We spent our Memorial Day weekend at home with family and friends. Since we were having company over I needed to get our containers planted and managed finish Sunday afternoon. Typical plant selection at home is a compromise with plants Allison requests and those I have been saving from our greenhouse. I replaced our front door container, so moved the old one to the backyard and added two matching squares flanking our French doors.

Our old front door container is planted with Bird’s Nest Ferns and trailing Angel Vine which helps bring some contrast to the back of our chimney. This is a much better place for the container since it blended  with our house color at the front door.

We have two of these containers flanking our French doors. Planted with Birds of Paradise (Nicola Strelitzia), Fishnet Stocking Coleus, Blackie Sweet Potato Vine, and Helichrysum Petiolare, Lemon.

Our stock tank is planted with a lettuce mix, spinach, and summer onions. We have been having some amazing salads for a few weeks and cannot keep up.  Our Chicago Hardy Fig is in the foreground, which was wintered outside and is doing great.  Our back patio space is always a work in progress, but some time this summer will share the whole space.

In April, Williams Sonoma introduced Agrarian, its newest extension of the brand taking its customers beyond preparing food to growing it.  The merchandise is stocked within 6 stores and has a complete assortment online. The merchandise includes items for gardening, bee keeping, raising chickens and cheese making, all of which enforces the brand’s over all mission to bring people together around food.

Besides offering merchandise such as seeds, plants and kits from small niche brands, the site offers great information for the novice gardener such as how to plant a kitchen garden, harvesting schedules by zone and raising chickens. I have already ordered two vintage dolly containers for a client, and below are some of the other unique items available below.

Overall I support when larger brands embrace the market of do it yourself home gardeners, especially with the closure of Smith & Hawken a few years ago (sorry the Target collection does not count). Supporting local nurseries and suppliers is always preferred, but when you can have someone with larger reach spreading the word and bringing the more unique, I am always for it. What do you think of Williams Somona’s new brand?

If you have seen the cover of the May 2012 issue of Elle Décor, you will have seen the beautiful gardens of Andrea Fili­­­­­ppone and William Welch, in Pottersville, NJ. Over the past 18 years the couple has renovated the 35 acre property and buildings, with special detail in cultivating beautiful organic and pesticide free gardens. Andrea is the primary designer of the gardens, which include a reclaimed 1970 greenhouse, orangery and a collection of over 50 varieties of boxwoods. (See their Design businesses Tendenze Design and AJF Design here).

The weekend of June 1-3, their estate will be home to Earthly Delights: Cultivating the Garden, an event focused to help keep the garden in the garden state. The event will include lectures on gardening with a focus on organic practices, selection of rare and unique plants, plus antique and garden dealers with exceptional garden ornaments.  I wish I was able to make the drive to NJ, but having just got back from vacation and hitting the peak of our season for design installs I will not be able to get away from work. If you are able to make it to the event please share photos and details. I am marketing my calendar for next year in hopes to make it, I am dying to see those gardens in person.

Below are photos of the gardens the event is hosted, via AJF Designs Website.

Here is a list of the some of the vendors that will be at the event, the full list is here.

• Balsomo Antiques
• Atlock Farms
• Linden Hill Gardens
• Munder Skiles
• Peony’s Envy

• Project: NYC High Line
• Landscape Architect: Field Operations
• Planting Design Designer: Piet Oudolf
• Multiple phase project, First phase opening 2006

QUICK BACKGROUND:  High Line was built in the 1930’s to move the dangerous trains above street level in the dense city area. Trains stopped running in the 1980s, and was slated for demolition until Friends of the High Line worked with the city to turn the area in to a park. Construction started in 2006, and the first section opened in the summer of 2009.

DESIGN OVERVIEW: The High Line is unique for its elevated location and for wandering tightly between buildings and opening up in under developed areas. This gives an intimate view of the city beyond and below. One of the other unique features of the High Line is the preservation of its railroad history and embracing of its wild native growth once the trains stopped running.  Within the final park, these key elements are highlighted with in the surfaces and plant selection/placement.

GET THE LOOK: The High Line website offers so much detailed information with photographs, plant lists, background information that you can really find just about any detail you need to know about the project. If you want to know anything about the High Ling, I highly recommend you visit the site

The High Line site has great source for the plants featured within the High Line. Also they have a small booklet that includes photos of the plants to help you id what you like, see below in the additional reading section.

Here are some good reading material if you like the style of the High Line. I have copies of all Piet Oudolf’s books and highly recommend them to any gardener/landscape designer.

Last week Partners in Preservation announced its partnership in NYC with American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation for a grant contest to help preserve local landmarks. Voting from the community will decided which of the cultural, religious and museum landmarks will receive the grant money.  Within the list there are three projects that are dedicated to preserving landscapes; The Highline, New York Botanical Garden and The Bartow-Pell Mansion Gardens. Below are images and details on each to learn how each landscape will use the grant. Voting ends May 21, so vote daily for the preservation project that means the most to you.

Visit the Partners in Preservation Site to see the other projects are nominated and for additional details.

 The High Line:

• Website: http://www.thehighline.org/
• Location: Manhattan
• Planned Improvement: Restoration of the Tenth Avenue Square sunken overlook deck and stairway repair
• Vote here: http://www.facebook.com/thehighline

New York Botanical Garden:

• Website: http://www.nybg.org/
• Location: Bronx
• Planned Improvement: Restoration of the man made cascade
• Vote here: http://www.facebook.com/NYBotanicalGarden

Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and Garden:

• Website: http://bartowpellmansionmuseum.org/index.php
• Location: Bronx
• Planned Improvement: Restoration of landmark gardens, 18thc family cemetry, and chestnut tree allee.
• Vote here: http://www.facebook.com/BartowPell