My large “iced terrace” at Skylands, my home overlooking Seal Harbor, is brimming with beautiful, green plant life once again.
Every year, I like to spend the Memorial Day weekend up in Maine planting all the large outdoor urns, pots, and planters. It is quite an undertaking, but it's become a fun tradition especially with the group that accompanies me. Many of the tropical specimens are stored in hoop houses at my Bedford, New York farm during winter, and then carefully loaded onto a trailer and delivered to Skylands for the summer months. As soon as I arrive there, I design the layout of where things will go, and we all get to work.
Enjoy these photos.
It’s always a busy, but fun weekend at Skylands when we fill the planters with beautiful specimens. Look at all the planters waiting to be filled. And this is not even all of them…
… There are more on the Western Terrace. These planters are new to Skylands. They were large terracotta planters we painted Bedford Gray and sent up here to Maine from my farm.
I decide where each plant will go before they are moved – staying organized saves lots of time and energy. This year, we brought alocasias, agaves, palms, and so many more.
We also had trays of smaller plants and ground covers to use as under plantings. Many of the succulent plants were grown in my greenhouse here in Maine. Propagating this way saves a lot of cost.
The plants are carefully placed around the terrace, in or close to where they will be displayed for the season. The stone trough I bought at Trade Secrets in 2013. It has worked perfectly here at Skylands.
Here I am adding nutrient-rich potting soil to the pot. This great mix is from Scotts Miracle-Gro.
And don’t forget to feed – I always say, if you eat, so should your plants. Here I am sprinkling Scotts Osmocote – an all-in-one plant solution containing essential nutrients and a unique resin that controls nutritional release.
Osmocote particles include a core of nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
During the busy planting morning, we stopped for a good breakfast. Yogurt made by my niece, Sophie, with apricot jam I made along with French toast made from brioche bread I also made.
Peter Grub is one of our hard working gardeners and outdoor grounds crew here at Skylands.
And this is Amos Price ready to pot up this evergreen. To protect the rather porous and fragile pots, I like to line them with garbage bags, so the pots don’t soak up too much water. The garbage bags have drain holes at the bottom and are neatly tucked inside the pot, so they are not visible.
All these pots on the Western Terrace are done. These will fill in so nicely over the course of the season.
The Western Terrace is among my favorite summer meal spots. The pergola is covered with kiwi vines that are original to the home.
For lunch on this day, we had crab cakes and a fresh cucumber salad.
The next morning, I made everyone waffles and bacon.
Kevin always creates the most gorgeous flower arrangements. Another tradition is seeing what stunning creations he comes up with every time he is here. He made several arrangements of lilacs – the fragrance is intoxicating.
Here’s another trio of lilac arrangements in crisp white vases. The lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae. Syringa is a genus of up to 30-cultivated species with more than one-thousand varieties.
For dinner, we had smashed potato with Roe caviar and sour cream.
The charming town of Northeast Harbor, near my home in Seal Harbor, Maine, hosts its own Memorial Day Parade every year – I always try to attend. It starts on Memorial Day morning at 10:30. It’s a great opportunity to get reacquainted with the year-round locals and many of the summer season residents.
This is the Main Street of Northeast Harbor. Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island. Lots of visitors come out for this parade. It was nice to see all the marching bands and cars of people commemorating those who died while serving in the country’s armed forces.
On this last day, I made asparagus velouté, A velouté is the French term for a soup traditionally thickened with egg yolks, butter and cream. I used asparagus grown at my Bedford, farm. It was simply delicious. And a great way to end a fun and productive weekend. See you soon, Skylands…
Tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, have long been one of America’s favorite garden vegetables. Those bold red, sun-ripened tomatoes bring on the taste of summer with every bite. And, they’re filled with excellent antioxidants and vitamins.
Just a handful of healthy plants can produce a bounty of delicious fruits within six to eight weeks. The best time to plant tomatoes is when daytime temperatures are consistently above 65-degrees Fahrenheit. This week, the weather here at my farm has been perfect, so my gardeners planted our tomato crop - 120-plants. Many of them were grown from seed right here in my greenhouse. I also have tomato plants gifted to me by a friend, and some from one of our trusted growers. They're all doing excellently in my new large half-acre garden.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Last month, my crew prepared the tomato beds for planting. They raked and mulched the beds and made sure all the bamboo stakes were in good condition.
The twine was replaced where needed, so the structures are tight and ready to support the weight of the season’s fruits.
Earlier this week, my friend Leslie Kim Williams personally delivered some of her tomato plants for my garden. She gifts me several trays of tomatoes every year. Her tomatoes are consistently lush and prolific.
I loaded all the plants in my Polaris off-road vehicle and drove them to my vegetable garden.
The plants are all divided among our tomato beds. I always grow an abundance of tomatoes – I love to share them with family and friends and use them to make all the delicious tomato sauce we enjoy through the year.
I also received many plants from Bonnie’s, a grower I’ve used for many years. In addition, we always start our tomatoes from seed in my greenhouse. We don’t use any pesticides or chemicals of any kind, so we know we’re nurturing the highest quality plants. We always grow an abundance of tomatoes.
Before anything is planted, the beds are given a generous amount of Performance Organics Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules from Scott’s Miracle-Gro.
Ryan sets all the plants in the rows where they will be planted, making sure all the plants are equally spaced along the bed. He takes into consideration how big each plant gets and how much room each plant needs to grow properly.
Our gardening intern Matthew starts planting. Each hole is at least eight to 10-inches deep.
Two holes are dug next to each bamboo stake.
