Designed in 1936, Alfred Caldwel’s Lilly pond is my very most favorite spot in all of Chicago. Giving you the impression that you are the only one who knows about it, this enchanted sanctuary is definitely one of the most sacred spaces in the city. When I was little, I remember finding a massive pair …
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Notes from the Flower Field
Midsummer is here and we are dividing our days between hyper-manicured floral photo shoots and the wild imperfection of our flower farm. Sunstroke can be mildly exciting but today I had my first, “let’s-find-the-car-keys-in-the-field-day”. Thank goodness that game only lasted 15 minutes! We’ve begun battling pests organically and I applied my first super batch of …
Big Table Dinner at Garfield Park Conservatory
Some clearly brilliant women from Green City Market’s junior board are hosting a series of farm dinners in honor of urban farmers this summer in Chicago’s most incredible parks. Our friends from The Chicago Honey Co-op were on the list of course and by donating flowers from our farm we were lucky enough to tuck …
Mud madness
Our plants were all knee high by the fourth of July! Some of them were so tall that they were snapping off at the base and a mad staking party in a flooded field was held. We started out with mallets up on ladders, then post drivers and finally figured out that the ground …
Shanghai Terrace
We had the happy luxury of jamming tea tins full of blooms in fluorescent shades on Friday. Exotics like long stemmed Rothschild lilies, Icelandic poppies and parrot tulips mixed well with old-timey bee-balm, begonias and geranium on the Shanghai Terrace at the Pennisula where our spectacular bride greeted guests for cocktails on the eve of …
West Side Goats
We met Carolyn Ioder’s Goat‘s, from which she provides fresh milk and artisanal cheese. We helped walk them from her yard in Austin, here on the West Side of Chicago, through the alley to the Root Riot pasture. The pasture is a few open and connected lots a block away. In the mix were two-week old …
Song of Spring
It’s suddenly Spring. I, like many Chicagoans, am stumbling around pasty and shell-shocked, blinded by this gigantic alien orb in the sky. This handful of garden greens heralds as a kind of victory flag over this intensive winter. I’ve heard of massive defections from Chicago due to last winter and I’m fine with it. Fare …
Robin Hood Inspired
New kids in town, MatchMade Events chose us to purvey the flowers for their clever Robin Hood concept shoot at the stunning Bishop’s Hall bed and breakfast in Oak Park last fall. I went for a druidic vibe for the bouquet with cascading ferns and cyclamen. Photo by the brilliant Chad Husar. Cafe au lait …
Now forager
Had the great good luck to spend Thanksgiving in the U.P. at a family friend’s 500 acre farm near the wilds of Escanaba. The landscape was so staggeringly gorgeous I was afraid I’d drive the car off the road. An orchard of frozen apples, a field of dried sunflowers, wild clematis puffs…all miraculous to my …
Anemone Holiday at The Shedd Aquarium
This holiday party was held in a special boardroom at the Shedd Aquarium, which juts out on to the lake and affords the most amazing views. It is replete with an aquarium featuring a dizzying array of sea anemone. These “marine ornamentals” are named for the terrestrial flower just now coming into season. My favorite was …