This past Sunday, a group of colleagues and friends accompanied me to the event in the picturesque town of Lakeville, Connecticut. The philanthropic sale draws growers, dealers, and artisans together to sell unusual plants, garden antiques, and other unique outdoor objects. Trade Secrets was developed by interior designer Bunny Williams in the year 2000 when she conducted the very first sale to downsize her collection of plants in her greenhouse. It was a success from the very beginning and is now the principal fundraiser for Project SAGE, a non-profit domestic violence agency serving Northwest Connecticut and the surrounding communities in New York and Massachusetts.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I always like to get to Trade Secrets bright and early. I leave my farm promptly at 5:45am and always pull in to the parking lot shortly after 7am. Vendors and event coordinators already have everything in place.
Trade Secrets is held at Lime Rock Park, a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury. The views on this day were gorgeous.
50-vendors from around the northeast region set-up under tents on the Lime Rock grounds. It is all very well-organized with lots of room for vendors and all the visitors.
Trade Secrets is a wonderful place to learn about interesting and unique plants. Vendors are extremely well-informed and willing to answer questions or offer tips.
Peony’s Envy of Bernardsville, New Jersey sets up their tent every year at Trade Secrets – most if not all their peonies always get sold.
Some vendors specialize in outdoor garden ornaments and planters.
There were items big and small. Do you know what these are? These are flower frogs. They are used to hold flower stems in place within a vase or container.
This table was full of charming potted plants and topiaries.
My longtime driver Andres also enjoyed perusing the different booths.
These are 1930s Francois Carre Frensh Art Deco garden chairs. They are actually very comfortable.
Oblong Books of Rhinebeck, New York and Millerton, New York had my two latest books for sale – my Gardening Handbook and The Martha Way: Essential Principles for Mastering Home and Living. I hope you have your copies!
Here I am with antiques dealer, Judy Milne. Judy has a shop called At Home Antiques and Design in Kingston, New York. She carries folk art, furniture, decorative accessories and garden antiques.
One can always find interesting planting containers of all sizes and shapes at Trade Secrets.
There were even chicken coop nesting and laying boxes.
I was eyeing these planters on the ground. What do you think?
Training stems blends plant care with creative shaping to achieve this decorative and artistic look.
Allium schoenoprasum, also known as chives, the small bulbous perennial herbs with that mild onion flavor topped with showy purple flowers.
Trade Secrets has so many beautiful plant specimens from which to choose. This is called Krylova’s Monkshood, Aconitum kryloovii.
This is Cyripedium ‘Sabine Alba’ – a rare and beautiful orchid hybrid with very large egg-sized white to cream pouches.
I have many of these plants in my shade gardens. This is Syneilesis aconitifolia, the Shredded Umbrella Plant.
And I know you recognize the hosta. My hosta garden is coming in so beautifully this season – I’ll share photos soon.
I always find something to bring home from Trade Secrets. All the plants are always unloaded right away and given a good drink of water.
And yes, I brought these planters home also! It was another successful Trade Secrets event. Will I see you there next year?
Time to bring all my beautiful potted plants outdoors for the season.
I have a rather sizable collection of tropical specimens at my farm. During the winter, they are all stored in special greenhouses. Once the warm weather arrives, they are all brought out for display - some go to my home in Maine, and the remainder of the plants are placed in various locations here at Cantitoe Corners. It's a big undertaking to move all these plants when the weather changes. Thankfully, I have the help of a strong outdoor grounds crew and some heavy-duty farm equipment to get the job done.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Every year around this time, the tropical plants are taken out of storage, cleaned up, and repotted if needed, and then moved to their warm-weather locations. This year, my citrus collection is displayed outside the hoop houses on a bed of gravel. Citrus plants are considered high-light specimens and need intense, full-spectrum light, ideally 12–16 hours per day.
Each potted plant is transported one by one and carefully placed outside until I decide where it will be moved for the summer months.
This is one of my favorites – the sago palm, Cycas revoluta. It is a popular houseplant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. Sago palms prefer to be situated in well-drained soil, and like other cycad plants, do not respond well to overwatering.
Below the foliage of the sago palm is the bare section of trunk where leaves were once cut. The rough trunk becomes leafless as it ages.
Here is a closer look at one of the fronds. The tips are quite pointy and sharp, so it’s best to keep it away from lots of foot traffic.
I have a very large collection of sago palms. As the plants are removed from the hoop house, they’re all grouped by type, but never touching.
Sago palms can grow up to 10 feet tall and can spread up to 12 feet wide, depending on species, growing conditions, and whether they are planted in the ground or in containers. This one is maturing so perfectly.
This is a Bismarkia palm, Bismarckia nobilis, which grows from a solitary trunk, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base.
I chose this spot for two potted Bismarckias, where they will thrive under full sun. For optimal growth and flowering, Bismarckias need full to partial sunlight, with at least six to eight hours of direct sun daily outdoors.
Here are potted bird’s nest ferns. Bird’s-nest fern is a common name for several related species of epiphytic ferns in the genus Asplenium.
