The gardens at my Bedford, New York farm are always so lush and green this time of year.
Here in the northeast, June is among the best times to walk through gardens and to see the beautiful trees, and the late spring and early summer flowers that are bursting with color. Over the last few months at home, I've been able to spend more time working in my gardens - watering the beds, grooming and pruning various young trees, mowing the expansive lawns, and weeding, weeding, weeding. There is so much to do every day, but the rewards of a well-tended garden are worth all the effort.
Enjoy these photos.
The Pin Oak Allee, Quercus palustris, looks fuller every week with its distinguishable lower, middle and upper branches – such a lovely stand of trees. This allee is one of the first I planted when I moved to this farm and it has done so very well over the years.
Here is a view looking up from the Pin Oak Allee.
Near the great Pin Oak Allee is the soccer field, or the Party Lawn – a great space for playing games and a favorite spot of my grandson, Truman, who loves playing soccer here when he visits. On the right, the weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula.
This is my large orchard planted with more than 200 trees – apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach, pear, and quince trees. It’s only a few years old, but already it’s produced so many delicious fruits.
The pool is open. During this time, it hasn’t had much use yet, but I am looking forward to safe and enjoyable gatherings soon.
Surrounding the pool and inside the fence is this gorgeous hedge of purple columnar beech trees, Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck Purple’ – a splendid tree with deep-purple foliage that holds its color all season.
If you follow this blog regularly, you probably know what these are. Do you? These are called staddle stones. Antique structures originally used in the 17th and 18th centuries as support bases for granaries, hayricks, and game larders. They typically looked like giant stone mushrooms, but mine are square – a more rare and unique version. And “planted” at one end of the pool, they look as if they’ve always been there.
At one end of the Boxwood Allee is this beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.
This is a newer allee of linden trees, Tilia. Linden can grow from about 65 to 130 feet in height. It develops dense, pyramidal, or round-shaped, crowns and can live several hundred years. My first Linden Tree Allee is located near the stable along two sides of a carriage road leading to my stable barn and chicken coops.
We’re doing a lot of mowing at the farm. Here’s Pete mowing the paddock in front of my Winter House in the distance. He is using the ZD1211-60 zero turn riding mower. It has a 24.8 horsepower diesel engine and a wider mower deck than older models. It gets a lot of use this time of year.
The Boxwood Allee separates the north and south paddocks. At the end are two horse-chestnut trees – deciduous trees with dark green, coarse-textured foliage. The multitude of pink to bright scarlet blooms are eye-catching.
Here’s Phurba working hard in the vegetable garden. Our crops are growing nicely. In this area are the brassicas – a genus of plants in the mustard family. Members are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, or mustard plants. They are also sometimes called cole crops. And in the foreground, one of my Multipurpose Gardening Totes available on my shop at Amazon. The crew loves these bags for collecting grass clippings and all the pulled weeds. So roomy, light and so, so durable, these bags are must-haves in the home and yard.
The garden behind my Summer House is always a favorite stop for visiting friends. The boxwood looks very lush and green. The lilies are not blooming here yet, but at the back of the garden is a handsome row of beautiful white allium.
The garden bed just outside my Winter House and carport is filled with bold green foliage and white flowers beneath two tall weeping katsura trees.
Among the plantings are two viburnums – one at each corner. They are filled with long, spreading branches and pure white blooms.
Nearby, lots of lush green hostas.
And these classic bleeding hearts – white heart-shaped flowers. Their tall stems emerge and produce dangling clusters of white blossoms in spring.
Here on the Terrace Parterre are the boxwood and barberry. The colors add a dramatic touch to the terrace. The big pot is one of two huge cast iron sugar kettles I keep as fire pits at the farm.
Behind my carport and my apple espaliers are these blooming ‘Miss Kim’ Korean lilac standards. This upright, compact lilac blooms later than others, extending the season with deep purple buds that reveal clusters of highly fragrant, lavender flowers.
Here is a closer look at the flowers. The ‘Miss Kim’ Lilac is one of the most fragrant of all Lilac bushes.
