Nothing says Summer like a cutting garden! Here at Parterre where green reigns supreme…cool, always in good taste, soothing to the eye, and supportive of the design tenets of a formal garden…the cutting garden is an elixir, a place where I can play out my wildest floral fantasies (though I don’t want to overstate). Deep blue delphiniums, red merlot roses, indigo purple clematis, chartreuse feverfew, the technicolor scope of zinnias…and the dahlias that don’t give up until frost. Contained by a 27 year old pear espalier on the east, a dense yew hedge on the north, and wooden lattice trellising on the west side, the intent was a creative use of offerings to encompass this “garden room.” A petit parterre centers the Cutting Garden, on a direct axis with the four-tier pear espalier. It is here where many, many rose bushes enjoy a cozy nest of beauty.

   Shooting for the sky! The appropriately named ‘Deelish’ rose anchors the entrance to the Cutting Garden, twining within the lattice.

  The delicious ‘Sunshine Dream,’ its cream color enriched by a warm yellow cast…and many buds!

   Always a Blue Ribbon winner at the Newport Flower Show…clematis ‘Durandii.’ Can you believe this shade of purple?!

  And I’ve become besotted with pink, as only roses can capture it…’Boscobel’…which then became part of a table centerpiece in a “meant to be moment.”

   A madeira-embroidered organdy cloth from my wedding trousseau many years ago (which had been hiding amongst other cloths in my linen closet)…so perfect for a Flower Show luncheon for New Orleans friends.

And then there are the little details that change from day to day. Aaah, the joy of capturing them to share, each of these images offering a peek at what Newport means to me in the Summer…like the pair of old stone planters that, given all our rain, have suddenly developed a coating of moss.

Towering European little leaf lindens in the Woodland Garden (entered through the small opening carved out of the yew hedge) provide a dramatice contrast to the otherwise full sun areas of the property.

Looking out from the Woodland Garden entrance, capturing three of the four structures that comprise Parterre.

New gardener, new arrangement for the four niches in the Orangerie (above); we cogitated for quite awhile about the paint color for the iron urn and wooden base…very happy with it!

Such a summer scene, with just enough moss between the cobblestones.

Many guests have passed through these gates this summer…and many more will follow…

Closing with a small Fourth of July dinner (and enjoying a refreshing alternative color scheme to red, white, and blue).

Wherever you may be, here’s wishing you the many pleasures of summer!