The flowers of summer are one of the many joys that the garden brings each year. This season two new additions have been enchanting: Nicotiana and Dusty Miller.

Dusty Miller was a real surprise. I think the plant is far from remarkable, however when mixed in arrangements with Stock and Sweet Peas it suddenly becomes dazzling. Very cool and refreshing with its whitish green foliage.

The Nicotiana on the left was a lark I started from seed. The catalog said Thomas Jefferson grew it, so how bad could it be? It is amazing that the scent perfumes not only the seating area but throughout the downstairs and the bedroom upstairs. It is bliss at night.

Elle Decor

Thank you Elle Decor for the wonderful photo of Aerin Lauder’s bedroom done with my Gramercy fabric. What a treat to see it on a full page in the July/ August issue!

The Garden Tour

Garden Tour
The Kinderhook Garden Club Garden was a great success. I was flattered to have been included in this years event which attracted over 100 people. It was loads of fun once the rain stopped and the handy men got the last minute sprucing done. I am even more thrilled to have already been asked for next year! I will keep you posted on the date. Here are a few pics of the garden from the tour.

The view from the back of the garden.

The lush beds.

The bagatelle all decked out.

The table setting with the new blue glasses from Branca.

The setting area.

Chicago Part 2

My time in Chicago was really amazing. In addition to visiting Holland & Sherry and meeting some of Chicago's best designers, I had the pleasure of seeing my friend Alessandra Branca. She invited me for drinks at her magical townhouse. It was bliss. While I was there she mentioned her store that I hadn’t seen yet and the sale she was going to have. I was already planning on visiting Branca it, but the word sale sealed it. The store is beyond stylish and has something for every budget. I highly recommend making a beeline to it the next time anyone is in town.

The store front of Branca.

The next day I went to visit my family for the weekend in Peoria. It had been a two years since the last visit, so I was long overdue. Happily, we decided in the future it made more sense to start meeting in Chicago and spend time there instead of schlepping down state, which is vastly different from northern Illinois where we grew up.
The biggest treat waiting for me was my little two year old nephew Robert Michael. He is just too cute for words. I have now become a doting uncle through and through!

That smile!

Too adorable.

The Chicago Trip

I just returned from a wonderful trip to my homeland, Illinois. I spent two days in Chicago at the Holland & Sherry showroom and then the weekend with family. It has been about six years since I last visited the Windy City. What a difference.

The design and plantings throughout the city are spectacular. The piece de la resistance for me was The Lurie Garden in Millennium Park. It is a marvel. It is like  stepping into the open prairie from Chicago.

It  was designed by Piet Oudolf and Robert Isreal with 250 varieties of perennials native to midwestern prairies in the planting scheme of the space.  What a relief it is from the very urban environment of the city. In the background is the new Modern Wing designed by Renzo Piano which just opened May 16th, 2009 at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Since it is not a botanical garden, there are no signs indicating what the plants are. I found this to be a drawback because I wanted to be certain what the plants were instead of  guessing. 

Then there were the white peonies. Huge waves of them. Spectacular.

I didn’t try this because I was racing to Branca to go shopping, but there is even a respite for the weary.

Thank you Veranda and Traditional Magazines

I just wanted thank Traditional Home and Veranda for the big surprises of recently running two of my fabrics. It was a treat to find Orangerie Lettuce and Gramercy Lemon on their pages. 

Designer Suzanne Kasler used Gramercy Lemon in one of her projects for a headboard and a blind, the lemon print works so well with her wall color. Wish I could see the room in person!

Design on a Dime

The Design on a Dime opening night party was, without a doubt, the design event to be at last Thursday.  Held at the Metropolitan Pavilion it offered designers a chance to design vignettes with donated merchandise from which the proceeds go directly to Housing Works, the nations largest grassroots AIDS service organization. This year they had over 50 designers contributed to the three day event. 

A few pics from opening night.

Foley & Cox designed this enchanting mise en scene with product from their store in Hudson, New York. 

Charlotte Moss was inspired by a cover of a vintage Vogue magazine for this garden room.

Me with Sarah Gray Miller of Country Living magazine.

Katharine Hable of Hable Construction

Birch Cooper and designer Christopher Spitzmiller

My friend Elaine Wrightman.

Alex Lerman of the New York Design Center.

Designer Kristen McGinnis