Today, the Newport Flower Show opens officially at Rosecliff! The three days in this idyllic oceanside setting are a much-anticipated event on the summer calendar… June 20th to 22nd, 2025.

As a next door neighbor, Parterre has seemingly been at the center of the activities for years, which means houseguests, garden tours, a luncheon, a tea party…and cut specimen entries in the show. That last one is what motivates us to get our gardens in spiffy shape…but this year was a real challenge. A very windy winter, no snow, a cold, extended spring, and lots of rain. But we can always count on roses! Though we never know which one will decide to step up and strut. Well, this year it was ‘Falstaff’, whose color I love so much…a deep, Merlot red with a brilliant presence and multiple petals. For years it has covered the Cutting Garden wall;

so pleased was I with its bountiful blooms that I planted one bush on the west-facing side of the Orangerie…so it receives luscious filtered afternoon light from the setting sun (don’t you love the way the delicate Japanese Painted Ferns like to self seed along one side of the Orangerie’s base, but not the other)?

Since the Orangerie is the centerpiece of the garden, the ‘Falstaff’ display is on a direct axis with the gates to the first garden. Time to show off!

And speaking of…I can’t miss sharing these colorful blooms that were also standouts in the last week or so. Japanese Iris stepped up as never before, both in their celebrated electric blue as well as pristine white.

Then there’s the always question mark…what to put in the four Versailles Boxes in the Fountain Garden (the first garden guests enter) !? YEAH, this year we’re parting with the pears and trying gardenias. Such a sublime scene… and imagine that aroma wafting through the windows of the sun room (we just need a bit more sun to hurry those blooms along).

Our traditional “showoff” is the 80′ rose chain in the back courtyard, encircling a majestic weeping beech. This yummy shade of apricot-peach is a David Austin favorite named ‘Crown Princess Margaretha,’ which has also won some ribbons at the Newport Flower Show!

I couldn’t close without an image of how these fave roses are sometimes used at dinner parties…creating a centerpiece of ‘Falstaff’ (and the first rose I fell in love with, ‘Abraham Darby’) clustered in Parterre frosted “go cups” for guests to take home.

Hope to see you at the Newport Flower Show, June 20-22, 2025.