The Newport Flower Show will have a Star headliner this month, Margot Shaw, founder of Flower magazine, introducing her new book, Flowering Outdoors: Gardens and Parties. Don’t you love the title? Well-named for an author who is the authority on all things floral. Truly, a delicious collection of ideas gathered from top tastemakers, with whom I am honored to be included. Meg Braff, Kate Rheinstein Brodsky, Zezé, and India Hicks (to name a few), share their joy of decorating with flowers outdoors in such spaces as terraces, dining pavilions, and loggias in a variety of locations around the world (as well as a helpful primer that includes garden elements, from architecture, to statuary, to furniture). Let’s hear it for entertaining Alfresco with Flair!!

Surprise! Surprise! The title page and back cover sport the Green and White Garden at Parterre, while the rest of the garden is showcased in a chapter titled, “A Garden for Strolling.” Enjoy this excerpt of the book’s chapter, written by Robert C. Martin and photographed by Mick Hales (who also photographed my books Private Newport and Living Newport).

And then do yourself a summer favor…skip over to your local bookseller, or Amazon, and bring Flowering Outdoors home. https://www.amazon.com/Flowering-Outdoors

A Garden for Strolling

Bettie Bearden Pardee and her husband, Jonathan, were firm about one thing in their marriage. “We agreed we would never, ever build a house together,” she says. But a gorgeous lot near Rosecliff mansion in his hometown of Newport, Rhode Island, became available and their position softened. They set about building a French-inspired house among the beeches, oaks, and linden trees of the property, which they named Parterre. And, fortuitously, the pair enjoyed the building process. “We have never had so much fun,” she says. “We loved the chance to customize the details of our future home.”

Pardee is immensely influenced by historic stately homes and gardens. As an author, blogger, lecturer, and garden expert, she shares her inspirations in writing about houses and gardens she has visited. On her blog, she provides gardening tips and tricks to her followers who hang on her every account of the deer who ate all her roses the night before a garden tour, or the bunnies who rampaged in the cutting garden.

As Pardee began planning her gardens, she kept a file of tear sheets and notes for the look she was after.

When she hired landscape designer Virginia Purviance to spearhead the job, she presented her with the research. “As we began discussing Bettie’s garden, she handed me a scrapbook overflowing with pictures and handwritten notes,” Purviance says. “Right away, I knew this was no ordinary endeavor.” The first space they created is now called the winter garden, since its evergreen shrubs lend themselves to a snowy landscape in the winter. Entered through ornate iron gates, the garden is enclosed and centers on a reflecting pool.

“My husband’s decision to surprise me with a Christmas gift of a greenhouse was a significant addition. It has a copper roof surmounted by glass panels you can open in the summer. It serves as a storage space during the winter, but in the summer it is a glorious place to host dinner parties.” The Orangerie, as it is called, is the jewel in the crown of the garden, but in the winter garden (above) a little hobbit house of a garden shed adds its own charm.

Purviance collaborated with landscape designer Julie Toland to design a series of outdoor rooms, each with a distinct attitude. “I like to think of Parterre as a collection of smaller gardens created in the French tradition, with an American accent and a Newport sensibility,” Pardee says.

When Pardee entertains, the floral decorations are top of mind. “Every plant at Parterre must pass the litmus test of ‘Will it enhance a flower arrangement?’” she says. A cutting garden supplies Pardee with materials for centerpieces and flower show entries. In addition to dahlias, roses, and clematis, vegetables like squash and zucchini grow in lush abandon, in sharp contrast to the tidy shapes of the formal gardens. Purviance sums it up best: “Parterre is a garden that is meant for walking around and strolling. It is not really intended for sitting. In that way, the whole layout and sequence of both house and grounds are very French.”

BETTIE’S OVERVIEWS FOR DESIGNING YOUR DREAM GARDEN

Look to the experts. Many nurseries have consulting and design services and online catalogues that illustrate garden groupings and offer plants for sale.

Manage your expectations. Ask other garden owners and tradespeople for thoughts about budget..

Do not forget about maintenance in time, money, and availability of services.

Consider the relevance of a garden’s entire design—style, hard or soft features, furniture, ornaments, and containers, as well as plantings.

The “bones” of a garden (form, shape, scale) are more important than color (flowers are fleeting).

Everything does not have to be done at one time. There is merit in installing a garden in stages (and it’s easier on the budget).

Be brave. Take that initial step (noted interior designer Bunny Williams’s first garden was ordered out of a catalogue)

Add a bench or two. If you do not have a place to sit, you will not go into the garden.

Hope to see you at the Newport Flower Show…June 19-21, 2026.

Photo credit: Mick Hales Photography

Published by Rizzoli New York, 2026