Flower May/June 2016

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” So posited John Muir, the 19th-century Scottish-American naturalist and author, to whom I say, “Amen.” Recently I’ve been remembering my visit several years ago to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition for the late Alexander McQueen. Deftly and artfully composed elements (including the soundtrack) evoked and unveiled his tragically brilliant life and work. It haunted me, challenged me, inspired me, but its darkness clung to me like a shroud. Immediately on my departure from the exhibit, without even stopping to buy the T-shirt, I made a beeline to find the Impressionists. “Monet, Monet, I must find some Monet,” was my mantra as I strode…

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA Historic Garden Week April 23 – 30 vagardenweek.org MONKTON, MARYLAND Garden Festival May 7 ladewgardens.com NEW YORK, NEW YORK Kips Bay Decorator Show House May 12 – June 9 kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org GLENCOE, ILLINOIS Outdoor Living Extravaganza May 14 provenwinners.com BRONX, NEW YORK Impressionism: American Gardens on Canvas May 14 – September 11 nybg.org SHARON, CONNECTICUT Trade Secrets May 14 – 15 tradesecretsct.com LONDON, ENGLAND RHS Chelsea Flower Show May 24 – 28 rhs.org.uk NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND Newport Flower Show June 24 – 26 newportmansions.org indicates flower is attending or sponsoring the event. For more events, visit flowermag.com.…

KELLY PERRY BELIEVES IN THE transformative power of small, exquisite moments. “Once I really started noticing the beautiful little things, like poppies blooming along the side of the road, a life shift began to happen,” she says. Although Perry had always engaged in creative endeavors, from baking wedding cakes (a business she started while in middle school) to event planning, she found her true calling in flowers. Today, Perry shares her love for making arrangements that are uninhibited, artistic, and freshly picked from the garden. Perry’s approach to designing an arrangement involves three layers, each with a specific purpose. 1 The first layer establishes the shape and size of the arrangement, covers the rim and base of the container, and adds support for other flowers to come. Perry uses a…

TIMING MATTERS. Cut flowers either early in the morning or late in the afternoon when they’ve had the opportunity to cool down from harsh midday sun. Also, clipping from more established plants means that they will hold longer in an arrangement. For example, hydrangeas or dahlias harvested early in their blooming season will not last as long as those cut later. TEXTURE TELLS THE TALE. If the flower feels soft, damp, or sticky, it generally will not hold very long when cut. If it feels leathery, papery, and dry, it will usually last longer. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A PLANT’S ENTIRE LIFE CYCLE. Use the foliage even after the flowers are gone. I love hellebores, forsythia, and peonies, for instance, but after their blooming seasons are over, I still use the…

MY FRIENDS BEN AND LIBBY PAGE are the owners of Brookside, which is (to use one of my father’s favorite expressions) “a little piece of paradise” located in the rolling hills of Giles County, Tennessee. The house, a mid-nineteenth-century Greek Revival situated on fifty-four glorious acres, is named after the nearby Italianate Revival structure where Libby’s grandmother grew up. Ben, a landscape architect based in Nashville, where he and Libby keep their primary home, designed its vegetable and cutting gardens, as well as a gorgeous boxwood parterre filled with lilies and grasses, just behind a picture-perfect red barn. It’s all bounded by the original stone wall Ben has painstakingly restored, and in the summer months, the cutting garden is a riot of zinnias, enormous marigolds, and celosia. “In the South…

Perhaps it’s the verdant backdrop for the exchange of vows or the way the surrounding landscape influences reception décor, but glorious gardens and wedding celebrations are a natural combination. For their special day, McKenna and Kevin chose Nashville’s Cheekwood Botanical Garden, using bountiful arrangements and a soft color palette of pinks, creams, and greens to accentuate the beauty of the setting. For more information, see Sources, page 84.…