Every year, I try to spend a wonderful week or two - give or take - at my beautiful refuge in Seal Harbor, Maine. This year, the weather was fantastic, and I enjoyed many boat rides with friends, hikes through Acadia National Park, and a special birthday celebration at Skylands with my family.
Here are more photos from my time in Maine - enjoy.
During my first full week at Skylands, we took several rides aboard my Hinckley picnic boat, Skylands II.
I love going out on my boat – it offers the best way to see the beautiful sights and wildlife of Maine.
This sunset view is so breathtaking.
I also hosted the COA President’s Circle Dinner – a paella party for patrons of the College of the Atlantic. I love playing Scrabble® and this is my Scrabble® board, which is always set-up in my Living Hall. On the day of the party, I spelled out a nice message to COA President, Darron Collins and all the guests.
We set up up several tables of seven and eight to accommodate the group – about 60 in all. Each table was draped with a gray table cloth and then a chartreuse faux bois table cloth on top.
We used my drabware plates and adorned each table with faux bois planters filled with hostas from Surry Gardens. Flameless candles in Bedford gray from my collection at QVC surrounded each centerpiece planting. After the event, all the hostas are planted in the gardens.
More lilies decorated the inside of my home.
And all the potted tropicals looked their best outside.
My friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin of PS Tailored Events, cooked paella. Paella requires attentive care. Here he is adding more ingredients before stirring. This 36-inch pan is perfect for feeding this large group, and the round grill ensures even heating during the cooking process.
Here is the delicious paella all done. Everyone loved it and came back for seconds – some even thirds. We always use a version of my paella recipe which was printed in our magazine “Living” in April 1999. https://www.marthastewart.com/1050096/seafood-paella
My terrace overlooking Seal Harbor is such a nice venue for these gatherings. During the reception, I stopped to personally welcome everyone to my home and to thank our guests for supporting the College of the Atlantic.
The next day, we drove past this beautiful view looking towards Schooner Head Sand Beach on the left.
We also visited the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden. The garden was designed by the legendary landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand, for John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller in the 1920s. https://www.rockgardenmaine.com
The garden is enclosed by this high pink stucco wall. The wall is capped with orange tiles that were imported from China.
The Garden was designed as a classic English garden bed – it is so well-maintained. I gave the gardening team a dozen of my extra-large garden totes from my collection at QVC – they love them.
I call this the “slit” – I just love how the moss covers the area.
The Garden contains many Asian structures and statuary. These are called the Garden Spirits.
Set within acres of beautiful moss-carpeted woods, the Garden is designed to be at its peak this time of year.
I just love seeing all the different statues.
And all the different rock formations. I try to visit the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden whenever I am in Maine.
Later in the afternoon, a group of us stopped at Havana in Bar Harbor. Here I am with Kevin, Clinton, Joe, Terre, and Heather.
Remember Chef Sarah Glover from Tasmania? She stopped for a visit during her Northeast Tour. We enjoyed a walking tour around Skylands with the dogs and then had a delicious dinner of fresh mussels, sorrel soup, and raspberry sorbet – all from Maine, including my garden.
Here I am with Sarah in front of her motor coach. She did the trip with THOR Industries and used their THOR Motor Coach Four Winds 28Z RV – she had a wonderful time in the United States.
On my birthday, August 3rd, I enjoyed a celebratory breakfast with scrambled egg in an eggshell, prepared by PIerre.
Here is a closeup of my birthday egg breakfast beautifully presented on a bed of fragrant lilies.
That morning, we also went on a hike to Hunter’s Beach – a secluded cobblestone beach nestled in a small cove a short distance from Bar Harbor. The beach is only 100-yards long, but great for playing on the rocks.
The children love coming to this small area – it is so private and so peaceful.
Little Hunter’s Beach is on the southeast side of Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park – southeast of Otter Cliff and Otter Cove. The shore is covered with unique rounded rocks that make interesting sounds when the surf comes in and then pulls the rocks over each other like a huge pile of granite marbles.
Here’s a view from Hunter’s Beach looking out.
We saw some beautiful sailboat racing in the Harbor. Many boats are International One Design, also know as IOD, sloops.
There were many boats – my grandchildren, who are taking sailing lessons and love to sail. enjoyed watching the boats race.
Every year for my birthday, the children make me a fun handmade birthday card. Here is the front of the card.
And here is the back – everyone’s names and well wishes were handwritten in blue and purple.
And here is my gorgeous birthday cake made by my talented daughter, Alexis. It is an ice cream cake covered with freshly whipped cream. The flavors inside are dark cherry ice cream, pistachio ice cream and dark chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks, and a layer of meringue. It was divine. It was a glorious birthday dinner with my family. Stay tuned for more photos from Maine in tomorrow’s blog!