And of course, the beautiful alliums – I have so many alliums along the clematis pergola. Allium species are herbaceous perennials with flowers produced on scapes. They grow from solitary or clustered bulbs. This pergola goes through several transformations throughout the year, and every one is a show stopper.
Across from my winding pergola is the row of bald cypress, Taxodium distichum – a deciduous conifer native to swampy areas of southern North America.
The flower cutting garden is flourishing. Right now, there are so many irises, columbines, and lupines in full bloom. Lupines come in lovely shades of pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and even red. Lupines also make great companion plants, increasing the soil nitrogen for vegetables and other plants nearby.
And here’s a peek at the herbaceous peony bed just beginning to glisten with bright pink and white blooms – we see more and more opening every day. I’ll share photos of this garden when it’s in full bloom. I hope you are able to enjoy your gardens during this challenging time.
Early June is such an exciting time at the farm because so much is growing and blooming, especially in my flower garden.
The perennial flower cutting garden is located just outside my main greenhouse at the foot of my long clematis pergola. Every season, I add a number of flowering plants to this collection. And this year, it is bursting with vibrant colors. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, and I spend a lot of time caring for this garden - placing and planting each specimen. I am so proud of how well it has developed.
Here are some recent photos, enjoy. And be sure to look at more on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.
This garden is among the first ones seen when visiting my farm. It is several years old now and has developed more and more every year. I wanted the plants to be mixed, so every bed in this garden would be interesting and colorful.
Earlier this season, I decided to use up some of the black granite bricks I bought years ago that were never used. They look great edging the main footpaths now topped with gravel. It has completely transformed this space.
The lupines are in such abundance this year. Lupinus, commonly known as lupin or lupine, is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. The genus includes more than 200 species. It’s always great to see the tall spikes of lupines blooming. Lupines come in lovely shades of pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and even red.
Lupines are attractive and spiky, reaching one to four feet in height. Lupine flowers may be annual and last only for a season or perennial, returning for a few years in the same spot in which they were planted. The lupine plant grows from a long taproot and loves full sun.
Look at them exploding with rich colors.
The flowers are produced in dense or open whorls on an erect spike, each flower about one to two centimeters long. The pea-like flowers have an upper standard, or banner, two lateral wings, and two lower petals fused into a keel.
I grow many alliums here at the farm and they continue to bloom so beautifully. These easy-to-grow bulbs come in a broad palette of colors, heights, bloom times, and flower forms. They make excellent cut flowers for fresh or dried bouquets. What’s more, alliums are relatively resistant to deer, voles, chipmunks, and rabbits.
Alliums will grow in most soil types as long as it is well-drained. Alliums adore sunlight and will perform best when they can bask in it all day long. Since most of them multiply naturally, they can be left untouched in the same area for years.
And many of you will recognize the chives. Chives is the common name of Allium schoenoprasum, an edible species of the Allium genus. Chives are a commonly used herb and can be found in many home gardens.
Oriental poppy blossoms, Papaver orientale, last only a week or two, but during that time, they provide one of the high points of the gardening season with its bold colors – these in bright red.
The flowers appear to be fashioned of crepe paper and can be more than six-inches across on stems up to three feet in height.
I also have Iceland poppies in shades of orange, yellow, and white. They come in more than 80 varieties. The flowers also attract birds, butterflies, and bees.
Anyone who visits this garden admires the bearded irises. These flowers get their common name from their blooms, which consist of upright petals called “standards,” pendant petals called “falls,” and fuzzy, caterpillar-like “beards” that rest atop the falls.
Bearded irises need full sun, good drainage, lots of space, and quality soil. They come in just about every flower color, both solids, and bi-colors. Branched flower stalks range in height from eight-inch miniatures to 48-inch giants – and all make excellent cut flowers.
This bearded iris is a deep shade of burgundy.
And, Iris × hollandica, commonly known as the Dutch iris, is a hybrid iris developed from species native to Spain and North Africa. Dutch irises grow well in zones 4 to 9, and they reach heights as tall as two feet.
Here is a columbine in rich, dark purple. The bonnet-like flowers come in single hues and bi-colored in shades of white, pink, crimson, yellow, purple and blue.
