Innehållsförteckning för Flowers & Gardens 2021 från Victoria

DEAR FRIENDS From my earliest days, I remember being captivated by the bounty in my mother’s garden. One of my first recollections is helping her plant bulbs when I was three years old. The autumn weather had already turned crisp when we began our task, and copper-colored leaves crunched beneath our knees as we pushed a trowel into the cold earth, nestling tawny orbs in the soil. I could not imagine what might come from such humble beginnings. The wait seemed eternal as fall eased slowly into winter, but just as the faintest sounds of birdsong returned, we were rewarded with the most glorious sight my young eyes had ever seen: rivers of tulips in radiant bloom. I was awestruck by these showy harbingers of spring—slender green stems stretching heavenward…

A financial adviser who retired to a second career in landscape design, June Mays recognized a worthy investment for her family in a historic Alabama home. “We had attended parties in this house,” she says, “and loved the location, its grace, its personality.” Built in the early twentieth century with brick and stucco in a half-timbered style, the two-story Tudor charmer nestles into the side of a mountain, giving the grounds a steep elevation. When the Mayses purchased the property in 1982, the backyard was waist-deep in kudzu, an invasive vine that took three years to eradicate. With the lot restored to a blank canvas, June breathed life into her vision for creating a brimful cottage oasis. Removing a freestanding garage and filling in a ravine allowed June to lay…

Jan Tolmasoff—proprietress of Russian River Rose Company in Healdsburg, California—rises before dawn to admire prized blossoms. At daybreak, the horticulturist begins tending the more than 650 varieties of heirloom roses that grow throughout Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay grapevines, as well as an additional eight hundred plants that blanket fields of fragrant roses. These quiet hours provide treasured moments of introspection. During her unhurried strolls through the garden, Jan says she is often reminded that even the smallest steps can lead to grand results when carried out faithfully over time. She and her husband, Michael, aspired to become diligent stewards of this 15-acre property when they moved to Sonoma County forty years ago to pursue wine making. During a subsequent trip to France, the vintners noticed rows of grapes punctuated with…

CREDITS CONTRIBUTING WRITER TOVAH MARTIN: pages 19–22 CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS KINDRA CLINEFF: pages 5, 9, and 19–22 GEORGIANNA LANE: cover and pages 3–4 and 63–70 KATE SEARS: pages 2, 11–18, and 97 MARCY BLACK SIMPSON: pages 5, 29, 31–34, 41–42, 47–48, 71, and 73–86 CONTRIBUTING STYLISTS MISSIE NEVILLE CRAWFORD: pages 47–48 and 81–86 YUKIE MCLEAN: pages 29 and 35–42 CONTRIBUTING RECIPE DEVELOPMENT AND FOOD STYLING REBECCA TREADWELL: pages 89–94 LOREN WOOD: pages 75–86 WHERE TO SHOP & BUY Below is a list of properties and companies featured in this issue. Items not listed are privately owned and are not for sale. Pricing and availability may vary. Pages 11–18: For more information about Carolyn Aiken, visit her website, warrengrovegarden.blogspot.com. Pages 19–22: Glenn Hillman, garden designer, forresterr@optimum.net. Pages 41–42: Schumann-Bavaria: Empress Dresden Flowers…

“THERE IS SO MUCH HOPE IN A LITTLE FLOWER AND SO MANY FLOWERS IN A LITTLE HOPE.”—Mehmet Murat Ildan…

“TO BE OVERCOME BY THE FRAGRANCE OF FLOWERS IS A DELECTABLE FORM OF DEFEAT.”—Beverley Nichols Note: For this feature, our test kitchen used edible flowers and flower crystals from Gourmet Sweet Botanicals, which can be purchased at gourmetsweetbotanicals.com. Edible-Flower Bark Makes 2 pounds 1 (16-ounce) package pink vanilla-flavored candy coating*1 (16-ounce) package white vanilla-flavored candy coating*4 tablespoons all-vegetable shortening2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios2 tablespoons fresh lavender mint (leaves and flowers)1½ tablespoons crushed pink peppercorns1 tablespoon hibiscus crystals1 tablespoon rose crystals1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender1 tablespoon sea salt 1. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave pink candy coating, white candy coating, and shortening on high in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth, about 1½ minutes total. 2. Spread onto parchment paper in a ½-inch-thick layer. Sprinkle evenly with pistachios,…

“THERE IS ALWAYS MUSIC AMONGST THE TREES IN THE GARDEN, BUT OUR HEARTS MUST BE VERY QUIET TO HEAR IT.”—Minnie Aumonier Priscilla Hillman chose her home for its apple trees. Located around the corner from the family’s Litchfield, Connecticut, home, she had admired the property’s arboreal beauty for years. “Some people care about a floor plan,” she explains. “I am drawn by trees.” When the house came up for sale and the Hillmans’ son, Glenn, grew old enough to want a house of his own, Priscilla and her husband, Norman, made the purchase. It wasn’t until they began clearing the recesses of the two-acre landscape that they discovered even more apple trees hidden in an overgrown thicket. But those were not the only residents on the property. When devoted nurturing…

Nestled in Burlington, Vermont, is the headquarters of April Cornell’s apparel and home-goods company, a dazzling, fabric-strewn space filled with unfiltered light and unfettered joy—a perfect reflection of the founder’s artistic background and sunny nature. The absence of confining cubicles and defining walls allows creative freedom among staff members, with April’s own desk placed amid those of the design team who share her penchant for pattern and hue. Art has been her constant companion since childhood. Her mother’s sketches and doodles intrigued her first, and then in her preteen years, a neighbor introduced April to oil painting. “She opened up the bigger world of art and color,” she relates. “We made copies of Degas, still life, monochromatic palettes.” Those early lessons influence her watercolor and oil pastel works, and many…