I don’t usually take pictures of people, so there won’t be any here, but two weeks ago an unusual thing happened.  I didn’t think about it at the time–it takes me a long time to process random occurances sometimes.

Four of us were sitting in the shade talking after a hot day in the Arkansas sun.  The three others were women I had originally met via Twitter and would never had met otherwise.  They were also those I had met in real life  in New York (although she’s from Portland and we met there too), Chicago and Buffalo/Seattle.  It didn’t seem odd to me and we were all talking about the kinds of things girlfriends talk about everywhere — children, food, partners, and gardens.  These are the moments I savor…so much more than the rushed exchanges online.  So here’s an online nod to three incredible women who I count as real life friends…JeanAnn, Dee, and Amanda.

A view from the sleeping porch at Moss Mountain Farm

The patina of a past that included legions of free (use your imagination–they weren’t interns) help isn’t lost in this new, pared down, but no less privileged lifestyle.  Make no mistake about it,  P. Allen Smith, who is a hell of a nice guy by the way, is a passionate and totally driven workaholic whose ideas and ideals drive a brand that supports dozens of people from marketing executives to farm hands.

The entry hall at Moss Mountain Farm

Smith’s ‘Garden Home’ farm, Moss Mountain, reflects his many interests–some of which include collecting early southern furniture, American paintings, cooking and entertaining, poultry, sustainable agriculture and building, and of course, gardens.  An avid reader, there are books everywhere–stacked on tables and in overflowing bookshelves.

A stack of books in the living room

There is authenticity to Smith and his carefully curated world, what you see is really what he is all about. I say Bravo! that he’s found a way to brand it and to support his passions and lifestyle–even if that process has him working around the clock.  He works in a beautiful place surrounded by the things he loves–not a bad way to spend one’s working life.

Farm fresh eggs in the kitchen at Moss Mountain

On the home farm, heritage poultry (Smith founded the Heritage Poultry Conservancy in 2009) exists along side the construction of an environmentally friendly farmhouse.  The coop pictured below is close to the house, but about a 1/4 mile down the road are working coops that house the birds in the breeding program Smith has established for his heritage chickens and turkeys.

Palais des poulets

Having trained as a landscape designer in England, Smith’s gardens juxtapose traditional European garden design principles with southern bones, climate appropriate plants and vernacular architecture. They are lush and romantic, quaint and super high maintenance. These are not gardens to have without skilled help. There are vignettes and rambles combined into a massive mixed border that has interesting foundation plants with great structure.  The gardens had me wondering if these throwbacks to ‘home’ in the European sense are actually a regional American style.  That’s something I’d like to explore further.

A small formal pond on the lower terrace

A circular vignette at the end of the lower terrace

I was surprised at how small Smith’s original Little Rock garden is.  Now called City Garden Home, it’s on a small urban corner lot and it’s a testament to the power of great garden design.  Each one of several garden rooms flows seamlessly into the next and nothing feels cramped or overdone.

Planter and paving in the narrow side yard at City Garden Home

I appreciated the thought that went into the design–I know firsthand how complex it is to plan and execute a small space that actually feels bigger than it is.

The shed at City Garden Home

Back at the farm, however, there is room to spread out and that’s exactly what Smith has done in the gardens there.  In addition to an expansive organic vegetable garden and a year old rose garden dedicated to American heritage roses, he has designed classic twin borders.  There is one each on two terraces down that step down the mountain from the house towards the Arkansas River.  They were the first things to be built at the now four year old farm.

Lower terrace garden

All of Smith’s endeavors are supported or underwritten by sponsors.  He also has books, videos, speaking engagements that help fund his interests and support his people.  He works with experts and if those experts happen to be able to underwrite or contribute to his endeavors then they do. I totally understand that undertaking the kind of media and lifestyle company that Smith has built and continues to grow takes money– lots of money–and that relationships with sponsors are integral to that process.  It’s not easy living as a New Southern Romantic–it takes hard work, a great support team and passion.

