Vertical Garden from Plants on Walls

Containers planted with herbs. Check. Green wall hung and planted with ferns and Philodendron by our landscape partners, Eden Farms of Stamford, CT. Check. Moss birds on the wall. Check.

We’re gearing up for Wednesday’s press preview at the Shippan Designer Show House in Stamford, CT, where Victoria Lyon and I have been putting the finishing touches on our space, an eco-friendly garden retreat, greenhouse, and garden.

I returned from Brooklyn last Thursday with a car full of wonderful things from one of my favorite garden shops, Dig, and got caught in a tornado! When the rain cleared enough for me to see where I was going, I had to navigate around the furniture and milk crates that had flown into the street. I am so lucky a tree did not land on me, as one poor driver was not as fortunate.

Setting up the potting table was so much fun. I love the stone coffee cup plant container that Chuck and Maggie from Dig Brooklyn insisted we borrow from their shop.

Our friends Chuck and Maggie from Dig, Brooklyn

Among the many cool things we have on loan from Dig: two life-size dog topiaries, a gorgeous terrarium, a cork wood planter, a child’s garden table and chairs, and–one of my favorites–a miniature bathtub planted with sedums:

Photo by Nancy Moon

The “sink room” with the moss bird mural nearly completed…

Nope, it’s not real. It’s a faux barn wood floor mat made of rubber. You can hose it off. How cool!

‘Twas the night before press day, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring…and the guard dog stands at attention, keeping the place safe. We have the tools hung above the gorgeous shelf of reclaimed wood our fab contractor, John Hone of Greenwich Property Management, located for us. Our garden books are propped up and supported by garden pot bookends.

Photo by Nancy Moon

Although there are no native doves in the Shippan area, the shed has a wonderful dovecot with perches for the doves if they were ever to return. I’m told it can also work for pigeons.

Victoria and I posing for posterity, birds circling my head…

Loving the pots made from upcycled tires by Jill Colquitt of Duchess Craft, the blue watering can from Judy and Randy at Bluebonnet Fields Junk Shop in Texas, and the birdcage mirror and hanging pots from Barreveld.

The live painting, or living frame as Brooklyn artist Kate Hill Cantrill calls her work, is created from Hoya (hanging), Vsempervivum (hen and chicks–the reddish bit), Sheet Moss, Deerfoot, Reindeer, and Spanish mosses, and barnacles. Kate is going places; I know it.

Stay tuned for more!

Shippan Designer Show House
Shippan Point, 422 Ocean Drive West, Stamford, CT.
September 25 through October 31
Noon to 5 Sundays – 11 to 5 Tuesday to Saturday
Closed Mondays
Tickets: $30 at the door

The show house is produced by Franco Grimaldi of Talent Resource Centre, and all proceeds benefit the Stamford Museum and Nature Center. Franco has produced over 30 of these show houses and I must say, has a talent for pulling off a challenging task.

Designers include: Bartony Design, Beverly Balk Interiors, Bloomsbury Gardens, Deb Ryan Designs, Debra Geller Interior Design, Designs by Jennifer Owen, Judi Egbert Interiors, Jack Fhillips Design, Gosp Designs, Greenwich Design Architects, Greg Lanza Interior Designs, Kenneth Davis, Mary Delany Interior Design, Suzanne Bellehumeur-Mural Interiors, NuKitchens, Potomac Garage Solutions, Scaping Land Development Co., The Anacara Co., The Decorator’s Eye, Urban Gardens, Victoria Lyon Interiors

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Special thanks go to Nancy Moon of Moon Public Relations for her professional counsel assisting us in getting the word out about our part in the show house and for helping create visibility for this special project. Moon is a Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Green Business Steering Committee member whose mission is to “provide MCC members with a leading sustainability and environmental roadmap that acts as an up-to-date educational engine, resource guide, and network to experts in the field.” She started her career at ABC Sports, then went on to become Director of Communications at Madison Square Garden, where she worked with the Dalai Llama and James Taylor on his environmental causes. Moon continues to create buzz for large corporations, small entrepreneurs, and even the occasional lifestyle and design blogger…