Parterre’s Madcap Cutting Garden
As summer 2020 ends (Yikes! it’s already September 3), I find myself bemused and a bit befuddled by the bounty of the Cutting Garden. For as orderly and manicured as… Read More
Design
The Orangerie at Parterre
For both sentimental reasons (it was a surprise Christmas gift from my husband) and aesthetic reasons (it is in the middle of the garden), the Orangerie plays an outsize role… Read More
Celebrating Summer Al Fresco
Discovering these brightly colored and small decorated umbrellas has given me countless opportunities to brighten up my al fresco summer activities (Etsy Indian parasols). Amusing as well, they are accented… Read More
Parterre’s Signature Garden Images
This “staycation” (quarantining as I prefer to call it) over the past five months provided the opportunity to capture in images many details of our Parterre garden that I would… Read More
Hydrangeas in the Newport Landscape
As of July 4th, summer is in full swing in our City by the Sea, and just like clockwork, an iconic flowering shrub, the hydrangea, comes into bloom. This presents… Read More
Parterre’s Green and White Garden
While it is the Fountain Garden that receives the most attention on posts, there is another somewhat hidden garden at Parterre that deserves its own attention, the Green and White… Read More
Designing with Roses
Surprisingly, a rose garden was not in the plans for landscaping our 3 acres at Parterre twenty-two years ago. My dear friend, and “garden whisperer,” announced that they were too… Read More
Parterre’s Rose Chain
Patience is a virtue that every gardener has learned to accept. Those dreams and visions we have that inspire design decisions, plant selections, and tree placements may take years to… Read More
Ode to the Peony
Invariably, when I ask friends their favorite flower, whether they are gardeners or not, the answer is always peonies. And, yesterday at a small lunch party, my male friend on… Read More
Please Don’t Ask Which One I Love More
Long before we decided to build our home, I had an obsession with proper proportion and scale in architecture. And, as an extension of that, the accessories and garden furniture… Read More