As expected my “Oops! in the Garden” post garnered many comments… and the sharing of similar woes and challenges. Thank you all!

But that post also prompted me to consider the very good decisions that have been made in the 25 years since we moved into our new home… starting with choosing to build rather than buy. Yikes! We’d heard such horror stories about building that we swore we never would. But the majestic trees on these three acres won us over- the stately little-leafed European lindens, rare Turkish oaks, two ancient ginkgos, a treasured tulip poplar, and of course the Newport beeches (seen in the fog).

So I ask, can there be a better way to celebrate Parterre’s 25th anniversary than elaborating on ten decisions that have brought us such pleasure upon reflection? The focus is on the grounds (but if you wish to see the interior, click here).

A French home would traditionally have a straight driveway coming off the street directly to the front door… but that would have required cutting down a tall beech only a few feet away from the site of the new house.

What a wonderful option was ironically presented to us… a winding drive that provides views of the parklike setting created by the glorious trees- a drive that ends in a formal courtyard with a circle around the beech.

As with everything in Newport, each decision has a STORY…My husband Jonathan’s decision to surprise me with a Christmas gift the year we broke ground provided the garden with a centerpiece…a folly/greenhouse with a copper roof surmounted by glass panels that open!

And not just a “pretty face”, the Orangerie serves dutifully 12 months of the year… opening the garden in the spring/closing it in late fall; winter storage of pots and benches, and glorious entertaining space in the summer.

The 4 matched ‘Hally Jolivette’ cherry trees that grace the parterres in front of the Orangerie. When I called my favorite tree source in RI for advice, he said “well, I ordered this rare cherry, and they came in as standards, not trees. What a coincidence, they would be perfect for the 4 beds.” Every early April we anticipate this scrumptious scene especially since nothing else is in bloom (except daffodils).

The 6 wooden garden boxes, charming takes on Versailles originals, but scaled to the house. Just one of the many reasons we loved our carpenter, there was nothing he couldnt do! What a statement and singular aesthetic they bring to the first garden you enter.

While I bemoaned the deer problems in the “Oops!” post, I will always be grateful that I was inspired to dress up the back courtyard with an 80′ rose chain that all but encircles a striking weeping beech!

Speaking of roses and a timely decision… the west-facing side of the cutting garden deserved a new “fence” which I had put off for years and years. Then I saw a friend’s lattice work on her rooftop garden; a call was made to David Valcovic in East Templeton, MA at Trellis Structures. That was 2018; as covid reared its head in 2020, we had signed a contract and approved the design. Had this transpired two years later, with prices going sky high and supply chain issues stalling any and all projects, this trellis would not exist. I think about this every time I drive into the back courtyard…thank goodness for this timing!

When we designed the gardens in 1999, we wisely decided to keep the first stage (the formal spaces) a manageable size (if that’s possible). Whew, what a life saver! But in the past few years, we’ve become serious about the wooded half acre that had been left for stage 2 or 3. Perhaps it was because we’d been forced into a proactive state as storms have downed the trees and destroyed efforts at recovering this space. It well deserves this attention as it is the only woodland on Bellevue Avenue!

Sometimes decisions don’t have to be big– even a small one that packs a wallop deserves to be mentioned here. The side door, which enters into the mud room, opens off the back courtyard. Inspired by some French gardens, I started this little tableau with clustered pots of globe holly in different sizes. Within that group is a dear, mini ginkgo (‘Merikan’) in its own bed of European ginger. An old wooden bench, clematis climbing up the stucco wall and a potted Japanese maple finish this now more inviting space.

For sentimental reasons, I’ve saved this decision for the close… my Parterre Bench. Designed in 2007 to celebrate the publication of my first book, Private Newport, it was a testimony to holding onto a dream… in this case a bench that I had seen 35 years earlier in an Irish garden. The Parterre Bench has its own bower and was never meant to leave it (figuratively).

But after a few appearances on Instagram and in magazines, on a lark I decided to accept my friends’ insistence that I make the bench available for sale. For nine years, from Pebble Beach to Palm Beach, she was the belle of the gardens…but she is now retired. We celebrated with a colorful fete! Any excuse for a party…

So happy you could join me on this trip down memory lane; I might not have considered these “good decisions” had it not been for you! And hope you’ll join me for the next 25 years at Parterre. Enjoy the rest of August…