There are always so many beautiful antique and vintage planters to see at The Tropics, Inc. in Hollywood, California - it's definitely become one of my favorite stops whenever I am in the Los Angeles area.
During a recent business trip, I paid a visit to Ron Horziencik, CEO and President of the 20,000 square foot gallery. You may have seen the post on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48. Ryan and his team offer plants and accessories for both residential and corporate use, real estate staging, and television and film projects. I always find something interesting and inspiring whenever I walk through the space.
Here are some photos from my latest visit, enjoy. And if you're in the area and want to browse The Tropics, Inc. nursery, please call and make an appointment.
I always add The Tropics, Inc. to my list of must-see places whenever I travel to Los Angeles. It’s a trove of beautiful items. Ryan’s father, Ronald J. Hroziencik, started the business selling junk at a swap meet with his college roommate. Occasionally, they would have plants to sell, and customers loved them. Now, it’s a successful establishment with a large inventory of unique and beautiful plants, containers, and more.
Ryan has a variety of planters for sale inside and out – in all different sizes, forms, and materials. Here is an assortment of vintage vessels inside the showroom.
Some of his interesting pieces are planted. This is a Sanseveria “Featherwood” Forest in a low iron ceramic disk planter.
Here is an Abromeitiella brevifolia mound in a vintage French faux bois planter. Abromeitiella plants are mat-forming succulents with spined leaves arranged in numerous rosettes. They grow slowly and sometimes form cushion-shaped colonies. In their natural environment, they almost never get water, and have developed the capacity to absorb water from the humidity in the air.
In another area are these specimen sculptural aged Aloidendron dichotomum, formerly Aloe dichotoma, the quiver tree or kokerboom – a tall, branching species of succulent plant, indigenous to Africa, specifically in the Northern Cape region of South Africa, and parts of Southern Namibia.
This is a vintage Willy Guhl planter. Willy Guhl was a pioneering Swiss furniture designer and one of the first industrial designers in Switzerland. He designed a wide range of objects and furnishings, from chairs to door handles, church pews, and vases. He is probably best known for his chairs, especially the Loop Chair. In 1951, the Swiss company Eternit commissioned Guhl—along with his students at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich—to create a line of attractive and durable planters for use indoors or out. These planters were made using concrete. This Willy Guhl tulip planter is resting on a vintage French faux bois table with chair.
Here is a miniature Tylecodon bonsai in a low vintage French concrete bowl planter. Tylecodon butter tree is a robust succulent shrub with a caudiciform trunk and usually well-branched.
Perhaps some of you recognize this – I have several at my Bedford, New York farm. It is a giant vintage steel sugar kettle. Sugar kettles were used on 19th century Louisiana plantations for the production of sugar. Sugar cane was placed in the large, spherical vessels and cooked down to make syrup. Because they could withstand such high heat, they were also used for cooking. They also make instant and effective fire pits and can be used as planters.
As many of you know, I am a big fan of faux bois planters and always spot them wherever I go. Faux bois is from the French meaning “false wood” and refers to the artistic imitation of wood or wood grains in a variety of mediums. It was probably first crafted with concrete using an iron armature by garden craftsmen in France called “rocailleurs” using common iron materials such as rods, barrel bands, and even chicken wire. This large vintage French faux bois planter has handles and the original patina.
This is an aged Ficus nuda bonsai “forest” in a vintage steel disk planter. Ficus is one of the most popular trees for indoor bonsai. It is an excellent grower and needs little care.
Here’s another vintage French faux bois planter.
And in this corner, a smaller vintage faux bois planter on a faux bois stand. In Mexico and Texas, this style is sometimes known as “el trabajo rústico” meaning the rustic work.
And yet another vintage French faux bois planter – I admired them all.
In the back, I spotted several assorted vintage Willy Guhl planters.
This is a vintage French concrete garden table with a wooden base.
This vintage French faux bois planter is rectangular – they can be found in all shapes and sizes.
