Gatsbys Gardens

Several years ago I opened an account on Ebay called Gatsby's Gardens.  I never did much with it and it went into oblivion.  When I went to resurrect it for a blog the web name was no longer available so I took Gatsbys Gardens.

The name really began a long time ago with F. Scott Fitzgerald and his book The Great Gatsby.  I first read the book and then saw the movie, and of course fell in love with that time period.  My husband and I began many years ago to collect furniture from the period and began to relate to the stories our relatives told about that time.  My mother and aunt were both what you would call "flappers," living through this volatile period with the stock market crash and then the depression. 

My mother came to the United States  from Ireland the year The Great Gatsby was published.  She was a teenager and joined her sister who had immigrated a few years earlier.  When the stock market crash happened people lived in limbo for many years during this period without jobs, without lives!  My mother married when she was older and also had children as an older mother.  It was many years before the economy began to recover.

My aunt and my mother

It certainly does remind me of what is going on now, those high flying days at the beginning of this century , the crash, the job loss, the long climb back to prosperity

Oh by the way, they have just cast Carey Mulligan (Wall Street:  Money Never Sleeps) as Daisy Buchanan  in a remake of The Great Gatsby!

Greening Up For The Holidays

Wouldn't you think "greening up" is an ecological term regarding our environment?  In the holiday container business it means building your container from the bottom up with greens, at least three types.

I attended a workshop at a local nursery this past weekend.  The weather was unusual in that it began in the middle 50's with a slight drizzle, and before I left the wind had whipped up and the temperature dropped into the low 40's.

Begin with the heavier evergreen branches such as Noble Fir

Now work in a triangle form for your other greens such as boxwood, huckleberry and variegated cedar.

Noble fir branches are recommended as a base because they are firm and strong, then interspersed with boxwood or red huckleberry in a triangle pattern, sort of like you would plant perennials, lastly with incense cedar or variegated cedar, or other evergreens like scotch pine or Fraser fir.  When the greening up is completed this is the time to spray with a product like Wilt Pruf (other brands on the market).

Noble Fir branches are usually sold whole (they look like a flat Christmas tree) cut in half for putting into containers.

Variegated and Incense Cedar

This is a display of small evergreens to add to your containers

Now is is embellishment time, pine cones, berries, magnolia leaves, winterberry, etc.  Do not spray a Wilt Pruf product on any berries, or they will turn black and have an early demise, magnolia leaves will become spotted.

Chinaberry

Leucadendron

Magnolia Leaves

Seed Pods (These hold up from year to year)

Tinted Eucalyptus

Talloberry

Winterberry (expensive but striking in an arrangement) do not spray with Wilt Pruf, berries will discolor.

Dried Pomegranate on placement sticks (I had to cut mine to fit in the smaller pots around the boxwood)

Silver Dollar Eucalyptus (This will not stay green through the winter).

Dried artichoke

Eucalyptus Pods

Cut all of your greens on an angle, sink into soil and water well when completed.  They will eventually freeze in place.  It was not recommended to use an oasis as they will deteriorate over the winter.  However, last year I had oasis in my cast iron planters in a plastic bowl and they were fine.

This is a huge planter, not one that most of us would have on our property, but it does give us a good idea of how many different elements go into an arrangement to make it interesting.

A smaller arrangement that most of us can relate to

Grapevine spheres, some painted and some natural

The greening up is completed, sprayed the Wilt Pruf and then began adding the embellishments - not done yet!

I painted my dried hydrangeas with Ace Hardware Burgundy colored outdoor spray paint and an indoor antique gold/green spray (which I had to seal with a clear coat because it wasn't for outdoors). 

Painted spheres and hydrangeas

This is a completed arrangement, lots of materials used and expensive.  Many of the embellishments can be kept from year to year.

Birch branches are usually preferred to spray paint because they are finer than the dogwoods.

Boxwood with Pomegranate (I may put in a little moss to soften the look)

Seeded cedar awaiting something unusual, I'm working on it!

I think this one may be completed

Before I left, I noticed the grass in the nursery yard swaying in the strong winds, looked just like a prairie!

Ebenezer's - A Gem In a Perfect Setting

I have been antique shopping at Ebenezer's Gift House on Prospect Avenue in Clarendon Hills, Illinois for many years, but I never took the time to really look at those magnificent window displays, the vignettes throughout the store or Catherine the owner, also an author and illustrator of children's books.

Ebenezer's is located on 14 South Prospect Avenue in Clarendon Hills, Illinois.  It is convenient to the Burlington train from Chicago about twenty miles west of the city.  http://www.ebenezers-gifts.com/

I know, you are going to say this is not your typical suburban window display - no it is New York!  Kitty's son David (who is a professional staging designer) comes in from New York several times per year to do the window displays and stage the rest of the store.

This is the skirt of bows on the lady above, taken from the front window because I was fearful I would break something if I tried to get into the window to take the picture, so I chanced this side shot.

Another part of that wonderful front display window.  I had to take it through the glass because I was concerned about walking around in the very small space in front of the glass.

Please join me on this trip through Catherine's (Kitty's) establishment because it is quite a journey of the old and new all blended into a delightful experience.

This is the other side of the front window with a nativity scene set up on an antique leaded glass window surrounded by figurines.

The building is storefront on the ground floor with two wonderful vintage apartments on the second floor, all decorated in a timeless fashion to display the wonderful antique offerings.

A daily treat or Advent Tree for the month of December

Santas, snowmen, bears - they are everywhere!

This is the candy cane Christmas table with candy canes put over the side of vintage bowls and peppermints in the center with red candles.

You can see how striking this is with a down shot of the table.

This is the Depression Glass Room (tucked out of the way in a long open closet) with all of those wonderful colors of the era.

One of many trees decorated for Christmas

The Party Table

A beautiful dining table set with Gorham China

Green Depression Glass

A Vintage Kitchen

The kitchen Christmas tree

                                

    The two bedrooms in the larger apartment are filled with treasures of the past.

   There are many dresser sets in porcelain, celluloid and Bakelite.

This was my favorite room because it is so unusual.  Catherine's son David stripped off random pieces of the wallpaper that had been applied through the years.  It was like a decor timeline!

The kitchen in the smaller apartment with vintage aprons and tablecloths

Kitty took over another space next door with larger furniture, dining room sets, buffets, etc.  Let's take a look:

My daughter-in-law and I really liked these green leaf trees.

The front window of the adjacent shop

What a great tree with the peacock

Such a creative display on an old hall tree!

A Thanksgiving Table

The Children's Room  with hand painted furniture and handmade stuffed toys

Handmade Baby items

Enchanting selections of children's toys and books

There is so much to see in this shop that it is something to experience over and over. 

David and his mother have made this into an exciting and unusual shop in the heart of suburbia.  Daughter Cathy does the website, truly a family affair.