Occasionally, I agree to open my gardens for private walking tours. Most of them are conducted in the spring and early summer. Yesterday, we welcomed a group from the Aperture Foundation and some of its dedicated supporters. Aperture is a multi-platform publisher and center for the photo community. Founded in 1952 as a not-for-profit arts institution, Aperture looks to connect photographers and their audiences with each other - in print, in person and online.
I was very happy to have these guests at my farm. And fortunately, I was able to guide the tour myself before leaving for another business trip in the early afternoon. We walked through my gardens and allées, stopped to see the pool and fruit orchard, and visited my horses, chickens and peafowl. Here are some photos - enjoy.
Most of our tours start at the front gate of my home. All the guests receive a map of the property and a short introduction and history about the farm and how it has evolved over the years. Here, I also asked everyone to introduce themselves – it always makes the tour much more personal.
The tour then walked through my glass greenhouse and attached head house and then out to the flower cutting garden – it’s so full of colorful blooms this time of year.
Everyone always loves touring this area – I always try to answer as many gardening questions as possible.
We all admired the dianthus with its beautiful pink and white fringed margins.
Also blooming this week – the poppies. Poppies produce open flowers that come in many colors from crimson red to purple, lavender and pale pink. Poppies require very little care, whether they are sown from seed or planted when young – they just need full sun and well-drained soil.
The roses are looking spectacular this year. I talked about the many, many varieties I have – many of which are heirlooms that we moved from Lily Pond, my home in East Hampton, to here a few years ago.
This is called lady’s mantle. Lady’s mantle, Alchemilla vulgaris, is an attractive perennial plant. Its soft gray-green foliage is semi-round with scalloped-shaped leaves. In late spring and early summer, the plant produces lovely chartreuse blooms. I have lady’s mantle lining the main footpaths of the cutting garden.
I guided the group through the Pin Oak Allee, Quercus palustris, which looks fuller every week with its distinguishable lower, middle and upper branches – such a lovely stand of trees.
Another stop was the Party Lawn. On the left is my long clematis pergola, and on the right, the weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula. I love these weeping hornbeams – the branches of these trees gracefully weep creating an umbrella of foliage that reaches the ground.
We paused for a moment to look up into the trees – we could all hear the pollinating bees above. It was such a wonderful sound.
I walked the tour into the pool area where we saw my newly pruned purple columnar beech trees, Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck Purple’ – a splendid tree with deep-purple foliage that holds its color all season. Columnar beech trees reach 40 to 50 feet in height and only 10-feet wide which makes them perfect for tight spaces and interesting hedges.
Just beyond the pool is an allee of columnar beech trees which extends into the fruit orchard.
We just planted this fruit orchard in May of last year, and there are already many, many fruits growing. I told the group how rich our soil is and how we work hard to create our own nutrient-filled compost so all the plantings thrive.
We planted a variety of apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach, pear and quince trees in this paddock.
And here is just one of the apple trees bursting with young fruits.
During the warmer months, I love to display tropical plants around the farm. In front of our stable offices are Bismarkia palms, Bismarckia nobilis, which grow from solitary trunks, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base.
Behind the stable, I showed everyone the many, many trees I am nurturing in containers before they are planted around the farm and in the woodland. We originally got these trees as bare-root cuttings and they’ve already grown quite a bit.
This enclosure used to be home to my peafowl, but now it houses my homing pigeons – about 30 to 40 gorgeous and rare birds I adopted from artist and pigeon expert, Duke Riley. The pigeons love their coop and yard.
My Black Shoulder Pied peacocks and their hen were out strolling nearby. My peafowl are all very curious – this male loves to walk, perch up high and watch the activity around the farm, especially by the stable.
We visited my baby Sebastopol gosslings. the Sebastopol goose originated in southeastern Europe, and is named after the Russian city. These goslings will weigh 12 to 14 pounds each when mature, and have long, soft-quilled frizzled feathers.
The garden behind my Summer House is always a favorite stop on the tour. This garden will soon be blooming with color. The large ginkgo tree in the back looked as majestic as ever in all its foliage.
I also plant boxwood in stone urns and place them on the Summer House garden terrace. These urns are emptied and covered during winter and then replanted every spring.
My longtime housekeeper, Laura, set up some refreshments on the lower terrace parterre outside my Winter House kitchen. I always like to offer guests some tasty treats at the end of our tours.
Here, Laura is pouring some cool pomegranate juice made using concentrate from our friends at POM Wonderful. http://www.pomwonderful.com/
The cookies are always made fresh in our test kitchen the day before by one of our test chefs at the New York office.
Of course, everyone loves seeing the doggies. Here are my Chow Chows, baby Emperor Han and his sister, Empress Qin. They came out for a brief visit and then went back into the house where it was much cooler and more comfortable for them.
Walking back toward the gate, the tour group saw my beautiful clematis growing under the pergola. Clematis is a genus of about 300-species. They are mostly vigorous, woody, climbing vines. They need at least six hours of sun a day, and should be planted in well-drained soil.
These plants are valued for their ability to climb, and to scramble up walls, fences and other structures. I have a variety of clematis in shades of white, purple and blue.
All the guests love my meandering clematis pergola – it was a nice ending to a pleasant early summer walk. Thanks for visiting my gardens, Aperture. You can follow Aperture on Instagram @aperturefnd.
I love entertaining outdoors, especially when it’s for a good cause.
Last weekend, at the East Hampton, New York home of my friends and neighbors, Lisa and James Cohen, I co-hosted a lovely party for a group of more than 500-supporters of the Hetrick-Martin Institute, the nation’s oldest and largest LGBTQ youth service organization. James and Lisa have opened their home for the annual HMI “School’s Out” benefit for several years, but this year, aside from a wonderful outdoor sit-down dinner, they added an art and design auction to the evening gathering. I was so happy to take part in this fun and successful event.
