My View of Life on the Dock
Come celebrate the holidays at Willowdale Estate, Tuesday night, December 4th at 7:00.
I’ve come to look forward to attending Willowdale’s Annual Holiday Concert. The traditional carols and beautiful music put me in the holiday spirit, along with the splendid ambiance, and Briar’s beyond-delicious refreshments! I hope to see you there!
For ticket information call 978.887.8211 or email info@WillowdaleEstate.com.
Cape Ann Community Cinema Presents Greece’s #1 all time box office hit movie A Touch of Spice, with a light Greek dinner from Brothers Kouzina, on Sunday, the 11th (tomorrow) at 6:00. Tickets are 17. 50 and 15.00 for members. The evening’s ticket sales will be donated to The Open Door, Cape Ann’s food pantry. To purchase tickets for dinner and movie.
Save the date ~
Pine cone eaten clear to the core, photographed at a Pine Squirrel midden. The mid-day light was very harsh and too contrasty-click images to view details.
Adjacent to where we noticed the Japanese maple tree, Dale Resca, the Facilities Manager at Willowdale, discovered an American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) midden.
American Red Squirrel Midden
A squirrel midden is essentially a squirrel’s favorite place to eat; the fallen scales from consumed seed cones collect in piles, called middens. Sitting on their claimed stump, fallen log, or branch, the squirrel pulls the scales off the cones to get to the seeds.
American Red Squirrel Cache of Pine Cones
You can see from the above photo why the American Red Squirrel is often referred to as the Pine Squirrel. Ripening in late summer, the squirrels collect pine cones and store in a central cache. American Red Squirrels do not hibernate during the winter months; the caches of cones supply nourishment when food supplies are running low.
The American Red Squirrel is widely distributed throughout North America. They are smaller than a gray squirrel and somewhat larger than a chipmunk, with reddish fur and white venter, or underbelly.
American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) ~ Image courtesy Google images
“Green leaves ignite, transformed by a kaleidoscope of incinerating colors—devil-red, burnt tangerine, caramelized amber, searing saffron, and smoldering crimson-purple. The air is impregnated with the aromatic perfume of orchard fruits ripening in the fleeting flush of the sun’s warm light. Hazy, slanting rays gild the late season glory in the garden. Surrounded by flowers of dissipating beauty and juxtaposed against the dazzling brilliance of autumn foliage, we are urged to spend every possible moment savoring our gardens before the onset of winter.”
Excerpt from my book Oh Garden of fresh Possibilities! Notes from a Gloucester Garden. Written and Illustrated by Kim Smith, David R. Godine, Publisher. To read more of this excerpt, click link: Exquisite Flora in Autumn.
Beautiful saffron yellow maple found, glowing gold in a shady knoll beneath a hardwood tree canopy, at Bradley Palmer State Park.
I believe this little tree is a Japanese maple tree, not typically found in a forest of North American native trees.
Fall Planting for Spring Tulipomania at Willowdale ~ 1,500 bulbs planted, only 1500 more to go!
The Super Fantastic Willowdale Facilities Team, right to left ~ Dale, James, and Greg
Willowdale Estate ~ A Stunning Special Events Venue
Willowdale Estate April 2008
In preparing for the lecture I am presenting tomorrow at Long Hill in Beverly, I came across several “before” photo of Willowdale Estate, from the spring of 2008, which was the year I began working on the gardens.
Taming the Wisteria Willowdale Estate Spring 2008
I’ve learned over the years to always take the all-important “before” photos. Clients, and prospective clients, love, love to see the transformation documented!
Five months later, September 2008. We created a “wisteria arbor” that guests could pass through.
Willowdale Estate May 2012
Gerald Fandetti, Senator Bruce Tarr, Briar Fandetti-Forsythe
Last evening was a combined celebration of the ribbon cutting ceremony for the completion of the Willowdale Estate Coach House AND the 5th Anniversary party for the estate. Willowdale is a shining example of the Massachusetts Historic Curatorship Program. Senator Tarr was there to show his support for the curatorship program and to congratulate the family on their tremendous success.
