The Gardens at White Flower Farm

The up side of our intense trek cross country was that it allowed me to stop at antiques markets along the way to my heart's content. At times I was giddy at the wonderful shops I found. But this day our destination was a bit farther down the road. 

At the pottery, Guy Wolff had directed us to this fabulous local nursery at Litchfield, CT that you may already be familiar with from their website and catalog. Here's a link to the website. White Flower Farm has everything you can imagine, but Guy wanted us to see a remarkable tree found on the property.

The little white garden cottage is where the purchases are made, as the wares are spread over several acres of rolling hills. The tree is up the hill on the way to an amazing flower garden display.

The Weeping European Beech tree, or 'Pendula,' is a local attraction. It's a living shaded tent that would capture the fancy of any child the way it captured mine. Have you ever seen a tree like this?

There is an entry opened up on the side that invites you in for a look.

It is spacious and amazingly cool underneath. 

The bare trunk towers above your head.

Another opening, and you  emerge into bright daylight again. . . . Amazing!

Here is a shot with a car to give you scale.

The Lloyd border is only one of the garden displays. I wish I could tell you the name of each flower shown. I know the most common, and a few others. But every variety was plainly marked.

The English garden design is named for the renown English gardener Christopher Lloyd. You get the feeling that you are standing in the middle of a beautiful painting.

 Sometimes colorways are grouped together. but a large variety of blooms make for a gorgeous mix. Makes me want to be a gardener!

Nice to have you along for the stroll!

More happy summer days ahead!

Jacqueline

A Visit to the Guy Wolff Pottery

I have been wanting to buy a few white pots from the Guy Wolff pottery since the first time I laid eyes on them. I'm sure I saw them online somewhere. They aren't offered anywhere near me, so when I remembered that Guy Wolff Pottery is in Bantam, CT, I had to include the shop on my recent trip itinerary. Turns out the Pottery is only about a half hour drive from my son's home in CT. We usually fly, so I was not going to pass up the chance to haul a few pots home with me this time!

I called ahead hoping to learn if there were indeed any white pots left. The traditional designs change every year, and there is not a complete inventory listed on the website. The outgoing message I got, recorded by Guy Wolff himself, gives one a clue to what a regular person Guy is for being so famous. (Martha Stewart and Oprah made him almost a household name.) The message said something like, "I'm unavailable right now, probably making pottery or taking care of business, but that's the reality."

I didn't expect to see the potter himself, but he appeared shortly after we entered the shed, full of banter about pots, local color, the business, his visits to NM, and the local celebrities. Which turns out there are a ton of in this absolutely gorgeous part of the country not far from NYC. Martha herself pops in, and has commissioned some of her own pots. Here is a link to a blog post she did with tons of wonderful photos.

There is a great deal to learn, both about the pots and about Guy Wolff himself. Just google his name and a large number of interesting links and articles come up. His website here is a good place to start. He is an interesting and personable man of wide and varied talent, and ready to converse about all of it!

He even pulled down a beautiful antique instrument that was given to him as a gift (similar to a banjo but with fewer strings) to play for us. He is an accomplished music maker too!

But I was riveted on the gorgeous pots (made either by Guy, or his wife and potting partner, Erica, whom we also met). I selected a good number and variety of mostly small white flowerpots. They will make wonderful gifts if I can bear to part with any!

I can't tell you how hard it was to choose! But we will return again as often as we can.

There is a wider variety of course, and I took just a few shots around the shop of the many other wonderful terracotta and salt glazed pots. 

We took home a couple of beautiful glazed beakers (tumblers) as well.

This shop was the highlight of our New England visit. And Guy gave us a few recommendations of other sights in the area to see.

We will never forget the generous welcome we received here on a beautiful summer morning in July!

Erica's beautiful garden (which has been featured in a garden magazine) and the family farmhouse share the property. I couldn't help but contrast how different life is in the desert southwest!

No doubt you will see my new pots appearing in future posts.

Happy days 'til then!

Jacqueline