Spring is always a wonderful time for a garden tour.
Every now and then, I agree to open my gardens for a small number of private walking tours. Last week, I gave the first one of the season. It was for a group of business colleagues and retail partners. I walked them through various gardens, groves, and allées. I spoke about the history of my farm and the many changes I've made over the years. And, I taught them all about the many plants and trees we saw along the way. Remember my saying, "learn something new every day."
Here are some photos, enjoy.
The group started with a walk through my main greenhouse, out through the flower garden and then a stop at my Pin Oak Allée. A recognizable trait of the pin oak is that its lower branches hang down. It also has horizontal middle branches and upright upper branches forming a most interesting growth habit.
In my perennial flower garden, we saw some beautiful spring blooms. This is one of many irises. Iris is a genus of almost 300-species of flowering plants with showy flowers. The blooms consist of upright petals called “standards,” pendant petals called “falls,” and fuzzy, caterpillar-like “beards” that rest atop the falls.
The columbine plant, Aquilegia, is an easy-to-grow perennial that blooms in a variety of colors during spring. With soft-mounding scalloped leaves and delicate blossoms nodding on flower stems, columbine is ideal for borders, cottage gardens or naturalizing wooded areas. This columbine is a rich, dark purple.
Nearby is my Soccer Field, which is adjacent to the pergola. It is looking so lush and green. On one side are six weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula. When my grandchildren come up to visit, my grandson, Truman, loves to play soccer here – it’s one of his favorite spots at the farm.
The group admired my stand of bald cypress trees along this carriage road. Taxodium distichum is a deciduous conifer. Though it’s native to swampy areas, the bald cypress is also able to withstand dry, sunny weather and is hardy in USDA climate zones 5 through 10. I told the group I have four miles of carriage road that meander around my homes, my gardens, my pastures, and through the expansive woodland. They are 12-feet wide and covered with native washed stone.
This is a beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.
I pointed out the old corn crib, with Its unique “keystone” shape, flaring from bottom to top and more pronounced from the front and back sides – a design used to shed water. Corn cribs are also often raised to keep vermin away and to prevent moisture from the soil.
Another interesting stop is my Basket House, where I store my basket collection. I have hundreds of baskets – some are rare and antique, some are vintage, and some are more contemporary. Guests also took a quick peak inside.
The pergola garden was hard to miss with all its beauty. The purple alliums are so prominent right now. Allium species are herbaceous perennials with flowers produced on scapes. They grow from solitary or clustered bulbs.
Up the road, the group saw the apple espaliers and these blooming “Miss Kim” Korean lilac standards. This upright, compact lilac blooms later than others, extending the season with clusters of highly fragrant, lavender flowers.
I spoke about my weeping katsura just outside my Winter House kitchen. It is one of three around my home.
My herbaceous peony bed is just coming to life with the bold green foliage and all the many buds waiting to open. My herbaceous peony collection includes 11-double rows of peonies, and 22 different varieties of peony plants – two varieties in each row. It will bloom in less than two weeks.
These tall and striking sugar maple trees, Acer saccharum, are located at one corner of my farm – just outside my Summer House and its formal sunken garden. These maples are covered with climbing hydrangea, and beneath them is one of my favorite gardens this time of year… the tree peony garden.
There are very few plants that can compete with a tree peony in full bloom. They flower from late April through early May, but the season often varies from year to year. The pink varieties are more fragrant than others. This one has slightly ruffled petals with a gold center.
Tree peonies come in colors that include all ranges of white, yellow, pink, magenta, and dark maroon.
Across the carriage road are my old pink azaleas that are flowering with gorgeous deep pink color. My azalea collection starts in a lightly wooded area where they get lots of filtered sunlight throughout the day. I extended the garden down the carriage road and planted more than 400-azaleas.
The smaller, younger azaleas are looking more beautiful every year. Azaleas are generally healthy, easy to grow plants. Some azaleas bloom as early as March, but most bloom in April and May with blossoms lasting several weeks.
Azalea petal shapes range from narrow to triangular to overlapping rounded petals. They can also be flat, wavy, or ruffled.
And then we headed down to the stable to see my horses and these horse chestnut trees. They always grab everyone’s attention. Aesculus hippocastanum is a large deciduous tree also known as conker tree. All the horse chestnuts are blooming so profusely right now.
The blossoms appear on erect, eight-inch long panicles at each branch tip – they’re very attractive, and very accessible to bees and hummingbirds.
Here’s a view of them from my Boxwood Allée. It was the perfect prelude to a very productive and interesting business meeting.
Sometimes, getting out of the office and enjoying a business meeting and a delicious spring meal at my farm... is a very good thing.
Yesterday, I hosted a delightful luncheon at my home for a group of business colleagues and associates. My friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin from PS Tailored Events, and I, collaborated on a delicious menu for 16-guests that included chopped salad, a variety of baked breads, green and white asparagus, spinach pie, buttermilk fried chicken, and chicken wings with saffron. For dessert, we had strawberry shortcakes with homemade biscuits and whipped cream. It was a delicious meal and a most inspiring and productive discussion.
Enjoy these photos and be sure to see my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 to see more.
I enjoy hosting business gatherings at my farm where guests can have comfortable and inspiring meetings away from the corporate environment.
Originally I planned to serve lunch outdoors, but this day was very cloudy and weather forecasts warned of showers, so it was too risky. I set my long table inside the Brown Room instead and it looked perfect.
As an added surprise for the group, I set a different place setting for each guest – for interest, for ideas, and for fun.
Potted plants from my greenhouse lined the center of the table.
In my kitchen, serving platters, bowls and other necessary utensils are laid out. This can be done at any time to ensure the right pieces are pulled for the right foods. It also saves any rush for items when it comes time to serving.