Today I’m travelling to Little Rock to visit P. Allen Smith’s real Garden Home.

Garden designed by P. Allen Smith

Photograph via  The New York Times

Smith invited 20 bloggers to visit and see the farm, participate in workshops and generally be guests for what I expect will be genuine southern hospitality, great gardens and some cool product pitches.  It will also be great to see people that I don’t get to see often!

While I’m away, The Mansion in May opens and we’re ready…finally!  The house and gardens are absolutely spectacular…the best I’ve seen in the many years I’ve been privileged to participate.  This year I created a small rooftop terrace that is colorful, eclectic and fun.

The Voyager's Terrace

Please come and visit if you can, it’s open for the entire month of May and benefits the new hospice at Morristown Medical Center.

Even a narrow patio can seat 16

The patio (in private garden in Bucks County, PA) above was just an expansive ‘hallway’, but with careful planning and a custom built table it became a functional entertaining area for a large party.  Creating enough space for people to comfortably gather in is important in any garden.

Complex spatial relationships on a small patio

On the covered patio above, the relationship between the seating area, the garage to the left and the garden on the other two sides is human scale.  Portland, Oregon based landscape architect Michael Schultz manipulated the space further by adding a funhouse mirror.   (I would never think to do that…but loved it when I saw it.)

Not set up for conversation!

A lovely perennial border above in Chester, NJ is flanked by two benches.  People sitting on these benches can’t have a conversation – they’d have to yell across the lawn.  A spatial solution could have been found that would have allowed for a similar vignette of two benches but would have taken people’s use of the gardens into consideration.

There are those who come to design from a planting perspective, I don’t.  I know plants and revel in their beauty, but I make gardens for people, not for plants.  Some gardens are designed to be viewed rather than experienced.  Experience trumps a pretty picture for me every time.  Books and magazines can be inspiring, but they don’t really give a sense of space.  For me, as a designer, that’s what it’s really about – how people interact with and move through a space.  To understand that I have to physically be in a space.

To read what other designers think about gardens they’ve visited,  click on the links below…

Fern Richardson : Life on the Balcony : Orange County CA

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Rochelle Greayer : Studio G : Boston, MA

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque NM

Here’s what’s been doing…

We moved a big tree.  This sugar maple was 18,000 lbs. and moved about 40′ to its new home.

The tree, just dug, on the move

I’ve been working on a designer show house space…that will open on May 1 with previews next week.  Here’s a link to the Pinterest board, but this week I’ve been running around getting all sorts of details taken care of for that (like ordering the beautiful piece below for the feature wall)…it’s not done yet by the way!

I’ve been working on designs for several clients…

And last but not least there’s Leaf.  The spring issue published on April 2nd and we’re already hard at work on the summer issue.

So fun and vibrant!

Here’s the garden inspiration from pages 68-69 of the spring edition of Leaf.

Bollywood inspiration for your garden

If you want the vintage umbrella, it’s available from Mary Ann Jones Antiques.

Enjoy!

We loved both cover options so we’ll be publishing them both!

As a child I used to love to go to the school playground across the street from my grandparents’ home. There were seesaws, a merry-go-round, monkey bars and swings.  I had to cross a busy road to get there.  I don’t have any recollection of an adult ever supervising the crossing or the play.  Our playmates and siblings solved their issues with each other and learned in the process how to deal with the world at large.  We went home (across that busy street) when we scraped a knee…often coming right back to spin, swing and climb again.

This might not be the safest choice, but it sure looks like it created a ton of fun and could again.  By the way…I’m not a proponent of hanging by your knees.

Seesaw

It’s at Tom Gibbs Studio in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Cornus mas is a small flowering tree, hardy to Z5 with beautiful exfoliating bark and foliage that makes it a great choice for small gardens.  Here it’s paired with Jasminum nudiflorum (Winter Jasmine), a semi-evergreen low growing shrub that is hardy to Z6.  I love to use it draping over walls.