Enjoy these photos.
As co-hosts, Kevin and I were asked to design the table decor. We chose a simple palette of green and gray to accent the long white tables. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
As you know, Kevin and I are both fond of faux bois and chose to fill these faux bois planters with various ferns, alocacias and succulents.
Plants lined the center of each dinner table. It looked so elegant along with the votives, green goblets and white table settings. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
Here is a lovely snapshot of our hosts, James and Lisa Cohen, in front of their beautiful home. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
The cocktail party and sit-down dinner were held outside on the lawn. This is the fourth year that Lisa and James have hosted HMI’s annual Hamptons event.
The gathering is a huge team effort. The names of everyone who co-hosted the dinner and who contribute their time to the HMI Institute were displayed for all the guests to see. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
Hanging above the tables were sculptural steel chandeliers by artisans at the Hubbardton Forge workshop in Vermont. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
Simple place cards directed all the guests to their seats.
Here is one of the small succulents potted in a faux bois container. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
My friend and longtime publicist, Susan Magrino, also attended the event with her husband, James Dunning Jr. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
Here is a photo of HMI’s CEO, Thomas Krever, Lisa, and dinner co-hosts including Tracy Anderson. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
The event also included an art and design auction featuring donated pieces of art. Here are two of the auction pieces by Stephanie Hirsch and Federico de Francesco. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
Some of the artwork also included painted ceramics. The auction was managed by Natasha Schlesinger of ArtMuse. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
And here is a long table displaying more donated art – it was great to see so many submissions. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
The guests were very energetic and enjoyed the auction – it was a great success. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
Lisa said a few words welcoming everyone to her home. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
Thomas also addressed the group and thanked everyone for their participation. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
The menu was filled with fresh, local produce including farm stand crudité, roasted diablo chicken, grilled tilefish over ratatouille, Gigli pasta and macarons, cookies and fruit for dessert – all donated by Lulu Kitchen and Bar in Sag Harbor, New York.
Here I am with Kevin and Lisa. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
Here’s a fun photo of Jim and Kevin.
The beautiful tent created a lovely dining atmosphere – everyone had such a great time. (Photo by Carl Timpone/BFA.com)
As many of you know, my work schedule is very busy - lots of media appearances, special events, and book signings, but it’s always a treat when my travels take me to nearby East Hampton, New York.
Last weekend, Kevin Sharkey and I conducted a book signing at BookHampton, a quaint, popular and longtime book shop located on Main Street, right in the village of East Hampton. It was a joy to sign books for many of my neighbors and friends in the area. I also hosted a cocktail party at the ERES boutique to preview the store’s summer collection. And of course, I spent time at Lily Pond, my East Hampton home. The gardens are looking spectacular this time of year - so full of color and life.
Here are some photos - enjoy.
This picture was taken early in the morning – the best time to take garden photos. The circle and round turn at the end of the driveway are planted with pink saucer magnolias, and many ferns. The green is so bold next to the light colored gravel.
The rounded trees are parrotia persica, or Persian ironwood. Native of northern Iran, its leaves turn a rich purple to brilliant red. Its bark has a flaking, peeling nature, giving the tree a colorful and unusual appearance. I planted four of these Parrotia persica trees and they have grown magnificently over the years.
Looking at another section of the garden are the full perennial beds filled with ageratum, delphinium, salvia, lavender, and bordered with lady’s mantle.
In this garden, I planted Japanese maples, aruncus, solomon seals, boxwoods, ferns and hostas – they’re looking so beautiful and full.
The Japanese maples have done very well – I expect they will thrive for years to come.
Here is another view of the garden path and these shade loving plants.
The double row of hornbeams on either side of the old brick walkway appear so much taller every time I visit.
This garden surrounds a Ginkgo biloba tree. Luckily, all the Ginkgo trees I planted 25-years ago in East Hampton were male, so they do not drop all the billions of berries that the giant Bedford tree does. I planted this garden with red Japanese maples, hostas, ferns, and more boxwood.
The swimming pool in the backyard at Lily Pond is adorned with aqua glazed strawberry pots which are planted with many different succulents, colocasia and rhapsis, the broadleaf “Lady Palm”. The tall shrubs are European hornbeam. The smaller shrubs are boxwood.
And here – young, white clematis fill the trellis gate with cheerful white blooms.
These blooms are so big and showy. They have such bright white petals that curve gently at the tips with sunny yellow anthers.
Later that morning, we headed to town. It was nice to see so many guests already lined up in front of BookHampton when we arrived.
BookHampton is open year-round and often features fun, lively events with interesting authors.
Inside, there were stacks of “Martha’s Flowers” for guests to purchase.
Kevin and I signed dozens and dozens of books. As a longtime resident, I always enjoy doing events in East Hampton.
Here are some very happy “Martha’s Flowers” owners.
And as always, I try to take as many photos as possible with guests who attend our signings.
Here are Lindsey Groginski, from our own public relations team, and Eryn Voight, who does public relations for Clarkson Potter.
Here, Kevin and I are joined by local radio personality, “Big Fat Joey”, Joe Palmisano, and his family.
And here I am with our security officer – he also loves flowers, and I was so happy to personally sign a book for him.
Before leaving Kevin and I posed for this fun snapshot with the BookHampton staff. Store manager, Jess Bartel, and the entire team were so nice and helpful.
Later that day, I hosted a cocktail party at ERES to celebrate the boutique’s newest collections. Here I am with owner, Lorna Dreher, and some of our guests. Everyone, of course, loved seeing my dogs, 11-week old puppy, Emperor Han, Creme Brulee and Empress Qin. Bete Noire was also there getting lots of attention. It was a great day in East Hampton.
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