URBAN SECRET GARDEN

DESIGN + CONCEPT: says Nan Matteson of Queen City Flower Farm, a devoted city gardener. "Pick your city. If you're walking down the street you might get a glimpse of a private garden, seen from an alley or through a gateway." The idea of a pocket garden led Nan Matteson and fellow grower Linda Spralin to create a wrap jacket with two inspirations -- a shawl collar composed of dried botanicals to suggest a 1920s fur-collared woman's coat and a 19th century Japanese firefighter kimono, often, traditionally, only a plain garment with a decorative textile lining. The coat, sewn by Nan from a pattern she adapted, has a sky blue lining against which a spring flower garden is displayed -- a secret border rooted in small, moss-covered bags that provide a water source at the hemline. "I just love the whole concept of a guardian inside the fireman's coat, providing protection even if you didn't know it was there," she says, smiling. Similarly, the flower-lined garment illustrates how much our gardens can provide a sense of comfort and protection -- even if we're the only ones who see them.

Nan Matteson, @queencityflowerfarm and Linda Spradlin, @inthegardenflowerfarm

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Jill Bader, @jillmbader

FLOWER SOURCES:

Collar: Dried amaranthus, craspedia, love-in-the-mist, celosia (plume and crested), scabiosa, gomphrena, spirea, dock, foraged grasses.Secret

Garden: redbud, tulip, bluebell, daffodil, hyacinth, hellebore, columbine, moss. All flowers grown by the designers.

MODEL: Carmen Sanders @Carmen.sanders3

VENUE: Cincinnati Art Museum, . Cincinnati, Ohio, @cincyartmuseum