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The Parterre Bench
From the Blog

Travels with the Parterre Bench
January 14, 2021
Since travel plans have been so curtailed this past year, I’m now going to treat us to some mini “armchair trips,” with the focus on my favorite topic — gardens…

A Writer’s Lair: Honoring a Literary Heritage
January 7, 2021
Welcome to 2021! Perhaps for you, as it is for me, reminiscing is part of a new year ritual and I now find myself remembering back with great sentiment to…

Happy New Year!
December 31, 2020
As this old year ends (and not too soon) this post gives me the chance to once again marvel at what pictures can mean to us…2020 definitely assured those of…

A Parterre Christmas
December 24, 2020
Every Christmas has its signature. This year, not knowing what draconian measure or which “pause” we were honoring, I hadn’t done much planning for decorations. But one thing I knew…

Bedecked and Bedazzled: Christmas at The Breakers
December 17, 2020
What is more joy-filled than a fifteen foot Christmas tree of live, brilliant red poinsettias?! Newport’s own legendary creation takes pride-of-place in the Great Hall of The Breaker’s, obviously deserving…

Past Christmases at Parterre
December 10, 2020
In spite of 2020 being an “annus horribilis” (to quote Queen Elizabeth) we’ve made it to the merry month of December. So I say, with a nod to rhythm and…

The Adventures of a Narrative Gardener
December 3, 2020
My friend, Ron Fleming, is a Renaissance man in the truest sense of the word–writer, city planner, preservationist, inveterate traveler, philanthropist and all ’round Bon Vivant. And gardener! His talents…

Enjoy your cozy Thanksgiving!
November 26, 2020
I wanted to take the opportunity at this wonderful time of the year, especially with so many challenges besieging us, to offer some “words of wisdom” that carry such truth in their simplicity.