Seibert & Rice

Last year, at this time, my son Nick graduated from high school. I love that boy, but, I have to admit, it was a relief and a cause for celebration. A party was in order. I had been working on my garden for several years, and it, too, was ready for a commencement. So a garden party it would be. The evening was beautiful, even if it was 90+°. Our closest friends were there, the food was yummy, and the garden was magical. The party and my garden are featured in the May issue of Garden Design. Take a look!

I'm lucky to know and work with many incredibly talented people in the garden industry. So, naturally, I called on some of them to help me revitalize the garden and decorate for the party. The garden itself had great bones and had been a stunner in the 1920s. But the years had taken a toll, and it needed a makeover. Landscape designer Richard Hartlage took the lead. He edited much of the plant material, adding grasses, mahonias, catmint, clumping bamboo, and boxwoods – all things that our herds of deer don’t eat (or haven’t eaten thus far). A lower garden on the property that had enjoyed full sun in its youth had become shadowed by hemlocks and white pines. Richard turned this into an enchanting shade garden with a pea gravel terrace punctuated with two 40” tall Classic Urns. He planted a swath of ferns leading to an old tree swing where my kids still hang out with their friends.

The patio is where most of us congregate. Exterior decorator John Danzer helped me design three separate living areas for eating, conversation and relaxation. We furnished the spaces with his fabulous furniture from Munder Skiles, upholstered with Perennial outdoor fabrics.

Of course, the garden is full of pots. My good friend Ken Selody of Atlock Farm has filled mine for the past 15 years. About seven or eight years ago, Ken had the idea to place six large Rolled Rim Vases on bluestone plinths just off the patio and fill the pots with Pee Gee Hydrangeas. We started with 24” pots, moved up to 28” pots, and this summer I transplanted the now enormous hydrangeas into 36” Rolled Rims. On the patio, we like to plant tropicals. By the end of the summer they are gigantic, giving the patio a truly exotic feeling. There are also tons of pots with herbs, which went into many of the dishes for the party.

Floral designer and event planner Jerry Rose helped decorate. Jerry was Seibert & Rice’s very first customer, so he holds a place very dear to my heart. Aside from that, he is incredibly creative. Jerry turned my Classic Urns into cocktail tables by placing glass table tops over them. He designed floral arrangements using a color scheme of red, orange and apricot to compliment my terra cotta pots. He hung a wrought iron candelabra from a tree in the shade garden and placed candles everywhere, so the garden glowed when the sun went down. (That is until the heavens opened up, fortunately after dessert.)

The menu was light and designed so it could largely be prepared ahead of time: I wanted to spend time with my guests in the garden, not in the kitchen. There were many colorful salads: beets and mandarin oranges; carrots with currants; black beans and corn; and tabbouleh with parsley and tomatoes. I poached a salmon and prepared shish kebobs ahead of time. Grilling the shish kebobs with Lenore while sipping a glass of wine was fun not work. Jerry styled the food laying the salmon on a bed of frothy dill and the shish kebobs on a platter of carrots with sheared greens. Since we eat with our eyes, this was an incredible feast. It all tasted pretty good, too.

After dessert we lingered on the patio with a glass of wine even while the thunder rumbled. But when it started to hail, we made a mad dash inside and called it a night. Now, incredibly, Nick has finished his first year at Bard College; hard to believe that perfect evening was already so long ago.

Back to the Spring 2009 Newsletter