E SSENTIALS
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Your Guide to the Good Life.
Victorian garden style lives on BY KIM COOK THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
T
hose drawn to 19th century style may be pleased to learn that vintage garden decor is a trend this spring and summer. The look involves florals, weathered wood, wire, period typography, bird motifs and accessories, and other elements with a Victorian vibe, says Tom Mirabile, a trend watcher for Lifetime Brands. The appeal lies largely in the era’s garden-as-haven aesthetic, he says. “We look at the Victorian age as an era when there was just a lot of time,” he said at an industry trends seminar earlier this year at the NY Now trade show. Conservatories, greenhouses and aviaries were popular in stately Victorian-era homes, but even modest residences might have a little bird cage. Fashionable too were ferns, palms and terrariums. Pottery Barn’s got miniature greenhouses this season made of white-painted distressed pine and glass,
perfect terrariums for small plants. A replica of a vintage bird cage is made of wire painted hunter green; it’s tall enough to house an elegant orchid, but would also work as a tabletop accent. On a grander scale is the retailer’s Conservatory bird cage, a nearly 5-footlong mahogany and wire piece that would fit on a console table or atop a long shelf. While it’s dramatic in and of itself, a collection of objects would look amazing inside it. (potterybarn.com) Floral motifs – and roses in particular – were all the rage during the Victorian era. Art and textiles featured illustrated flora and fauna from home and exotic parts of the world. Bradbury & Bradbury now offers a couple of art wallpapers derived from illustrations by period artists
This tall wire bird cage from Pottery Barn in a distressed green painted wire can be filled with a tall plant or just used as a decorative tabletop accessory.
AP photos. This terrarium from Pottery Barn made of distressed painted pine and glass replicates early greenhouses popular during the Victorian era.
BOTANICAL GARDEN A DREAM REALIZED
Your Garden Roger Mercer
F
ayetteville has taught me a big lesson.
Dream big, because dreams do come true. It has been 35 years since I began to dream about having a world-class botanical garden in the Fayetteville area. Since then, much of what I dreamed has become a reality, mostly through the hard work of people who shared my vision and made the garden happen. The garden is now celebrating its 25th anniversary. And while big donors have made the most spectacular contributions to what the garden has become, the garden is utterly dependent on donors of every means, from the volunteers who spend their time keeping the garden
beautiful to the donors who help financially. The garden is a great equalizer. It is the one place in Fayetteville where the rich and poor work side by side to make our community more beautiful and more livable. Without the special contact with nature that the garden provides, we are all poor. Our spirits and dreams need the lifting that the garden provides. I say this because as we approach the world-class greatness that was among our original goals for the garden, I am fearful that we will forget the tens of thousands of hours our volunteers have given to make it a better place for our community, the people who visit us from throughout the Cape Fear Region and the children who discover natural beauty for the first time. Want to see what pure joy looks like? Watch the children. While spending a day in the garden last week with a group of elementary students learning about soil structure and rocks and minerals, I began to have a
2 | ESSENTIALS | Sunday, May 4, 2014
sense of deja vu. I read a column I wrote on May 20, 1989, long before there was a botanical garden, and I was amazed. Much of what I wrote then could be taken as a description of the garden as it appears now. I can take little credit. Tens of thousands of people have helped. Here’s some of the column: “What would a Fayetteville Botanical garden look like? The possibilities are endless. But it should have features found nowhere else in the world. ‘‘Only if the garden is so good that a gardentouring couple from, say, Minnesota has a hard time deciding whether to go to Kew Gardens in England, Calloway Gardens in Georgia or Fayetteville Botanical Garden, will the garden have the desired effect – remaking Fayetteville’s image. ‘‘Let’s take an imaginary tour. Azaleas gleam in bright colors from the entranceway’s traditional Southern landscape. ‘‘The first scene unfolds with many rare and colorful native and traditional Southern plantings. Camellias form the background. Sarvis trees waft a gentle fragrance above them. Daphne forms small evergreen mounds bearing fragrant pink and white flowers. ‘‘A sweep of wildflowers appears. The flowers are all native to Cumberland County. ‘‘Above a pool and nearby bog arise native bog plants with colorful blooms and interesting foliage. Beyond the bog ... a small grove of native bald cypress is greening. ‘‘Beyond the cypress grove the road curves around a large central building. There are a fountain, a lily pool and a
collection of Oriental and American plants mingled in a landscape unequalled for quiet beauty. “Visitors stroll into the building for information about the garden. ‘‘Before returning to the entrance, the road circles and weaves through the 40-acre garden, revealing scene after scene of exceptional plantings interspersed with natural areas. ‘‘Dwarf conifers echo the forms of taller trees, while providing colors in chartreuse, olive, green, white and gold. ‘‘Signs mark specialty gardens. Each special collection bears the name of an important contributor of plants, knowledge, money or effort that has helped to make the garden beautiful.” Sounds much like Cape Fear Botanical Garden, doesn’t it? Thousands of volunteers and dozens of workers paid by donations from businesses and individuals have accomplished what seems to be a miracle. Credit should go to Martha Duell and Dr. Bruce Williams of Fayetteville Technical Community College for getting the ball rolling and keeping it rolling until the project drew wide community support and became self-sustaining. Sen. Tony Rand helped the garden recover from damage from Hurricane Fran and helped get FTCC’s Horticulture Education Center built on the garden’s grounds. Several people associated with this newspaper have given their time, energy and money to help the garden clear hurdles and advance in quality. Send your questions and suggestions to roger@ mercergarden.com or write to Roger Mercer, Mercers Garden, 6215 Maude St., Fayetteville, NC Please include your telephone number.
