In order to keep my farm and its gardens, allées, and groves as beautiful as possible, I pay lots of attention to the maintenance and care of all my trees and shrubs.
In 2019, I decided to plant an allée along the carriage road through the lower hayfields. I planted a selection of London plane trees and about 100 royal purple smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria. Over the years these trees have thrived with the smoke bushes growing about 24 inches each year. This week they were pruned and groomed and they look excellent.
Enjoy these photos.
So much can happen in a year’s time. The smoke bushes all around the farm have grown so much because of careful and consistent care.
I planted this particular allée in the fall of 2019. I thought this area of the middle hayfield was a perfect stretch of landscape for a long allée of London planes and smoke bushes. Here it is that first year.
I wanted the allée to extend the entire portion of the road that cuts through the hayfields. By the summer of 2021, it looked like this. These smoke bushes can grow up to 15-feet tall and 10-feet wide. I love its upright, multi-stemmed habit.
Here is the allée in June 2022 – the smoke bushes are wider and more full. Cotinus or smoke bush, is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. It has an upright habit when young and spreads wider with age.
Here it is last year. Under optimal conditions, smoke bushes can add about 13 to 24 inches to its height each year. The colors of the smoke bushes and the London planes behind them look striking together.
The London plane tree, Platanus × acerifolia, is a deciduous tree. It is a cross between two sycamore species: Platanus occidentalis, the American sycamore, and Platanus orientalis, the Oriental plane. London planes grow best in full sun, but they also thrive in partial shade. These are also growing excellently.
The leaf of a London plane is similar to that of a maple leaf – simple with alternate arrangements that have three to five lobes. These leathery leaves are about six to seven inches wide with roughly toothed edges.
The bark is medium gray and smooth. The tree shows a distinctive camouflage pattern created as patches of green or brown outer bark that flake off to expose a more creamy inner bark.
Pasang Sherpa is my resident tree pruner. He does a wonderful job overseeing the maintenance of all the trees here at my farm. I like as much of the pruning and grooming to be done by hand, so Pasang trims every branch with his pruners – one by one.
Pasang shows where he pruned last year. All the branches surrounding it are new – grown over the last 12 months. When removing amounts of wood, cut back to just before a growth node to prevent dead ends.
Here is a pruned smoke bush. Smoke bushes are among my favorite small trees.
The name “smoke bush” comes from the billowy hairs attached to the flower clusters which remain in place through the summer, turning a smoky pink to purplish-pink and then light brown as the weeks progress.
These royal purple smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria, have stunning dark red-purple foliage that turns scarlet red in fall.
The undersides are bright green. The leaves of smoke bushes are waxy purple and are one and a half to three inches long, and ovate in shape.
Cutting it back regularly can help the Cotinus retain its most colorful foliage.
Here, one can see what Pasang pruned and what he has to prune next. Pruning eliminates the dead, damaged, or overcrowded branches and allows in more light and air circulation.
As the branches are cut, Pasang gathers them in one place, so they are easy to collect later and take to the compost yard.
Lower to the ground at the base of the trees and bushes are pink hydrangeas. The blooms on these compact Endless Summer Crush® hydrangeas are intense, deep raspberry pink.
However, depending on the soil, the blooms can often change color – a more purple bloom is caused by a greater mix of lime and acid in the soil. When mature, these hydrangeas will reach 36-inches tall with a spread that’s 18 to 36-inches wide.
Hydrangea leaves are opposite, simple, stalked, pinnate, and four to eight inches long. They are also toothed, and sometimes lobed.
Pasang cuts all the Cotinus to the appropriate height, so one can see the London plane trees behind them. Here is one side done – they looks so much fuller compared to when they were first planted.
And here is the allée now with all the smoke bushes pruned beautifully. This allée will be such a lovely addition to future garden tours.