By mid-morning, cooking is already underway in my outdoor kitchen and flower room. Here is one of three spinach pies coming out of the oven.
The biscuits for dessert are made and set aside.
Do you recognize these flatbreads? I chose to serve bread baskets similar to those at The Bedford by Martha Stewart, my restaurant in Las Vegas. These are so thin and crispy, made with vegetables and herbs.
Other breads such as these charming spiral rolls are also baked for the event.
This is buttermilk fried chicken, cooked to perfection.
I developed this recipe years ago – saffron chicken wings.
I also served asparagus stalks in green and white. They are always so delicious. I like to peel the bottoms of the asparagus stalks before blanching.
The buffet is set up with two large baskets of gorgeous homemade breads including slices of herb baguettes from MARTHA: THE COOKBOOK.
The spinach pie is decorated with one allium flowerhead from the garden.
The asparagus is also decorated with Nasturtium leaves. Nasturtium leaves are completely edible and have a slightly peppery and sour taste.
The green asparagus is dressed with radishes and radish greens.
This is a rendition of my daughter Alexis’s Chopped Salad – also found in my 100th book, MARTHA: THE COOKBOOK. It includes at least 10 different vegetables, depending on what is available, and a light dressing of rice vinegar and olive oil.
The fried chicken is plated with greens…
… and served with three sauce options – ketchup, barbecue sauce, and Green Goddess.
And here are my saffron chicken wings – also very flavorful and delicious.
At most of my luncheons, I serve this pomegranate juice made with pomegranate concentrate, lemon, and slices of fresh citrus. I love the pomegranate juice from our friends at POM Wonderful.
My plate full – a little of everything.
And then the dessert – strawberry shortcakes with the freshest sliced fruits and homemade biscuits, and topped with homemade whipped cream and a sprig of mint. It was a lovely meal and meeting of the minds…
There's no better place to find gardening ideas and inspirations than at a botanical garden, especially the New York Botanical Garden - a national historic landmark and major educational institution.
If you haven't yet been to the NYBG, I encourage you to visit. There’s always something beautiful to see - right now, its perennial plants collection, herbaceous peonies, and many of its mature trees, shrubs, and hedges are lush with spring growth. The gardening season is just beginning - stop by and get inspired.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This is the magnificent Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, where many of the indoor plant exhibitions are held. As the nation’s largest Victorian glasshouse, it is among the grandest indoor spaces in the world.
Originally constructed in 1902, the steel and glass Conservatory includes a 90-foot tall domed Palm Gallery and 10 attached glasshouse galleries.
Just outside the Conservatory is a perennial garden featuring a series of themed areas of plants, planted in pots and in the ground. It is a blend of perennials, grasses, bulbs, shrubs, and trees that flower through the year.
This is a variegated yellow-twig dogwood, Cornus sercea ‘Silver and Gold’ – a dogwood variety that is grown for its bold variegated foliage and its yellow winter stems.
If you’re looking for interesting grasses, this is a golden-variegated Hakone grass, Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola.’ Ornamental grasses require little maintenance. It thrives best in a location with partial shade and moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter.
This is a beautybush, Kolkwitzia amabilis ‘Pink Cloud’ in full bloom. This tree is a member of the honeysuckle family and boasts clusters of bell-shaped, pink flowers with yellow throats in mid-spring.
Recognize this perennial? I have these plants growing at my farm. It’s Heuchera, also known as coral bells. This variety is ‘Midnight Rose” with dark purple to almost black leaves and pink spots that change color in summer.
Blooming now is the Siberian iris. This is Iris sibirica ‘Christmas Wish.’ These dainty irises with their smaller, beardless flowers are easy-to-grow and drought-tolerant.
Here is one of the NYBG’s well-manicured parterres. A parterre is an area usually seen with boxwood hedging surrounding perennials, herbs, and other flowers.
Potted up on a wall of an edible garden are these charming Johnny Jump-Ups – small, sweet, whimsical flowers that come in shades of yellow, purple, and white. It’s also known as Wild Pansy, Heart’s Ease, or Viola tricolor. And yes, these flowers can be eaten.
Here’s my head gardener kneeling next to a hedge of Lily of the valley, Convallaria majalis – a wild flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers. It is native to cool regions of Europe, North America, and Asia.
It’s peony time! Visiting the NYBG now, one will see the row of beautiful, sweet-smelling herbaceous peonies. Even after several days of rain, these blooms are still so eye-catching.
These peonies are called ‘Pink Kisses.’ They are smaller, deep pink flowers that grow abundantly with about two or three buds per stem. The blooms grow up to 26-inches tall and are quite fragrant.
This light pink Chinese peony is ‘Pink Venus.’ It is a semi-double peony in soft cameo pink. It’s blooms grow up to six-and-a-half inches wide with red tipped stigmas and good stem strength.
Paeonia ‘Coral Charm’ has huge bowl shaped flowers with bold coral color. The color lightens to a pale cream deeper into the bloom.
And Paeonia ‘Festiva Maxima’ is a double, white peony with edges accented with crimson. This variety is a longtime favorite for growers – it originated in France in 1851.
Peony ‘ Chiffon Clouds’ is a very soft salmon color with ruffled petals. It grows to 36-inches in height with good stem strength, fragrance, and reliable foliage.
Paeonia ‘Kevin’ has large, double pink blooms that show lighter pink in the center. It makes an excellent cut flower.
This peony variety is called ‘Buckeye Belle.’ It’s a semi-double, velvety, dark red flower held on sturdy stems.
And this is ‘Burma Joy’ – soft red blossoms that are single and tulip-cupped shaped that grow to a height of up to 28-inches. If you’re in the New York City area this weekend, go to the New York Botanical Garden -there’s so much to see, enjoy, and learn.
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