It’s not easy to be in New York in the Summer. Especially with the recent July heatwave, most of us seek refuge indoors in air-conditioning. However, we are suddenly aware that Summer’s almost already half over, and we haven’t yet checked out how the plantings at the Highline have come along.
Last year, we were wowed by the architectural design including park benches right on the rails themselves, and of course, we were amazed at the immense amount of plantings tastefully chosen and landscaped to fit onto this elevated garden. Our favorite time to go to the Highline is at dusk, when the lights turn on all around the gardens, under the benches, and in the tunnels.
We are definitely going to at least one of the lectures or walks offered by Friends of the Highline to learn more about the architectural and landscape design of this special park.
Check out our photos from last year’s visit below.
For Memorial Day weekend, we made our way to cooler weather in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts. Many folks have enjoyed the natural beauty of the towns and the artistic community for over a century. Some famous artists include Norman Rockwell, Herman Melville, and Edith Wharton, who have all lived and created their works in the Berkshires.
We were especially inspired by our visit to author Edith Wharton’s estate and gardens, “The Mount”. She was a significant contributor to literature as well as interior and landscape design. It was great to see her estate still well maintained and to have a glimpse of her artistic achievements.
Please see some highlights of our recent trip to “The Mount”.
We just got tipped off today about the April 27th opening of a new rooftop installation, “Big Bambu”, on top of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. This is a project by Doug and Mike Starn, twin brother artists who had built a permanent installation of a 250-foot-long work featuring their signature photographs of trees in the South Ferry subway station last year.
According to the NY Times, “Big Bambu” will be an ambitious expansion of last year’s project. This year’s rooftop installation at the Met will be created from over 5000 Bamboo poles brought over from Georgia and South Carolina. Over the course of the 6 month exhibit, the installation will evolve and expand into an area 100 by 50 feet, and be built up to 50 feet above the roof of the Met.
This gives us something to look forward to this summer.
We just finished building a 14 ft artificial Magnolia Tree for a client who moved to New York recently from the South. He used to have a Magnolia Tree in his yard and wanted to feel more at home in his New York loft.
It is not easy to get a 14 ft Tree up a New York high-rise. We carried the materials separately to the loft and drilled our large Silk Magnolia leaves into wood branches on location. However, the effort was worth it because the Magnolia tree nicely warms up an otherwise very expansive and stark space.
Just a short distance from our store on 28th Street, you can view our boxwood mats installed onto the walls at Restoration Hardware on 935 Broadway and 22nd Street. They did a wonderful job of making an indoor garden. Walk a little further downtown to the J.Crew store on Fifth Ave and 17th Street, and you will see delightful window displays of CFD’s Flowers welcoming Spring. The Creative Services team at J.Crew had set-up this display at other various locations in New York and New Jersey as well. Hope you will get a chance to check it out!
We will finally get to feast our eyes on the Tim Burton Exhibit at the MOMA next week. This was only possible because we booked our timed tickets very much in advance. Since the opening on November 22, last year, Burton’s exhibit proved to be ever popular since we have not been able to get tickets on the weekends until now. Reviews have been mixed for the exhibit but who can top this 11.5 feet tall giant plastic topiary deer? It will be the highlight of our visit. We are excited to see Burton’s other 2D, 3D, and cinematic works as well.
See below for MOMA’s behind-the-scenes video footage on the replica of the “Topiary”, as seen in the 1990 Edward Scissorhands film.
Catch CFD’s Silk flowers in action. From February 12 – March 12, DKNY is promoting their Spring line with our brightly colored Silk flowers inside vestibules on top of taxi cabs. Also, at the Diesel store on 770 Lexington Ave, you can view an enormous head piece made from hundreds of our flowers. The display is part of their “Be Stupid” marketing campaign that encourages creativity and risk-taking.
Before you know it, the holidays will be here. As many designers know, artificial holiday greenery and accessories, which are ready-made and durable, will allow you to decorate well ahead of the festivities. This is ideal so you can relax and focus on house company!
Even though we provide artificial holiday decorations, we prefer to have a natural and classic look, such as the work done by Lisa McInnis, a landscape designer, based in Norwalk, Connecticut. We are fortunate to know her for many years and we greatly admire her designs. She expertly uses our artificial holiday greenery and fruit picks with real pine to bring class to anyone’s home.
Below are pictures of Ms. McInnis’ client’s home in Greenwich, Connecticut. Also be sure to check out her amazing portfolio on her website at: http://lmfinegardens.com/home.html