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The hostess and guests were dressed in smashing 1920’s inspired costumes, champagne and crazy delicious refreshments kept the party-goers energized, a swing band had the joint jumpin’, the tent was beautifully illuminated and aglow, and the garden glistened in the warm misty rain. A roaring time was had by all!
Briar Forsythe, curator and proprietor of Willlowdale Estate
The Roaring Twenties, or as the French dubbed the period “Années Folles” (“Crazy Years”), was the time during which Bradley Palmer entertained in high style at Willowdale Estate, formerly referred to as the Bradley Palmer Estate. Willowdale Estate is the absolutely ideal venue for a twenties inspired celebration!
Willowdale Estate Courtyard
Monday night I was filming at Willowdale as we are in the early stages of creating a web page about the butterfly gardens for the Willowdale Estate website. I was hoping to film the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at dusk and did succeed! They were nectaring from the Rose Mallow, hosta, Snowberry Bush, and butterfly bushes.
Verbena bonariensis
I love the new bistro lights in the courtyard garden–so romantic!
The Ciaramitaro Family stopped by Willowdale today for a tour of the butterfly gardens. We were lucky to see several Monarchs and dozens of Painted Ladies.
Click the photo to view larger and you will see the Monarch climbed onto Madeline’s finger–it takes great patience to hold still long enough to allow a butterfly to climb aboard!
Madeline was determined that a butterfly would climb onto her finger–first trying the Painted Ladies and then very, very patiently, and holding very, very still, encouraging the Monarchs. She was thrilled when one did–and did so several times–very sweet to see her joy. Madeline and Eloise were expertly identifying the male and female Monarchs and explaining to all in how to tell the difference.
The Luna Moth, one of the most stunning and easily recognized moths, belongs to the Giant Silkworm Family or Saturniidae. Moths in the Sautrniidae are generally medium to large, with bulky bodies, dense, fur-like scales, and eyespot patterns on the wing. There are roughly forty species of Saturniidae in North America, including the Promethea Moth, often seen at twilight, and the giant Cercropia Moth, with a wingspan of a half-foot or more! The caterpillars of the Luna Moth feed on many trees including alders, beech, cherries, sweet gum and willows.
Luna Moth ~ Actias luna
Male Luna Moth found at Willowdale Estate early Thursday morning. Photo courtesy Dale Resca.
I never know what interesting species I am going to encounter when at Willowdale– usually tending to find more of the native variety—-
From wiki: Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus, is a resident breeder in South Asia. The peacock is designated as the national bird of India and the provincial bird of the Punjab. The term peafowl can refer to the two species of bird in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. Peafowl are best known for the male’s extravagant tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, and the female a peahen. The female peafowl is brown or toned grey and brown.
Come join us tomorrow evening in the garden at Willowdale.
Reminder to save the date ~ A week from Tuesday, on the evening of June 12th, I am giving a tour of the butterfly gardens at Willowdale Estate. We will be showing my short film about the gardens at Willowdale and Briar’s delicious refreshments will be served. I am very excited to share the gardens and show how to translate this information to your own garden. I hope you can join us for what promises to be a lovely evening!
R.S.V.P. to Info@WillowdaleEstate.com.
Click any photo to view slideshow
For weeks I had planned to photograph the tulips in bloom at Willowdale, but only in the late afternoon sun. Each afternoon I headed out, the sky grew overcast. Last Monday the sun shown gloriously the entire day.
Fortunately I caught the tail end of North Shore Wedding Magazine photographing their Premier Issue in the gardens at Willowdale. North Shore Wedding Magazine is a brand new biannual publication featuring quality North Shore wedding professionals and venues, and is the sister publication to New Hampshire Wedding Magazine.
Sarah Boucher’s (Willowdale’s Planning Manager) lovely table styling for the North Shore Wedding Magazine photo shoot.
