Today, the Newport Flower Show opens officially at Rosecliff! The three days in this idyllic oceanside setting are a much-anticipated event on the summer calendar… June 20th to 22nd, 2025.| Private Newport
This recent trip to England reminded me of the ever-so-true saying…”So many gardens, so little time.” And how very happy I am that I opted for a new part of England (rather than returning to the Cotswold area), the Peaks in Derbyshire. Three hours north of London on the way to Yorkshire, it is famous as the site of the centuries-old stately home, Chatsworth, where we spent 2 1/2 days. But venturing beyond Derbyshire introduced us to Biddulph Grange, Haddon Hall, Melbourne Hall, and Reni...| Private Newport
As a gardener, imagine that you lived in the Victorian era when men and women were in the enviable position of having a wealth of new and totally unknown plant options from all the corners of the earth. How exciting is that!! When James Bateman began Biddulph Grange in 1842, the “world was his oyster,” as the saying goes. Each garden was a stage-set, offering endless possibilities…shelter or exposure, moisture or dryness; plants were selected AND importantly, sited by their growing needs.| Private Newport
While only two centuries old, Biddulph Grange in Staffordshire, England was a horticultural wonder of its time, benefiting from the exciting possibility of global plant exploration in the mid-19th century. James Bateman, on whose family property the grounds were developed, belonged to a coterie of men, and women, who shared interests in botany, zoology, horticulture, geology, and plant science: Nathaniel Ward, designer of the Wardian case, a large wood and glass “terrarium” that made it p...| Private Newport
Writing this as I sit in the perfectly named “morning room” at our comfy country house hotel, Fischer’s Baslow Hall, in Derbyshire.| Private Newport
Life‘s special moments are a reason to come together! For a town that celebrates for so many reasons, and in so many ways, a timely hospitality concept has just opened in Newport, The Royce, comprising two historic colonial homes, gracing a beloved, quiet tree-lined Street on Historic Hill. | Private Newport
The first trees on the property to leaf out or bloom, this variety, Cherry ‘Hally Jolivette,’ produces the most exquisite small, single blossoms in a soft shell pink, clustered together so they give a bountiful appearance to the pruned shape of a fully opened parasol. | Private Newport
Hurray! It’s the Merry Month of May! Spring is popping (after a too cold, too windy winter). And I’m off mid month to England. But when I return this is what awaits…Home Sweet Home, surrounded by the anticipation of summer 2025 in the Newport I love. “Let me count the ways…”| Private Newport