Here in the Northeast, the season's falling leaves are everywhere, especially at the local nurseries - mounds of beautiful foliage in yellow, gold, orange, burgundy, and crimson.
Located just off a scenic country road in the picturesque rural town of Pound Ridge, New York, is Select Horticulture, Inc., a nursery offering premium quality trees and shrubs including large sizes, unusual and rare specimens, with both stand-alone and mature espaliered options. Visiting local nurseries is a great way to learn about the plants and trees that thrive in one's area and to get expert advice on selecting and maintaining those specimens. I enjoy stopping in to see what plants they have for my ever-evolving farm.
Enjoy these photos.
Just minutes from my farm in an area surrounded by the beautiful fall colored trees, is Select Horticulture, Inc. Whenever I have time, it’s fun to stop in and see what trees and shrubs are in stock – and there’s always something for everyone, even now as the cooler weather sets in.
Select Horticulture Inc. has locations in Lancaster, Massachusetts and here in Westchester, New York right off route 137. It is owned by Scott Richard and Jim Freeborn who are extremely knowledgeable and often at the nurseries ready to answer any questions.
Every row of trees and shrubs is always neat, tidy, and every item is properly identified.
The trees are always displayed with their best sides facing out for visitors to see. Many of the taller trees can be seen from the road. These are Carpinus betulus ‘Columnaris Nana’ – small trees with a tight layering dense habit. It is a slow-growing narrow form of European hornbeam. This tree may reach six to seven feet in height by only a few feet in width in 10 years.
In summer, it shows off green leaves that turn to a bright yellow gold in autumn.
This Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Tamukeyama’ can’t be missed with its bright red foliage. It is a dwarf Japanese maple lace leaf variety that grows in a mound form with cascading branches.
It features deeply cut and dissected purple red leaves that turn even brighter red through fall.
This is Ilex opaca ‘Miss Helen’ – an upright pyramidal evergreen that may reach up to 50-feet tall. When selecting any new planting for a garden always be sure to consider the plant’s preferred hardiness zone, its care requirements, and the specimen’s size at maturity.
It has thick, leathery, deep green leaves that mature to four inches long and have spiny marginal teeth.
And these are the branches of Picea orientalis ‘Nigra Compacta,’ commonly called oriental spruce – a medium to large, densely-branched, narrow-pyramidal tree. It is native to mountain areas from the Caucasus to Turkey. It has flattened, glossy, dark green needles that are shorter than the needles of other species of spruce.
It can grow from 50 to 70 feet tall.
Pinus mugo ‘Mughus’ is a slow-growing evergreen conifer shrub or tree with green foliage. It is native to southern Europe and is very resistant to cold and drought.
All the trees at Select Horticulture Inc. are meticulously wrapped and tied. Always look for well maintained root balls which are crucial for good transport, handling, and planting at its new location.
Select Horticulture Inc. also has a beautiful selection of boxwood. Buxus sempervirens is a rounded to broad-rounded shrub or small tree native to open woodlands and rocky hillsides in southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. It typically matures in a shrubby form five to 15 feet tall, but may grow as a tree to as much as 20 to 30 feet tall.
Buxus semperviirens ‘Aureovariegata’ is a variegated boxwood with showy dark green leaves and margins that start out white turning cream and then yellow throughout the growing season. It has a mounding habit, dense and rounded, with a slow growth rate.
Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’ has green leaves with spots of creamy white, gray-green, and yellow-green.
Viburnum dentatum, commonly called arrowwood viburnum, is an upright, rounded, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub which typically matures up to 10 feet tall. Non-fragrant white flowers appear in late spring followed by blue-black, berry-like drupes in late summer to fall.
Recognize this tree? It’s Platanus acerifolia ‘Bloodgood’ Parasol, a London Plane Tree. I have many London Planes at my farm. It is a robust tree with three to five lobed leaves similar to the maple.
Ilex crenata ‘Excelsa Schwoebel’ is an upright evergreen in the Japanese holly family. Its slender, hardy form dense glossy medium green flat leaves makes it great for privacy hedging. But don’t eat the berries – they’re slightly toxic.
Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Fastigiata’ Cephalotaxus harringtonia, commonly called plum yew, is a dioecious coniferous evergreen that typically grows as a shrub up to 10 feet tall.
At Select Horticulture, there are lots of lush evergreen shrubs in all different sizes. It is nice to see such a well organized nursery. This one is called Taxus media ‘Hicksii’ – another excellent evergreen shrub for tall hedges or privacy screens. It is narrow when young and grows wider as it ages. It’s also known as the Hicks Yew. I have these in my living maze.
Taxus media ‘Hicksii’ has long, upright-growing branches with dense, glossy, green foliage.
And close to the parking area greeting visitors in this charming heart-shaped Thuja occidentalis ‘Emerald Green’ Topiary. The next time you’re in Pound Ridge, New York, or Lancaster, Massachusetts, be sure to visit Select Horticulture Inc. You’re sure to find something. And yes, this trip was successful. Wait and see what I brought home…
I hope you all watch it - my documentary, MARTHA, directed by RJ Cutler, is now on NETFLIX!
MARTHA has already premiered at various festivals and theaters including the Telluride Film Festival and the Hamptons International Film Festival. Most recently, the film was played in front of a full audience at New York City's legendary Paris Theater followed by a post-screening discussion. In MARTHA, I open up my personal archives to share never-before-seen photos and stories about my life and career. The documentary covers my days as a hardworking teenage model, a stockbroker, an entertainer, an entrepreneur, an influencer, and so much more. I hope you enjoy it.
Here are a few photos from the recent premiere events.
Earlier in October, MARTHA premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Here I am with director, RJ Cutler. This festival was founded in 1992 to celebrate the art of film and to introduce a unique and varied spectrum of international productions and filmmakers.
Also in attendance – producer Trevor Smith, Heather Kirkland, and RJ’s wife, producer Jane Cha Cutler.
Here I am with actor Alec Baldwin, who was there as Chairman Emeritus promoting the Festival’s SummerDocs series.
David Nugent is the Festival’s artistic director. He joins me here with journalist Alina Cho.
The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is a five-day event that takes place in mid-October every year. It features nearly 100 films, including documentaries and fiction, from around the world.
It was nice to see such a full audience at both showings.
Following the film, I participated in a Q & A session with RJ that was moderated by David. Everyone loved the documentary.
My documentary also premiered at the Paris Theater. Many colleagues and friends attended this showing in New York City.
Inside, official movie posters and custom MARTHA popcorn boxes.
RJ also attended this event.
This was another full theater. The legendary Paris Theater is the longest-running arthouse cinema in Manhattan.
Just about every seat was filled.
I participated in a post-screening talkback after this showing as well – the film was wonderfully received. It was fun to hear from so many familiar faces.
I hope you tune in and watch the documentary. MARTHA is on NETFLIX starting today! Enjoy. Thanks NETFLIX.
Every year, I look forward to growing the rare and vivid crimson-colored spice called saffron.
Saffron comes from a flower called crocus sativus, also known as ‘saffron crocus’. It is a beautiful, aromatic, purple flower with bright red threads, or stigmas, which make up the luxurious spice. It is grown extensively in southeastern Asia and parts of the Mediterranean region. Over the last few of years, my longtime friend, and the founding craft editor for Martha Stewart Living, Hannah Milman, has planted thousands of saffron corms right here at my farm. This season, we decided to plant a crop in one of the raised beds of my giant half-acre vegetable garden. Saffron is planted in late summer and then harvested by hand from late October to early November.
Enjoy these photos of how Hannah does the entire process and please follow her on Instagram @hannahcmilman to learn more about saffron.
Hannah first started planting saffron at my farm in 2020. She’s planted thousands and thousands of corms every year since – under the quince trees near my blueberry patch, under the London plane and cotinus allée, beneath the ‘Gravenstein’ apple espalier, and now in my giant vegetable garden.
This vegetable garden is a great area for planting saffron because the beds are filled with nutrient-rich composted soil made right here. Saffron does best in hardiness zones 5 to 8 in full to partial sun. This garden gets at least five or six hours of direct sunlight per day. Here, Hannah begins making all the holes for the corms. With such a large crop, the holes must be precisely spaced.