Kristina Hathaway with model
I hope this does not sound boastful however am mentioning because I just love it when people understand the design intention of a project. Kristina Hathaway remarked that she loved the feminine quality of the garden’s design juxtaposed against the masculine architecture of the stone mansion—music to my ears! The design challenges at Willowdale are multifold, yet rewarding, and from April 1st to until the first week of November you will find the gardens in bloom!
Tuesday evening, June 12, at 7:00 pm come join me in the gardens at Willowdale Estate. Enjoy refreshments and a tour of the garden, followed by a showing of my film “The Butterfly Garden at Willowdale Estate.” RSVP to Info@Willowdale Estate.
Click any photo to view slide show
I hope you can come join me in the courtyard garden I designed for Willowdale on Tuesday June 12th at 7pm. The event is free and should be lots of fun. I am looking forward to showing my film and the garden and Briar will prepare her wonderful array of refreshments, within the setting of the beautifully restored Arts and Crafts mansion and gardens that is Willowdale! RSVP to Info@WillowdaleEastate.com
This is a view into the courtyard garden I designed for Willowdale Estate. The tulips are at their peak. I call this mix of colors my ‘Bridal Mix,’ because it provides a symphony of watercolor hues for the April and May weddings. Don’t you think too that the satiny sheen of the tulip petals looks like the silk satin gowns of wedding parties?
Willowdale Estate Topsfield
Click photo to view larger image. More from Willowdale spring coming.
As many know from reading my posts, my dear friend, and one of my favorite design clients, is Briar Forsythe, proprietor of Willowdale Estate, located in Topsfield. I was delighted to attend Briar’s birthday party, which was a wine and food tasting event, and held in the new conservatory at Willowdale. Usually when there I am up to my elbows in design projects so it was a real pleasure to get a sense of how it feels to be a guest. I’ll write more in a future post about the history of, and rebuilding of, the conservatory.
The party started at 4:00 and the late afternoon sunlight streaming through the conservatory windows lent a warm and welcoming glow to the event. The service was absolutely impeccable (do you find that is not often easy to say?). Chef Joe Joyce and staff had prepared simply the most divine courses, paired with wines that perfectly complemented each dish. All the wines were delicious and I can imagine they would be great paired with any number of meals. Unfortunately, I did not take a snapshot of the first course, which was a Duxbury Oyster with Champagne Foam and Blood Orange Caviar, served with a sparkling Dibon Cava Brut. I love sparkling wines and found this perfectly not overly sweet. I am not going to go on and on telling you how super delicious was all–it was–and hope the photos give an idea. The wines were provided by Geoffrey Fallon.
Sweet Pea Agnolotti, Lobster Tail, Vanilla Aioli and Pea Shoots 
Crispy Pork Belly, Poached Apple, Celeriac Puree, Micro Dijon Greens
Seared Tenderloin of Beef, King Oyster Mushroom, Bone Marrow Cracker, and Bordelaise Paired with Pietrantonj Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
Braised Lamb Shank, Grilled Polenta, Mustard Greens and Baby Turnip Paired with Armandiere Cahors
Visit Willowdale’s website—they are a full service special events venue, specializing in their own in-house fabulous catering. Tours are offered throughout the year and many Gloucester companies do business with Willowdale, including several of our local florists and photographers.
Click last photo to see slideshow of all party pics.
Kim writes-
Dear Gardening Friends,
Come join us Thursday, November 3rd, at 7:00 pm at the Friend Room of the Sawyer Free Library for the premiere of my new series of video specials for Cape Ann TV, titled Through the Garden Gate, featuring "The Butterfly Garden at Willowdale Estate." The event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served. I hope you can come!
Premiere Sponsored by the Sawyer Free Library
Just a few of the many butterflies, and their nectar plants and native host plants, featured in The Butterfly Garden at Willowdale Estate:
check out Kim’s Blog here-
Good Morning Gloucester 