Here is a pair of rare Willy Guhl geometric planters – mid-century abstract triangular vessels made from eternite, a durable and lightweight fiber cement.
Here’s a vintage French faux bois branching planter.
And a vintage Betty Cobonpue basket planter. Betty Cobonpue is a Philippines-based designer. She describes her design sensibility with a simple mantra: “No hard edges.” This piece is very smooth all the way around.
This is a vintage French concrete planter with encrusted seashells.
And perfect for the holidays – a vintage French concrete deer sculpture. The Tropics, Inc. is a one-of-a-kind botanical gallery full of amazing and interesting pieces. If you are ever in the Hollywood area, please visit.
I always enjoy eating out, especially when it's with dear friends celebrating special occasions.
Every year around this time, I always host a "Sagittarian" lunch - a fun meal with several close colleagues and friends who all have one thing in common... a birthday in December. This annual tradition happened earlier this week at Le Pavillon, Chef Daniel Boulud's exquisite culinary oasis located in the heart of midtown Manhattan at the famous One Vanderbilt skyscraper. The setting of Le Pavillon Daniel Bould is an 11-thousand square foot space featuring cathedral ceilings and lush greenery with views of the city's bustling Grand Central Terminal. Attendees included Jane Heller, Susan Magrino, Kevin Sharkey, Darcy Miller Nussbaum, Judy Morris, and myself - the group's lone Leo. It was a wonderful lunch and a gathering.
Enjoy these photos.
Here we are with Executive Chef Daniel Boulud – it was so nice to see him and to have him recommend some of his favorite dishes. If you’re ever in New York City and want to treat yourself to a delicious meal, please consider Le Pavillon. It focuses on seasonal menus, seafood, and the freshest locally sourced ingredients.
Darcy Miller Nussbaum, who worked with me as Editorial Director of Martha Stewart Weddings for many years, is now a celebrations expert and entrepreneur. She brought everyone a bottle of champagne tagged with her creative illustrations of each of us. This is mine. Follow Darcy on Instagram @darcymiller.
Here is Jane Heller’s gift bottle. You remember Jane – she is my friend and banker.
Judy Morris has worked for me on my television shows and special projects for 30-years. Here is her bottle and illustration. Her Instagram handle is @judy.morris.3.
Here’s Kevin’s bottle. You know Kevin, my friend and our own EVP of Home at Marquee Brands. See lots of Kevin’s great photos on Instagram @seenbysharkey.
Susan Magrino is another good friend and my longtime publicist. Follow her on Instagram @SusanMagrino7. She was recently a guest on “The Martha Stewart Podcast.”
Peter Grant, who couldn’t attend the luncheon, is one of my longtime attorneys, but don’t worry, we’ll make sure he gets this fun birthday gift.
Right away, everyone admired Judy’s sweater – bedecked in fun sequence and button rosettes. It was designed by my neighbor, Andy Yu, and bought at the Village Winter Market in Bedford, New York – did you see my blog on the two-day event?
We all had a glass of Colcumbet champagne – some added Crème de Cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur, to make flavorful Kir Royale drinks.
Among the delicious dishes we enjoyed was this Oyster Vanderbilt made with
John’s river oyster from Maine poached in chowder fortified with potatoes, leeks, crème fraîche, and hazelnuts with a parsley-seaweed crust.
Here is a winter chicory and black truffle salad with Heermance Farm Salanova lettuce, Italian chicories, sourdough “friselle,” hazelnut gremolata, king trumpet mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, and black truffle vinaigrette.
This is a Vidalia onion tart, served with dandelion, époisses emulsion, and thyme.
Also on the menu – fresh saffron cured hamachi, artichokes, ají dulce peppers, and mint rice crisp.
Here’s a fun photo I took of Chef Daniel, Jane, and Kevin. During the lunch, we all realized that if one were to add up all the years I’ve known each one of these Sagittarius friends, it would come out to more than 140-years.
This is a duo of yellowfin tuna with fennel pollen, socca crisp, and tonnato sauce, an Italian tuna sauce.