Saffron is planted in late summer. The main tool for planting saffron corms or any small bulbs is a dibber, which is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground.
The compact corms are small, brown globules that can measure as large as two-inches in diameter, have a flat base, and are shrouded in a dense mat of parallel fibers referred to as the “corm tunic”. Do you know the difference between a corm and a bulb? Both corms and bulbs are parts of the plant that store food to help it grow and bloom. A bulb is a plant stem and leaf that grows underground in layers. A tiny version of the flower is at the center of the bulb. Tulips, lilies, iris, daffodils and onions are examples of bulbs. A corm is an underground stem that serves as the base for the flower stem and is solid, not layered.
Using the dibber, Hannah creates a hole at least four to six inches deep. In general, holes should be three times deeper than the length of the corm or bulb. For planting smaller corms like these, the dibber is the prefect tool – fast and efficient.
And then one by one, each corm is carefully placed in a hole, with the pointed end faced up, or root end faced down. This is very important, so the plant grows properly. When purchasing bulbs and corms, always look for those that are plump and firm, and avoid those that are soft. Hannah also waits until all the holes are filled before covering with soil, so she can keep track of what has been planted where.
By early October, the saffron sprouts are visible. They emerge with thin, straight, and blade-like green foliage leaves, which expand after the flowers have opened. Here, one can also see the small flower emerging from the center.
The lilac-colored flower appears next. The blooms last about three weeks
By the middle of October, most of the saffron blooms are open all over the bed. Look how straight the rows are – they’re all developing perfectly.
It is the bright red-orange threads of saffron, the stigmas, or female portion, of the saffron crocus flowers that make up the spice. Three stigmas are borne in the center of each cup-shaped bloom. The best time to harvest the stigmas is mid-morning on a sunny day when the flowers have fully opened and are still fresh. The stigmas on this flower are ready.
The leaves of the saffron will persist for eight to 12 weeks, then wither and vanish, leaving no trace of the corms below until the flowers appear again next fall.
For several days, as the flowers develop, Hannah and my housekeepers harvest the delicate blooms. Here, Enma uses her fingers to carefully pull the flower.
She places the flower including the threads on a tray.
Here are the flowers from one harvest. Enma brings this batch to my Winter House kitchen.
Here’s a closer look. One can see the bright red threads. They are placed on a paper lined baking sheet to dry.
Hannah also planted and harvested white flowered saffron, which is also aromatic. Saffron flowers have a somewhat sweet honey-like fragrance – Hannah’s mot favorite scent.
Here, Enma removes the three threads by carefully pulling them from the center of the bloom. Enma uses her fingers, but one can also use tweezers.
Enma places all the threads on a separate tray to dry in a warm, dark place for a few days. Saffron threads can take at least 24-hours to dry at room temperature, but the time depends on the temperature and humidity. It takes hundreds of flowers to produce a commercially useful amount, and lots of labor, which explains why saffron has long been the world’s most costly spice by weight.
Enma creates two piles – one with the flowers ready to pluck and the other, the pile of already plucked blossoms which can be saved for a variety of other uses.
Hannah is also participating in the Plant the Moon Challenge project, a global science experiment that challenges young students to grow crops in conditions similar to the moon. The project is lead by Plant the Moon, Competition Sciences and NASA. Here is a kit Hannah set up in my greenhouse.
The leaves of the saffron will persist for eight to 12 weeks, then wither and vanish, leaving no trace of the corms below until the flowers appear again next fall.
After five weeks, they’re doing great – we’ll see it goes. Hannah is also working with Plant the Moon to get more schools involved – it’s a wonderful way to teach children about space farming and the future of our food systems.
Hannah places the harvested dried saffron in a pretty tin with a few blooms. I can’t wait to use my saffron. Please go to Hannah’s Instagram page @hannahcmilman to see more wonderful photos, Reels, and Stories about saffron. Hannah shows you other places she’s planted saffron and all the different uses for the flower and the spice. Thanks Hannah – for being so passionate about saffron and for teaching all us so much.
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