic garden or arboreta, in paintings, poems or literature. 

Of course there is the plant lover – those of us who blush at the sight of a rose’s ruby red color and the come-hither gaze of a Lady’s Slipper orchid or swoon at a blue Delphinium or…

The sensual attraction of a plant’s look, along with its fragrance, touch and taste that waits to be discovered within the plant kingdom is insatiable.

Then there are the “Plant Geeks” – those who are nuts for the latest tools, electronics, and gadgets that make gardening easier and well, fun. 

Not to be overlooked is the world of garden accessories, including furniture in the garden, lighting, and statuary and containers.  Containers along come in such variety and charm – from teeny, tiny thimble-sized to estate-large antiques or too-good-to-be-true reproductions.

Garden miscellaneous includes stationary and postcards, jewelry and fragrances, and fashion that are garden-inspired.

The Holiday week ahead is sure to be filled with visits to family and friends and the chance to give a Hostess gift.

For all the gardeners and garden lovers on your list, consider gifts from the following garden favorites here below.

In no particular order here are some of my favorite garden gift and hostess gift suggestions:

1.  EunYoung Sebazco is a garden wonder.  Over the years, I’ve had the honor and privilege to have worked with EunYoung – her name means Silver Flower – and thus the name of her landscape design and digital imaging services. 

You will adore her calendars. 

She designs them similar to postcards with appropriate, seasonal flowers and plants that grace every card. (And in fact I keep the cards from previous years and sometimes mail them to people who I really, really like – as I hate to part with them) There are two months on a card and the entire deck in inserted into a Lucite stand. 

It’s a happy desktop or counter top garden calendar.

http://www.silverflowerdesign.com/services_Merchandise.html

2.  You have to go pretty far to find more beautiful distinctive garden pots, seating, statuary, and hand-crafted from Pennoyer Newman.  Cast from estate originals, the lightweight resin pots and garden art installations both punctuate a garden composition and

With more than 20 years experience the company has created planters for prestigious parks and gardens including the New York Public Library, NYBG – and my clients! 

The containers are indeed classics. 

They cast the most exclusive garden pots from historical designs.

http://www.pennoyernewman.com      

Pennoyer Newman pots

3. Darlene Flood’s gardenscape stationary, including note cards, note pads and announcements, are custom-made, one-of-a-kind watercolors.  I first encountered them from the Neiman Marcus catalog. When they stopped featuring the custom cards, I hunted her down!  Now I can order unique cards for me and my Duchess Designs' business correspondence, as well as special gifts.  Now you can too!

http://www.darleneflooddesigns.com/index2.html

4. Munder-Skiles garden furniture is the best.  For more than 20 years the firm has been making hand-crafted garden furniture.  All the best landscape architects source their garden furniture from here. 

Designed by award-winning exterior decorator, John Danzer, the Munder-Skiles collections features “customizable wood and metal designs in styles that range from historical to contemporary. 

Hailed by notable interior decorating icon, Albert Hadley, who wrote: “John Danzer has done more to integrate exterior and interior designs than anyone working today. His obsessive fascination with the subject makes him the change agent we all need.”

http://www.munder-skiles.com/about-us/press/meet-john-danzer-exterior-decorator-garden-furniture-designer-and-visionary/

Danzer’s Munder-Skiles portfolio of artful garden furniture is enduring garden art.  See the lines and spaces and geometrics that will take your breath away. Over and over and over, again…

http://www.munder-skiles.com/a-sampling-of-our-work/

Munder-Skiles garden furniture

 

Munder-Skiles Taconic chair - nominated by the Cooper-Hewitt for 2005 national design award for Landscape Architecture

5. Membership in any of the horticulture or garden cultural institutions helps support education, science and public programs.  There are many garden culturals to choose from, including The Horticultural Society of New York http://www.hsny.org

Here is the most exciting place to celebrate plants and gardens with lectures, crafts, art work and exhibitions, tastings and more.  I love the Hort (and its team!)  

The New York Botanic Garden, http://www.nybg.org/support_the_garden/membership/

Membership in The Garden Conservancy helps “ensure that America’s treasured gardens remain intact as part of our natural heritage.”  You probably know them from their Open Days program that allows the garden lovers access to the best private gardens. I’ve enjoyed hosting my friends and family for annual garden parties before heading out for the GC garden tours.

http://www.nybg.org/support_the_garden/membership/

And the American Horticultural Society is “dedicated to educate people to become successful and environmentally responsible gardeners by advancing the art and science of gardening.  Your membership helps make “America a nation of gardeners, a land of gardens!”