This bucatini pasta is served with shrimp, cuttlefish, tomato, parsley, and guanciale.
And this is grilled black bass with bok choy, basil, and a chili vinaigrette.
For dessert – an assortment of cookies including sablé Breton, Chamonix, and bergamot-black currant.
I gifted each of my December birthday guests a stack of this year’s New York Times Top Best-Selling books. I think I need a stack for myself.
Each stack of books was given with this Birthday sentiment. Jane, Kevin, Susan, Darcy, Judy, and Peter – happy birthday and may you enjoy reading every single work! And be sure to follow Le Pavillon on Instagram @lepavillonnyc.
The season's "burlapping" project at my Bedford, New York farm continues at my long and winding pergola.
I've been covering my shrubs and hedges with burlap for many years to protect the branches from splaying and even breaking from the weight of the winter snow and ice. Every season, our wrapping methods change to accommodate the growing plants, but the process also gets easier and more streamlined. The entire project takes weeks to complete, but my outdoor grounds crew has already gotten a lot done - and just in time... winter officially begins in less than one week.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
The long and winding pergola located along the carriage road leading to my Winter House is about to go “under cover.”
This pergola goes through several transformations during the year. Here it is in April just as the first spring plants start coming up.
By late May and into June, the pergola is filled with Camassia and alliums in an eye-catching palette of purple and blue – just stunning.
In late July and into August, the colors turn bright orange with all the hundreds of brightly spotted tiger lilies.
And here is the pergola in November after the boxwood hedge was pruned and groomed. We planted more than 300 boxwood shrubs here in 2017. They were grown from small cuttings and nurtured in one area of my vegetable garden for about three years before getting transplanted.
And now the hedge is covered every year along with all the other tender boxwood hedges and shrubs around the property. Domi begins to build the frame on top of the hedge. The frames are built at least several inches above the plants so even the heaviest snow doesn’t weigh the burlap down and crush the foliage.
These wooden stakes are placed in between every three of the boxwood shrubs.
And the horizontal piping is screwed to the vertical stakes along the entire length of the pergola.
Because the burlap covers are custom fit for each hedge and shrub, every burlap cover is labeled, so it can be reused in the same exact location the following season.
Here, Domi unrolls the the piece of burlap saved from the previous season. When storing burlap, be sure to keep it in a dry place. Because it is an all-natural fabric, it will disintegrate in moisture.
The entire piece is lined up next to the boxwood before it is draped over the frame.
Domi checks that the center of the burlap cover is positioned properly over the boxwood.
After the burlap cover is in place, Domi and Pasang pull it taut over the small stake hammered into the ground every two to three feet at the base of these specimens.
Then the burlap is sandwiched and secured with a small wooden strip which is screwed to the wood in the back.
The strips are four to six inches long – just long enough to accommodate two or three screws that will keep the burlap secure. These are also reused year after year.
Here is Pasang covering and securing the burlap at the end of the row.
Here is one side all done – it looks great. Any snow that falls will just slide off the burlap cover.
The larger boxwood shrubs are also enveloped in burlap.
Phurba sews the openings closed, so the entire shrub is protected. Every member of the crew has their own embroidery needle for “burlapping” – they’re all pretty good sewers also.
These five-inch long needles have large eyes and bent tips.
To sew the burlap, we use jute twine. It is all natural and the same color as the burlap.
Our burlap covers last up to three seasons depending on the weather, but remember, these boxwood specimens also grow a little more every year, so the covers and frames have to be adjusted each time.
When we use new burlap, the fabric is measured, cut and sewn perfectly to fit the rows and plants.
And the pergola was covered just in time – we had the first snow of the season last weekend. We only got a couple inches of light, white powder, but it was nice to know my pergola boxwood is safely tucked under these protective coverings.
Here is another image. Any snow that falls over the burlap shrouds never touches the boxwood.
The “burlapped” plantings take on a whole new look here at the farm. This boxwood is now ready for the winter weather ahead.
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