If you haven't already, please tune in to "The Martha Stewart Podcast." These shows are when I sit down for one-on-one conversations with fascinating people from all walks of life to learn how their individual careers began, how they have evolved, and what tips they have for listeners. These talks are filled with information, inspiration, and lots of laughter. My podcasts are available on the iHeart media app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
One of my latest recordings is with my friend, artist Sheila Berger. Sheila is a New York City based sculptor and painter well known for her public art pieces on nature. Sheila's work has been shown in several notable locations across the country and around the world. Not long ago, Sheila and I sat down in a quiet corner of my home to talk about her career, her travels, her art installations, and what inspires her curiosity, her creativity, and her compassion.
Enjoy these photos and please listen to my podcast.
I’ve known Sheila Berger for many years. Here we are in my home shortly after recording the podcast. It was so nice to catch up with Sheila, talk about our modeling days, share travel stories, and hear about her beautiful works of art.
As Sheila tells it, her artistic journey with birds began at her childhood home in Missouri. “Outside a large picture window in the kitchen was a small porch. Above the porch were two planters. My mother and father would sit in the kitchen and look out.
I came to plant one spring in 2007. As I removed the first planter, I saw five blue robin eggs. I carefully put it back and told my mom that she would have baby birds soon. I then took down the other planter where there was an empty nest. I took the nest home. My mother, with great tenderness, watched the birds and would call me with daily updates on the eggs. In the meantime, I placed the humble, fragile, empty nest on an ornate marble pedestal in the center of my studio.”
This is Sheila’s first bird – small, but very special.
Sheila kept journals of her thoughts and ideas.
Every page is a beautiful work of its own. This tells another angle of the robin’s nest and eggs story. Sheila looked to find something special in the small and ordinary of nature.
Sheila went on to create larger birds out of stainless steel. Here she is hammering feathers for a 10-foot piece.
Here she is grinding and attaching pieces of steel to the body. Looking closely, one can see her drawings on the metal. Every piece is attached so carefully and precisely.
And here is Sheila welding the feathers.
This is ‘Avis Gloriae Et Lavdis’ at sunset, displayed in Riverside Park, New York City.
And here is Sheila working on the mask of her meadowlark sculpture she calls ‘Superhero.’
Sheila stands next to the finished meadowlark she created with a sand hill crane mask. The bird was placed at Yanney Heritage Park in Kearney, Nebraska, the location of one of the largest and oldest bird migrations in the world. Between March and April, more than a million sand hill cranes fly over the Platte River Valley from Canada to the Southern United States. It’s a sight to behold. (Photo by Rosanne Cash)
Bird ‘MMXXIII’ is at Governor’s Island in New York. This bird is made of stainless steel with a crown and mirrored belly, situated across the iconic Statue of Liberty ready to greet any and all visitors. (Photo by Ilir Rizaj)
Sheila captured this photo of ‘MMXXIII’ with her Barbet, Bertie.
Sheila loves how her birds attract people of all ages, genders, and lifestyles, to visit her birds and hopefully to appreciate the small and ordinary creatures of the world.
Sheila also began a project dedicated to hands. Sheila recounts, “I began casting my own hands in 2010, and when I held them; turning them around, I felt the totality and urgency of my life. Somehow seeing my hands outside of my body made me want to be in my body. I wanted to share this with my friends, their friends, with couples together and apart, and strangers, etc. Then the project came together – just women. I now have over 100 pairs of hands and am ready to place them in a collection.” (Photo by Gael Towey)
Here is Sheila excavating a pair of hands. Some of her hand models include Carol Burnett, Gloria Steinem, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Joni Mitchell, Lily Tomlin, and me. (Photo by Gael Towey)
Here are my hands – one in the other. Sheila calls this a goddess pose.
This is the hand of the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg, an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020.
Some of Sheila’s casts are displayed on her home mantel. (Photo by Erica Shires)
Here is a sculpture of what could soon be a giant public art installation called The Makers, showing how girls and young women are taught to use tools.
And here is a painting done by Sheila. This was inspired by a visit to my farm. Sheila says, “Martha invited my family to her home one Easter Sunday. After we left, she gave me a large carton of colorful eggs. I brought the eggs to my studio and added them to an encaustic painting in progress, ‘Sweet Spring.’ When I added color to the bellies of the robins, I kept seeing the orange yellow yolks of Martha’s chickens’ eggs and there they are – bright yellow.