Transplanted tomatoes that are kept free of weeds for the first four to eight weeks can usually outcompete emerging weeds later. Most tomato plant varieties need about 100-days to mature, but there are some that only need 50-60 days. One can also stagger plantings for early, mid, and late season tomato harvests.
Each plant is carefully placed into the hole and backfilled. Two-thirds of the plant should be underground, meaning all but the two top most leaf sets should be buried.
Planting deeply helps the plant to develop more roots, and more roots mean more ability to take up water and nutrients.
Keep in mind, the stronger root system also helps the plant better survive the hot weather. This applies to tomatoes planted in the ground, in a raised bed, or in a container.
Matthew continues to plant at the base of every bamboo stake. I grow determinate and indeterminate tomatoes. Determinate or “bush” tomatoes, are varieties that grow to a compact height of about three to four feet. Determinates stop growing when fruit sets on the top bud. Indeterminate tomatoes will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost. They can reach heights of up to 12-feet tall. And then he sets all the plants in the rows where they will be planted, making sure all the plants are equally spaced along the bed.
Josh works in another bed. 120-tomato plants is a lot!
Tomato leaves have serrated, or wavy and pointed, edging along the entire perimeter. Tomato leaves are compound with multiple leaflets growing along a common stem, called a rachis. These leaves are also slightly fuzzy to the touch, which is caused by the trichomes, or multi-cellular hairs, on the plant. Never use chemically treated wood or other material for staking climbers, as the chemicals would likely run off and go into the soil.
It’s a good idea to grow a range of varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types, since, of all veggies, tomatoes tend to be the most susceptible to disease. Early in the growing season, water plants daily. As temperatures increase, garden tomatoes typically require one to two inches of water a week. Some of this year’s tomatoes include ‘Genuine Beefsteak,’ ‘Rutgers,’ ‘Early Girl,’ ‘Big Boy,’ ‘Celebrity,’ ‘Better Boy,’ ‘Park’s Whopper Improved,’ ‘Red Beefsteak,’ ‘Korean Long,’ ‘Tangerine,’ ‘Livingston’s Stone,’ ‘Gold Nugget,’ and heirloom varieties such as ‘Brandywine Sudduth,’ and ‘Amy’s Apricot.’
93-percent of American gardeners grow tomatoes in their yards, and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, most Americans eat between 22 and 24 pounds of tomatoes per person, per year – this includes tomatoes in sauces.
Once the tomatoes are all planted, Josh gives them all a deep drink.
Here at the farm, everyone gets so excited for the tomatoes. The garden looks great – moving on to squash, eggplants, and peppers next.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I have several allées of trees - they look so beautiful and dramatic along the carriage roads, between the horse paddocks, and beside the antique fencing.
In landscaping, an allée, or an avenue, is traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side. In most cases, the trees planted are the same species or cultivar, so as to give a uniform appearance along the full length of the allée. One allée is planted along the carriage road to the woodland. I started with a selection of London plane trees and then planted about 100 royal purple smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria. Next, I added crepe myrtle, Lagerstroemia. This week, I decided to plant dozens of bright and colorful hydrangeas from the Endless Summer Collection by Bailey Nurseries.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I started this allée in the fall of 2019 and it has developed so beautifully over the last five years.
To create this allée I chose to plant two rows of London plane trees – 46-trees in all. When selecting a location, always consider the tree’s growth pattern, space needs, and appearance. London planes are easy to transplant. They can also develop massive trunks with spreading crowns, so they need lots of space.
The bark is unique, gray-brown. When mature, flaky scales shed to expose mottled peeling patches of white, gray, and green.
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. This very large tree with maple-like leaves grows to roughly 75 to 100 feet with a spread of 60 to 75 feet. London planes grow in almost any soil – acidic or alkaline, loamy, sandy or clay. They accept wet or dry soil and grow best in full sun, but they also thrive in partial shade.
In between the trees, I chose to plant Cotinus, also known as smoke bush or smoke tree – a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. These were all purchased as small whips – slender, unbranched shoots or plants. I like to nurture them for a year or two in pots before placing them in the ground – this way they are planted as bigger, stronger specimens.
These smoke bushes have stunning dark red-purple foliage that turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to the branch tips.
Recently, we received a large delivery of pretty hydrangea varieties from the fifth-generation, family and brand owner
Bailey Nurseries in St. Paul, Minnesota. I knew right away, a collection of these would be great in the allée.
The hydrangeas were lined up perfectly and evenly spaced in front of the smoke bushes on both sides.
Hydrangea leaves are opposite, simple, stalked, pinnate, and four to eight inches long. They are also toothed, and sometimes lobed.
The blooms on this compact Summer Crush® hydrangea are intense, deep raspberry pink.
Many of the potted hydrangeas are blooming right now. When mature, these hydrangeas will reach 36-inches tall with a spread that’s 18 to 36-inches wide.
Holes are dug for each plant – as always, at least twice the size of the plant’s root ball.
And a handful of fertilizer is sprinkled in the hole and on the surrounding soil.
For these we’re using Scott’s Miracle-Gro Shake ‘n Feed, which is an all-purpose plant food containing bone meal, earthworm castings, feather meal, and kelp to support root development and strength.
As with any plant, the root ball is teased to stimulate growth. This root ball is not root bound, so the soil is soft and easy to scarify with the Hori-Hori.
In the ground, the plant should sit at the same depth it was in the pot.
Then Josh backfills, tamping the soil lightly at the end to ensure good contact.
Remember, perennials grow slowly the first year, faster the second year, and then usually reach full size in the third year.
Look at them after they are planted. These productive plants will flourish in this garden and make nice additions to the beds.
This allée looks better and better every year. I am so proud of it.
A well-designed garden or allée will provide many years of enjoyment.
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