That works for me. 

Plus you get a magazine subscription chock-a-block with hort and plant news.

https://americanhort.ahs.org/gift-membership

Plants are best sourced locally.  But you can always order from these trusted plant people:

Brent and Becky’s Bulbs https://store.brentandbeckysbulbs.com

The Maine Potato Lady (we get our potatoes, shallots, and garlic from here) https://www.mainepotatolady.com/productcart/pc/home.asp

Happy Holidays. 

Let me know your favorite garden sources.

Harvest to Holiday Container Garden Design

H2 Oh!  Harvest to Holiday

 I hope your Thanksgiving holiday celebration was filled with love—family and real food and sharing. 

And soon-to-be-happy memories.

Mother and I cooked up a storm with her homemade bread, fresh turkey and trimmings – and all to supplement my Thanksgiving raffle-winning, gourmet Thanksgiving dinner for six from Sickles Market, Little Silver, in the Garden State.

More on that delicious homegrown culinary elegance in my next post.

Here I will say the pumpkin bisque soup and the spicy, southwest inspired cranberry corn relish were amazing and the talk of the table.

The weather in the Northeast, New York metro area was sublime. 

It felt like September – balmy in the high 60’s – and in some locales, tipping to the 70’s.  A record-breaker in many places.

It was energizing weekend to work in the garden and change out the containers from Harvest to Holiday.

While, it did feel a tad odd to press red holiday ribbons and sparkly silver balls next to the winter pansies J  

it was an ideal weekend to compost the mums and pumpkins  – (hello squash blossoms next year) 

and to visit the nurseries to select plants and accessories for the holiday compositions for the containers.

I am privileged to work for a number of spectacular, garden design clients.  I can’t do enough for them.

One client is dedicated to a white and green garden color design. 

Over time, I’ve introduced silver and steely blue plants for a cool elegance.

I figured a sparkly silver sparkle could only add to the garden glamour of the spring topiary and custom white planters from Pennoyer and Newman distinctive garden pots: 

http://www.pennoyernewman.com/

Topiary view from front door & walk towards double white marble & grass parking courts

Two smaller planter across the driveway from front door punctuates garden bed separating checkerboard parking courts 

I kept the Holiday container decorations focus on the plants at another client where the color design is a seasonal red.

The nandina plants that border the front walk turn a brilliant crimson soon after the fall. (Spring they are a light green and summer they are dark green)

Years ago I chose the garden room’s color palette to complete the serene Mediterranean stucco house and walk.

The red sparkle and bows are just fancy enough to jazz up the red pansies and dwarf Alberta spruce.

No screaming Santas, or blow up snowmen.  No abundance of lights that use up energy or make a yard look like an airport runway.  The garden art whispers Happy Holidays with nature’s plants and ornaments in a refined, elegant and glamorous way.

Keep the focus on family and friends… 

More holiday garden cheer to come.  It’s the start of a spectacular season!

Cheers. 

Garden Glamour Premieres

Garden Glamour

To launch the Duchess Designs garden blog I, of course, had to name it. Always dodgy naming something, I think.  Monikers are potent.  Names can mislead.  Or the everyday use of a word may have stolen or hijacked the meaning from what was intended.  Or it can be pure destiny. 

Initially, I thought my blog about the possibilities of gardens and gardening should reference “Dreams” in the name.  But that seemed to suggest the idea that gardening was somehow a bit too out of reach or unlikely for any serious gardener, who of course wants to see results in their little plot of earth or containers.  Then glamour came to mind.  I do love glamour of course, and when I looked up the definition to a word I use with frequency ^:^  to confirm if it could work – and just like that -- stardust! 

According to Encarta, Glamour is an irresistible alluring quality that somebody or something possesses by virtue of seeming much more exciting, romantic, or fashionable than ordinary …  Check! That describes my gardens, garden aspirations and garden perspectives.  Striking physical good looks or sexual impact, especially when it is enhanced with highly fashionable “accessories”… Check!  And then this topper:  A magical spell or charm… Check! 

You see where I was going with this.  Alluring, exciting, romantic, sexy good looks and magical charms add up to my point of view about the enchanting world of gardens.

The Garden Glamour blog will offer garden stories about gardening’s best practices:  when to plant, put the garden to bed; garden tips; advice on what tools work best; garden design; opinions on garden trends; garden book reviews; garden lecture review snapshots; lots and lots of images, and funny anecdotes about the humbling, glorious and glamorous world of Gardens!