Johnny Jump Ups are a popular viola. They are native to Spain and the Pyrennes Mountains and are easy to grow. Small plants produce dainty, fragrant blooms – some in deep purple and yellow.
Geum, commonly called avens, is a genus of about 50 species of rhizomatous perennial herbaceous plants in the rose family, widespread across Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa, and New Zealand. They produce flowers on wiry stalks, in shades of orange, white, red, and yellow. Geum is a relative of the strawberry. Its bright and showy, cup-shaped flowers appear in late spring.
Lady’s mantle, Alchemilla vulgaris, grows along both sides of the path of my cutting garden. It is a clumping perennial which typically forms a mound of long-stalked, circular, scallop-edge light green leaves, with tiny, star-shaped, chartreuse flowers.
Flowers open every day in this garden and we continue to plant more and more flowering plants here. I will share photos as new blossoms appear. What flowers are blooming in your garden? I would love to hear from you.
My colorful and melodious red factor canaries are thriving, and this time of year I always have several beautiful babies to watch and enjoy.
I have a couple dozen or so of these canaries that live with me inside my Winter House. I also have a pair of charming Combassou finches. They all live happily in a very large wooden cage I designed after a 1900 French antique that was originally used to house doves or quails. It sits at one end of my airy and light-filled enclosed porch, where I often sit and work while they fill the room with song.
Enjoy these photos.
Every morning, the birds are given a fresh buffet of seeds, leafy greens, and fruits. Seed blends are designed to support the birds’ seasonal needs with a wide range of micronutrients for resting, breeding, and molting seasons. The greens are always freshly picked from my gardens.
The corn cob litter on the floor of the cage is changed daily, so the birds are always in a fresh, clean environment.
My canaries love this location in my home – they can see so much from the big floor to ceiling windows and doors. I also keep classical music on for them every day. The branches are also changed often. Canaries do not need special toys like some other birds, but they do need strong perches with multiple branches.
Here is one of the youngest canaries in the flock. It is one of four youngsters that hatched this season. All the babies are already flying around the cage.
I love the coloring on this youngster. This baby canary is still growing its feathers.
Red factor canaries were developed in the early 1900s by crossing a Venezuelan Black-Hooded Red Siskin with a yellow canary. In order to maintain their rich red plumage, red factors must be fed foods rich in beta-carotene, or a supplement of half pure beta-carotene and half pure canthaxanthin.
A canary’s metabolism is very fast, so it’s important to be observant of their eating needs and habits. I love trying different seeds and seed blends to see which ones they like best.
The canaries are generally good-natured and social creatures. Healthy canaries will always have clear, bright eyes, clean, smooth feathers, and curious, active dispositions.
This is one of two Combassou finches I added to my flock earlier this year. They were gifted to me by my friend, Ari Katz, who is a very knowledgeable and passionate young avian enthusiast. These small, friendly finches are native to South Africa.
The finches get along very well with all the canaries. Combassou finches are members of the Whydah family of birds. My male canaries are singing louder than ever – one is singing just behind the finch in this photo.
This canary hen is sitting in one of the nests high up in the cage – a great viewing spot.
The bold colors of these red factor canaries can range in shades of light peach to apricot to orange to red.
The red factor canary, Serinus canaria domestica, is one of the most popular canary breeds. They are prized for their color rather than their song, but they are also very happy singers.
These birds are quite active and are constantly flying from perch to perch, level to level.
I find these birds to be so photogenic no matter what they’re doing.
In general, canaries don’t like lots of handling, but my canaries are used to all the activity around them, so they are never scared when visitors approach.
When hatched, canaries are pale yellow-peach or orange. As they grow, they develop more red coloring from the beta carotene in their foods.
If you choose to keep canaries, be sure to get the largest cage your budget allows, so they have ample room to exercise, spread their wings, and perch on different levels and surfaces.
This baby is eager to see what else may come into the cage.
The canaries and finches currently reside in this cage – one of two black ones on my expansive porch. It is always such a joy to come down every morning to hear their chirping and singing.
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