Whenever I go to Skylands, my home in Seal Harbor, Maine, the days are always filled with lots of great activities - hiking, boating, climbing, antiquing, and touring local gardens are often on my list. I also love spending time with my family and good friends while preparing and sharing some of the best meals of the season.
This summer was especially memorable. I hosted and enjoyed numerous gatherings - large receptions as well as smaller, more casual breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. The flowers from my gardens were abundant and extraordinary, and with the vegetable gardens in Bedford and at Skylands producing so much bounty, our meals were sensational - we all ate and ate and ate so many delicious foods.
This is the first of several blogs I will share featuring some of the highlights of this summer in Maine - enjoy.
The Living Hall at Skylands is always used during summer months. This grand faux-bois cement table is where I like to display large flower arrangements. About 100-stems of lilies were used for this arrangement made by Kevin. The lilies are from my garden at Bedford. We planted more than 1500 white lilies of various types and transported some by truck to Skylands.
Gorgeous arrangements don’t always have to be giant in size – these lily arrangements work perfectly on this table in my living room.
These beautiful and bold green houseplants are in my faux wicker trough planters from my collection at QVC. They come in two sizes – 20-inches and 16-inches long. https://qvc.co/2kJwXFn
Here are some of the lovely lily flowers from my long pergola at Bedford. When arranging cut lilies, handle them with care – they can bruise easily.
And don’t forget, all lilies have heavily pollinated stamens which stain, so as soon as the flower opens, it’s important to gently pull the anthers with a tissue, or pinch them off with gloved fingers.
I’ve had this old cactus for quite some time. It lives in my living hall. Recently, I gave the tops a good pruning – it had grown so tall and unruly. I think it looks much better now.
During summer, we also fill several garden planters with moss and other natural elements. Once the season is over, we always make sure the moss we harvested is returned to the forest where it can regenerate and flourish.
This was one of our first salads at Skylands. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans – everything comes straight from my garden.
And of course, the adults also have delicious cocktails – these glasses are topped with Himalayan pink salt and black salt for margaritas.
Through the trees is a beautiful summer view of Seal Harbor. Maine is so magical this time of year.
On this day, I hosted a gathering for the Bar Harbor Garden Club in celebration of its 85th Anniversary. I gave 60-guests a tour of Skylands and then we all enjoyed refreshments on my terrace.
We made fresh cookies early that morning – sugar cookies, chocolate cookies, chocolate chip cookies and one of my favorites – ne plus ultra cookies. These cookies are dense with chocolate chips, raisins, pecans, and more.
One of my favorite traditions is coming to Skylands in spring and filling the large planters on my terrace with beautiful specimens. My greenhouse at Skylands cannot accommodate the large plants, so many of them are wintered over at my Bedford farm and then loaded onto a trailer to Maine for the summer months. They thrive on this terrace all season long.
Just up these steps from the main terrace is my West Terrace, where I often serve refreshments under the kiwi vine-covered pergola. The planters on the ledge are the ones I planted last May – everything has grown so beautifully.
I hang ferns on the West Terrace every year. These ferns, Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’, are among the most popular with their frilly leaves and long, hanging fronds.
My guests from the Bar Harbor Garden Club were also served refreshing pomegranate iced tea and blueberry scones.
And lots and lots of fresh fruit – there’s nothing better than fruit on a warm summer’s day.
Many made their own shortcakes with cookies, whipped cream, strawberries, and peaches.
This is an Alocasia planted in a faux bois pot and paired with Lysimachia. I love the large leaves of Alocasia, also known as elephant ear.
Here are true lilies growing outside this leaded window, with a variety of hostas below. Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs and all with large, prominent flowers.
Here is a closeup of one of the colorful lily blooms.
Some lilies can be quite tall – some grow in height up to six feet.
Here is my big trough planted with many succulents. I bought this massive stone trough at Trade Secrets in 2013. It looks so beautiful here on the Maine terrace.
And here is one of my planters from above. I love this view looking down.
And of course, on one of the landings off the West Terrace, reclining in the foliage, is the lady – La Riviere by Aristide Maillol.
My flower cutting garden and my vegetable garden are located in the same area. This bed is filled with white snapdragons, Antirrhinum majus – native to parts of China and the US. Its name comes from the pinch-able blossoms that open and close like the mouths of friendly dragons.
Everything is very well maintained and weeded – it is so pleasant to cut from this garden. We use lightweight fencing secured with stakes to support the developing stems so plants don’t flop over.
This is one of my favorite trees on the right – a giant spruce. The view of Seal Harbor is from the far end of the terrace looking out towards the Cranberry Islands.
The group loved taking photos of my 1958 Edsel – a two-door six-passenger station wagon called a Roundup – only 963 were produced.
