Here we are today, Friday, March 9th on the roof garden that we built on Park Avenue almost 10 years ago. The garden is just waking up and here are some photos of how it looks in the summer time. Every garden has a story and this story is one of my favorites. The owner found out about me through a friend who was my second client in the city back in 1990! There wasn’t a thing up here and the interior was 3 floors, a tri-plex, of raw nothing. Not only is this one of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever set foot in, but the owners are fabulous. They are from Virginia, and let me tell you… in this big northern city, away from my family in Kentucky, you just want someone from the south being warm, hospitable, and there for you if you needed them. Of my top 10, (no 5), (no 3!!!) list of glamorous, fabulous people, this woman is it. Period. I love my job!
Our second day on the big farm in southern Indiana. On these 800 acres of farmland sits a stone ruin that was an early settler stop built right on top of a spring so that when attacked by native Americans, they could still get water and not be burned out. While Bittner’s is re-doing the interior, we are planting trees and shrubs that will provide food and shelter for birds while giving the owners lots of interest in all seasons. Will post the organic vegetable garden, ornamental flower garden and potting shed after it is completed. This is so much fun, but so much work that part of my crew from NYC came down to help the Kentucky crew. Just wait until you see the final garden!
Look for the April issue of Country Living Magazine and see the Ultimate Kitchen Garden featuring favorite edibles from 12 of the most famous chefs in the US such as Rick Bayless, Alice Waters, Frank Stitt, Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, to name a few… Me and my favorite professor from UK, Sharon Bale, took a space at the beautiful UK Arboretum and made a raised bed vegetable and herb garden that was one trial and tribulation after another, just like a vegetable garden can be, especially the first year before you figure out all the issues. Plus, when trying to create a garden organically, it really takes extra effort but you will be rewarded with lots of flavor and the good feeling that you aren’t adding more chemicals to an already toxic world. However, being tenacious and observant to nature, we dealt with each problem as they arose and wait until you see the finished results!
Now here is a small, in-town property that we have worked on and off for the past 2 years. Built in the 1920′s, the house was stately but had hardly a view of the back garden. It’s funny how some houses were built without the outdoors in mind… We tried to visually connect the new Hartley Greenhouse (which is amazing and the ultimate luxury for a gardener!) that was strategically placed at the back end of the property to the new, open and airy addition of the house. Between the two buildings is a formal vegetable garden that is beautiful as well as functional. We plant the garden with cold weather crops in March and can’t wait until summer to show you the space in all it’s glory.
Join us at he Kentucky’s Lt. Governor’s Mansion for a joyous gathering during this holiday season. Get great decorating ideas while touring this newly restored historic building, older than the White House.
Decorations by Jon Carloftis Fine Gardens (Sponsored by Garden & Gun Magazine) and James Farmer ( Sponsored by Southern Living ). While visiting , continue your holiday shopping in the cottage out back, featuring items from the Rockcastle River Trading Company.
Jon Carloftis is pleased to collaborate with Louisville Stoneware (founded in 1815) to debut a line of functional artwork for the garden. Louisville Stoneware uses centuries-old ceramic techniques to create this very unique birdhouse collection that is responsible as well frost proof so as to be kept out year round. Jon has been using nature’s paintbox for years, bringing color and life to homes from his native Kentucky to the rooftops and terraces of New York penthouses and beyond. With the Carloftis Collection, he has taken the same inspiration that has made him a household name in the garden world and has created pieces that are symbolic of his most cherished memories.
Each piece in Jon’s collection is made from natural stoneware clay up to 250 million years old and harvested from deposits in Kentucky and Indiana. From these raw beginnings to an exquisite finish, no fewer than twenty pairs of artisan hands touch each piece. Look for the Jon Carlofits Collection symbol on the bottom of your next birdhouse.
Avaliable mid-November on JonCarloftis.com, LouisvilleStoneware.com, as well as the Rockcastle River Trading Company
This makes a perfect gift for your favorite gardener!
We recently had the pleasure of working at one of the world’s most prestigious music schools, the Curtis Institute of Music. This school has been in operation since October 13, 1924 and very successful due in large part to the unique ideas of the school’s creator, Mary Louise Curtis Bok. Noticing the wealth of talent in the very poorest parts of Philadelphia drove Ms. Bok to create an institution that students could come to without paying tuition and based only on talent.
Recently a very generous donor gifted $ 30 million with the school matching to build a new facility where the students could practice, study, and live in a comfortable conducive environment. We were asked by Elizabeth Warshaw to come up with a plan of using only Philadelphia native plants, having been grown from seed and not ripped from a forest. In addition to the planting beds we added JCFG reclaimed barn wood containers to grow vegetables and herbs for the students and school chefs, so that students whose lives are consumed with making music can also be immersed in nature as well as right in the heart of Center City Philadelphia.
This was also a great opportunity to showcase the new JCFG fertilizers and photograph the results. Check out the pictures to see how big of a difference JCFG Bloom & Fruit TM and Soil & Root TM has on the landscaping in just two months time! We are very pleased to be bringing this great product to our fellow gardeners.
Before and After using JCFG Sustainable/Organic fertilizers.
For over a year now we have been using these fertilizers on all our projects with amazing results. Now the products are being brought to garden centers, hardware stores, on-line, and the Rockcastle River Trading Company for use on all plants and vegetables. Currently we are working on a video to better illustrate the effectiveness of these products. We are touring some of the beautiful gardens where we have used the fertilizers.
The fertilizers consist of two separate products that work together. The first, Soil & Root TM, is a soil amendment and is applied before planting and at the base of growing plants. This revolutionary product was recently recognized as organic by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI). With our product, residues in the soil are also more quickly broken-down, creating a balanced soil, allowing for plants to quickly establish healthy, strong roots, and build a resistance to disease.
Second is the Bloom & Fruit TM. This amazing little liquid creates an environment in which the plants roots can properly take up the right nutrients. Most fertilizers are too rich with nitrogen and the soil or roots cannot use it, therefore the chemicals get washed away into lakes and streams. Not only is this a huge waste of money it is also detrimental to the environment.
For too long the desire for an immaculate garden had to be coupled with the use of harmful chemicals. With Soil & Root TM and Bloom & Fruit TM you can garden with peace of mind and the enjoyment of long lasting healthy plants.
New Products
Available online soon!