The bird’s nest fern is known for its tropical fronds that grow out of a rosette in the middle of the plant which closely resembles a bird’s nest. It is also occasionally called a crow’s nest fern.
Here is a green colocasia. In contrast to Alocasia, the leaf tip of colocasia points downwards.
This is Oxalis triangularis, commonly called false shamrock. It is a species of perennial plant in the family Oxalidaceae. The trifoliate leaves resemble a shamrock and can be green to variegated to deep maroon in color. The leaves close up at night or when disturbed.
Another plant in my tropical collection is Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai – a species of evergreen tropical herbaceous plant with gray-green leaves that grow up to 18-inches long out of a main crown in a clump. The leaves are paddle shaped, similar to banana plant leaves, and attached to a long, upright stalk.
The foliage of philodendrons is usually green but may be coppery, red, or purplish with parallel leaf veins that are green or sometimes red or white.
Shape, size, and texture of the leaves vary considerably, depending on species and maturity of the plant. I have many philodendrons that are growing so well here at my farm.
This day was very warm, 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so Ryan gave everything a thorough drink.
Down in my stable complex courtyard, Pasang positions bricks for this large potted sago.
Four of these in like pots will sit here for the season. They look so inviting and beautiful seen in front of my stable from my Boxwood Allée.
Here is another one – moving slowly and carefully to its designated spot. Notice, my crew uses strong straps to keep the pot in place, and moving blankets to cushion it during transport.
It is so nice to see my potted tropical plants again after the long cold winter. There are so many more to take outdoors. I am so fortunate to be able to store all these plants when needed, and then enjoy them all around my farm from now until the fall.
I love beautiful urns filled with lush, green plants.
Now that it's spring, many of my ornamental pots are taken out of storage and filled with beautiful plants and small trees for display around the farm. I try to use different specimens every year. Behind my Summer House, I decided to plant four handsome vessels with dwarf river birch trees, Betula nigra 'Little King.' These trees will remain on the terrace until they are moved to more permanent locations in the fall.
Enjoy thee photos.
I have four of these dwarf river birch trees from nearby Hardscrabble Farms, located in Westchester County, New York, a family owned and operated wholesale dealer that specializes in native species, ornamental conifers, evergreens, and perennials.
The leaves of Betula nigra ‘Little King’ are leathery, diamond-shaped, and medium to dark green in summer, becoming a rich dark green before the fall.
But what’s really striking on this tree is the ornamental exfoliating bark. It peels away in layers exposing different colors from salmon pink to reddish brown, and textures.
A birch is removed from its plastic pot. This is the root ball, or the dense, mass of a tree’s roots and the surrounding soil. A healthy root ball is essential for the tree’s stability, nutrient absorption, and transplantation.
Phurba scarifies the sides and trims the bottom slightly. Scarifying a root ball is a pruning technique used to encourage root growth outward into the surrounding soil. I do this with all my plants and trees.
Phurba also scarifies the bottom of the existing root ball.
Meanwhile, the pot is filled about a third with potting mix and fertilizer.
I use Miracle-Gro Organic Outdoor Potting Mix. This potting mix also contains nutrients and feeds for up to two months.
And for these trees, I use Miracle-Gro Shake ‘n Feed Extended Boost for season long feeding.
The tree is placed into the pot – it fits perfectly. When planting a tree in a decorative container or in the ground, the key is to match the planting depth to how deep it grew in its original pot — and to keep the root collar, which is where the trunk meets the roots, level with or slightly above the surrounding soil.
Here, Phurba also looks to see that the trunk of the tree is straight from all sides and makes adjustments where needed.
Matthew backfills the container and adds a bit more food. These trees will be well-fed for the entire season.
The containers are from Lunaform. Lunaform is a pottery studio in West Sullivan, Maine where they create extraordinary garden planters and urns. This is the Asticou planter, a reproduction of a vessel once made by Eric Soderholtz in the early 1900s. I have a collection of both Lunaform and Soderholtz planters.
Dwarf birch trees typically range from two to four feet tall, but this variety, ‘Little King,’ can grow from five to 10 feet tall at maturity.
After planting, Matt uses this battery powered handheld blower from STIHL to clean around the pots and blow away any dirt and soil left on the terrace. This blower is less noisy and perfect for around my homes.
Matthew removes any tags before giving the trees a good watering.
Out in the garden, the ginkgo biloba trees are leafing out beautifully. The ginkgo biloba is one of the most distinct and beautiful of all deciduous trees. It has a cone-like shape when young, and becomes irregularly rounded as it ages.
The focal point is the great old ginkgo tree at the back of the space that is original to the property.
In the garden beds, the Leucojum vernum, or spring snowflakes, are still looking beautiful. This flower is a perennial plant that grows between six to 10 inches in height. The plant produces green, linear leaves and white, bell-shaped flowers with a green edge and green dots.
And so many of the tree peonies are blooming. Tree peonies are larger, woody relatives of the common herbaceous peony, growing up to five feet wide and tall. They are highly prized for the prolific blooms.
It’s so nice to see all the gardens come to life this time of year. We’re all still very busy around the farm, planting, mulching, and grooming, but everything is looking spectacular.
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