Bunny Williams: On Garden Style
The Newport Flower Show is always a much-anticipated start to the “summer season,” but it was especially so this year! Bunny Williams was a guest speaker, an esteemed designer that I’ve… Read More
Behind the Private Gates
A Must-Have Garden Accessory: The Parterre Bench
From that long ago Thanksgiving weekend in Ireland…to the house-building, garden-creating project in Newport…to the first published coffee table book that prompted the creation of this bespoke garden accessory…the Parterre… Read More
Welcome to my June Garden
Spring has been very late, cool and wet, but when it popped (on a few delicious warm and sunny days) everything burst at once, lush and green and colorful —… Read More
The Sakonnet Garden: A Singular Sensation
Across the Sakonnet River from Newport — a ten minute boat ride but an hour drive — is Little Compton, Rhode Island, the quiet countryside contrast to the “bustling seaport”… Read More
A Tale of Two Orangeries
Part of the pleasure of building your own home in Newport is the ritual of naming it (very de riguer — taken so literally that one witty friend tagged their… Read More
Tulipmania: The Good Dirt on Tulips
Who doesn’t love tulips? And who cannot be intrigued with these exquisite flowers that originated in Turkey and made their way to the Netherlands in the 1600s, prompting a… Read More
Thomas Jefferson’s Dovecote on the Rose Hill Estate
As a garden lover as well as an admirer of Thomas Jefferson, I was intrigued when a friend emailed asking if I knew what a dovecote was (not realizing that… Read More
Dahlias: Stars of the Autumn Garden
Dahlias, the iconic fall bloom, are truly a native flower of the Americas. With a histoire that goes back to the Aztecs (it was considered to be Montezuma’s favorite flower), … Read More
Ferns, an Elegant Addition to a Garden
Taking refuge in my shade garden one early evening, spent from the unusual intensity of the day’s heat, it was the ferns with their cool elegance that brought me a… Read More
The Mystery of the Pink Hat
Greetings from Newport, hope your summer is going along swimmingly. If you are as fascinated as I am with mysteries, there’s one that has all of us in Newport stumped. It’s… Read More