Sheila’s creativity can be found everywhere, including her own kitchen. She says, “I needed a kitchen table. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I made it.
The photos show only a sampling of the great work Sheila has completed and presented around the world. Speaking with Sheila was informational, inspirational, and full of wonderful personal stories. I hope you take the time to listen to my podcast with artist Sheila Berger – available wherever you get your podcasts.
My collection of copper, with its shiny rose-gold hue, always looks so beautiful after a good cleaning.
This week, my housekeeper, Elvira Rojas, took on the task of cleaning and polishing many of the copper pieces displayed in my studio kitchen. Copper is a soft, malleable and ductile metal with a distinct pinkish-orange color. It's used as a conductor of heat and electricity, as a building material, and as a popular element for cookware and other home decorating items. Over time, copper loses its luster and acquires a tarnish when exposed to air, so it is important to clean it regularly.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Here is a shelf of copper molds and other containers in my studio kitchen. A couple times a year, I try to polish all the precious metals in my home including this copper. Copper was actually one of the first metals used by humans more than 10-thousand years ago, and it remains a common household material today.
Polishing copper, silver, brass, or any other metal regularly is generally sufficient to keep it in good condition.
There are several ways to clean copper. Experts recommend using a good-quality, non-abrasive commercial copper polish. I’ve been using Wright’s metal creams for years. Wright’s Copper Cream is a gentle formula that cleans and shines – it’s also great for brass. Each cream tub comes with a sponge, but before starting, it’s also a good idea to get out any additional sponges and towels needed.
Using gloves to prevent the cleaning cream from coming into contact with the skin, completely coat the piece. The copper will start to brighten as it is rubbed. This task is time-consuming, but it is well-worth all the work and elbow grease. And remember to get into all the cracks and crevices.
Whenever cleaning any precious metal, always use a soft moistened sponge. A soft cloth can also work well. And, for tight areas – a soft-bristled brush is good to have on hand. And always use polishes that are non-abrasive, and opt for formulas, such as creams and gels instead of sprays.
After rubbing the piece with cream, wash it with dish soap and water to ensure all the cream is removed.
And give it a thorough rinse with tepid water.
Drying copper as soon as it is washed also helps prevent watermarks. And never place any copper in the dishwasher. The detergents’ aggressive chemicals, combined with the washer’s high cleaning temperature, will eventually cause any copper surfaces to dull, so hand-wash all copper mugs, pots, and pans instead.
Here, Elvira polishes a mold. It may take a little longer when cleaning a piece with more intricate designs or indentations.
But here, one can see the differences between the polished molds and the one still left to do. Notice the ones on the left are in the final soap and rinse stage – so shiny, while the darker piece on the right is waiting its turn.
And here are three all washed and ready for drying and buffing. Jello, or jelly, molds became popular during the Victorian era when cooks experimented with recipes such as meat-based aspic. Copper molds, as opposed to the more affordable tin alternatives, were a sign of wealth. And by the 1950s and 1960s, these pieces were used for other recipes, especially those well-loved jelly creations.
Here is a lid also being carefully rubbed with Wright’s Copper Cream.
And here it is completely done. Each piece takes just a few minutes to do.
The entire mold and lid show off such a beautiful shine.
The copper looks so pretty gleaming on the shelves. Another tip: if you like the way your displays are arranged, take a quick snapshot before you remove them, so you know exactly how they should be returned.
Here are some kettles on the stove – all cleaned and polished. I use this kitchen a lot for television and various photo shoots and for other media appearances. I also use everything that is in the kitchen, so it’s important that everything is always clean and “camera-ready.”
Here is my copper fish kettle poacher before it was cleaned and polished.
And here it is after. Copper fish kettle poachers are prized for their ability to transfer heat quickly and evenly, making them ideal for cooking fish. They are often made from heavy-gauge copper.
Above are many of my regularly used pots. I like to keep a lot of my pots hanging on a rack where they are easy to reach.
How often copper should be polished depends on the exposure to air, moisture, and handling. For pieces that are kept indoors, polishing every few months should be sufficient.
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