Here I am with some of the members of the Bar Harbor Garden Club – it was a perfect morning for a garden tour. Happy 85th Anniversary. On my next blog – more photos from Maine, including my birthday celebration!
My calendar is always filled with events and speaking engagements.
Last weekend, I made a quick visit to the picturesque foothills of Litchfield County, Connecticut to speak at The Garden Study Weekend IX Symposium hosted by Hollister House Garden Inc. and The Garden Conservancy. I was one of several who participated in a series called “Garden Visions”. During my presentation, I talked about the lessons I learned as a child while tending my family’s garden with my father. I shared my thoughts on garden design, planting, and sustainability. And I presented a collection of photos from my own gardens - at Turkey Hill, my previous home in Westport, Connecticut, at Skylands in Maine, at Lily Pond in East Hampton, and of course, at my farm in Bedford. Following the symposium, I toured the beautifully manicured English inspired Hollister House Garden and then drove back to New York for a delicious dinner with friends. It was a busy, but very interesting and funfilled day.
Enjoy these photos.
The sold-out Symposium was held at the Heritage Hotel in Southbury, Connecticut. Here I am with the horticulturalist of Chanticleer’s Gravel Garden Lisa Roper, George Schoellkopf the owner of Hollister House Garden, and head gardener at Sissinghurst Castle, Troy Scott Smith.
My presentation was entitled “My Life in Four Gardens.” I talked about the gardens in Bedford, East Hampton, Maine and at my previous Connecticut home, Turkey Hill. I am always very proud to talk about how I learned to garden from my father – I learned so much from him.
I told everyone how much I love to work in my gardens and greenhouses whenever I am home. I explained that I pay lots of attention to the soil quality and constantly try to amend and improve it every season.
This is a photo of my orchard and pool at my Bedford, New York farm. I talked about how I developed the property piece by piece, but that it is still a huge work in progress.
I listened to other presentations – this one by David Culp, author and garden designer on “Making Meadows.”
And Troy gave a presentation on “Re-vita-lising Vita” – focusing on Sissinghurt Castle’s Vita Sackville West’s garden. Everyone gave such wonderful and informative speeches – I took copious notes on all the presentations.
After the symposium, we all gathered at Hollister House Garden in Washington, Connecticut for cocktails and a preview buying session for a plant sale event. The garden is located on the southeastern side of this 18th-century house. (Photo courtesy of Hollister House Garden)
The entire property is on 25-beautifully manicured acres. This area is called the Double Border. (Photo courtesy of Hollister House Garden)
Many hedges around the garden separate the various spaces and “rooms”. This is the “Indian Walk”. (Photo courtesy of Hollister House Garden)
Here is Stephen Orr who moderated the Symposium. You may remember, Stephen used to work for me as garden editorial director for our magazine, Living”. He is now the Editor-in-Chief of “Better Homes and Gardens”. He and Troy stopped for this quick photo in the gardens. (Photo courtesy of Hollister House Garden)
And here I am with George and David Culp.
Later that evening, we drove back to New York for dinner at the home of my friend, lighting designer Christopher Spitzmiller, called Clove Brook Farm. A private garden tour of Clove Brook Farm is being offered through The Garden Conservancy September 21st. Go to the web site for more information. https://bit.ly/2ZFQh4W
Christopher hosts an intimate birthday dinner party every year. Here I am with Christopher’s mom, Amy Mayfield, and their friend, Patrice Masri.
Here I am with my friends Clare Potter and Memrie Lewis. You can follow both of them in Instagram @clarepotterny and @memrielewis.
JuneBug, as she is known, prepared many of the dishes for the dinner. Here she is putting the final touches on a celeriac remoulade with grilled zucchini and little French balls of zucchini. Her Instagram handle is @brushandwhisk.
The meal was displayed as a buffet – everything looked so delicious. Christopher sells beautiful pottery – platters, giant bowls and plates. https://shop.christopherspitzmiller.com/products/hand-marbled-dinner-plate
In this photo – my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, JuneBug and Christopher’s boyfriend, Anthony Bellomo.
This is the radicchio salad made by Anthony. It was inspired by the radicchio salad made at Flora Bar New York.
This kale salad was made using greens from Christopher’s garden. Christopher also made the delicious dressing to go with it.
This is JuneBug’s confetti corn salad.
JuneBug made a platter of meatloaf with pickles on a fluffy bed of watercress and arugula. The meatloaf was oven roasted with red, yellow and orange tomatoes – a big hit.
And here’s a platter of halved lobster rolls sprinkled with chives.
And don’t forget the birthday cake. There was a chocolate peanut butter cake, a Heath Bar chocolate cake made by Christopher’s mom, and a key lime pie.
It was a great dinner and wonderful time with friends. Here I am with Memrie, JuneBug, and the birthday celebrant, Christopher.
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