A Life of Its Own: Musings on the Parterre Bench
It’s been an exciting past three summer months — not only for me but for the Parterre Bench as well. After her formal introduction following the Newport Flower Show in… Read More
Behind the Private Gates
Ode to the Autumn Clematis
Vivacious… embracing…enveloping…a bit free with her favors…and goes by the honeyed name, Sweet Autumn Clematis. Am I describing a lady of questionable behavior or a trailing vine that appears with… Read More
A Late Summer Vegetable Garden
It’s been busy around my good friend Alice Ross’ abode this summer — she’s bottling honey from her bee hives, delivering Olive’s four Havanese-mix puppies, growing vegetables in the midst… Read More
Planted Containers: Horticultural Delights for an August Garden
It’s about this time of the summer that planters are “strutting their stuff,” full and bounteous with mature horticultural offerings. From breathtaking and dramatic (repeating the planting around the gates… Read More
In the Garden: Designing with Stone
In 2002 I photographed this garden for my first book, Private Newport: At Home and in the Garden. I remember making a mental note to check in on it over… Read More
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
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