AP photo. Reproduction and original antique signage and labels are part of the vintage garden look. This metal sign from Farmhouse Wares, printed on both sides, is wall art with a graphic punch and old-fashioned charm.
William Morris and Walter Crane. Fenway has an Art Nouveau-style pattern with irises at its heart, while Woodland showcases the artistry of both Morris and Crane – winsome rabbits and long-legged deer cavort across a leafy landscape. (bradbury.com) Designer Voytek Brylowski offers prints of works by Victorian illustrators Mary and Elizabeth Kirby. Parrots, toucans, lilies and hummingbirds are handcolored, vibrant examples that can be mounted in simple frames and placed near a patio door – or anywhere the gentility and charm of the period might be appreciated. “By digitally enhancing old images, I feel that I give them new life, and preserve historically significant illustrations and drawings by these famous naturalists,” says Brylowski, who is based in Wroclaw, Poland. (etsy.com/shop VictorianWallArt) Jennifer Stuart, an artist in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has designed a collection of plates depicting damask and floral prints of the 19th century on patio-friendly melamine. (zazzle.com) And Pier 1’s Floria collection has a vintage damask pattern in garnet, soft blue and grass-green in a collection of indoor/ outdoor rugs and throw pillows. (pier1.com)
Cast-iron and wicker furniture and containers were used both indoors and out in the late 19th century, just as today we use rattan chairs in the family room and the garden, or iron plant stands in the kitchen as well as the patio. Restoration Hardware’s Hampshire and Bar Harbor all-weather wicker collections include chairs and sofas in restful shades of cream, gray and mocha. (restorationhardware.com) Early visitors to resorts in New York’s Adirondack Mountains discovered the eponymous big wooden chair that’s withstood hundreds of years of style changes. A good selection in both real wood and Polywood, a recycled plastic resembling wood, is at hayneedle.com. West Elm’s collection of soft yet sturdy braided baskets, woven of bankuan grass, evoke French laundry bins. Use them as storage in any room; the natural color makes them versatile. (westelm.com) Turquoise chicken-wire baskets and cloches can be found at farmhousewares. com, which also has a vintage-style garden supply shop sign in the form of a hand. Galvanized planter pots in sets of six would make great receptacles for herbs or miniature blooms.
COCKTAIL BITTERS ARE BOOMING BY MICHELLELOCKE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
C
Dark Night, a drink made with Aztec chocolate bitters
BREEZY MARIA
Start to finish: 5 minutes Servings: 1 1 ounce Lillet 1 ounce gin 1 dash celery bitters ¼ large tomato Juice of ½ lime 1-inch segment peeled cucumber Ice Combine all ingredients except the ice in a cocktail shaker. Use a muddler to crush the vegetables to a pulp. Add ice, then shake vigorously. Strain into an ice-filled tumbler.
ocktail expert Adam Lantheaume isn’t afraid to tell the bitters truth. Making drinks without adding a dash or two of bitters is like cooking without seasoning. “We think of cocktail bitters as the spice cabinet of the bartender,” he says. And things are getting spicier by the minute on the bar scene. Rhubarb bitters? They’re out there. Macadamia nut, papaya bitters? Ditto. There even are chocolate bitters and one made from a single-malt scotch. It’s a bitters boom. Will Elliott, head bartender at Maison Premier in Brooklyn, has seen the proliferation and regionalization of bitters. “It’s turned into a big cottage industry. The viewpoint from the consumer seems to be that it’s just essential to any drink. Ten years ago, it was such an afterthought.” All bitters serve essentially the same purpose – to unify and highlight other ingredients, mostly in cocktails, but sometimes in food. They are made by distilling herbs, seeds, roots and other ingredients, and – true to their name – have a bitter or bittersweet taste and potent aroma. Angostura is the granddaddy of the bitters world, created in Venezuela in the early 19th century by a German doctor looking to improve the troops’ digestive health. It’s still made today by House of Angostura and often is used for cooking as well as classic cocktails. Another classic bitters is Peychaud’s, which was created by Antoine Amedee Peychaud in New Orleans and is a key ingredient of the Sazerac cocktail.
But those are just the start. As founder and proprietor of Boston Shaker, a cocktail tools and ingredients store in Somerville, Mass., Lantheaume has seen a bitters renaissance as the craft cocktail movement has pushed bartenders and home enthusiasts to search for quality ingredients and more intense flavors. Some bartenders are even making their own bitters by macerating various ingredients in high-proof alcohol, then straining off the bitters. Another trend is barrel-aging bitters to further tease out flavors. If you’re new to bitters, be aware that there are two types. Potable bitters – such as amaro, an herbal liqueur – can be drunk straight, often as a digestif at the end of a meal, or mixed in a drink. Campari falls into this category. Non-potable bitters – such as Angostura – are intense and work as an ingredient only. These usually are measured by the drop or dash. Bitters may go back as far as the ancient Egyptians and for much of their history were considered medicinal, says Benjamin Wood, beverage director at Distilled, in NYC’s Tribeca neighborhood. Adding bitters to a drink doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as taking a classic gin and tonic and adding a dash or two of grapefruit bitters to heighten the taste. “Science says aroma can affect flavor by 70 or 80 percent,” says Wood. “If you can utilize bitters in that way and really think about aromatics on top of balancing flavor profiles in a cocktail, then it’ll be a longer-lasting experience for the consumer and hopefully they’ll remember it and come back.”
SUMMER RAIN
DARK KNIGHT
In a shaker, muddle the thyme with the sugar. Add the sour orange juice, orange liqueur, tequila and rhubarb bitters. Add ice, shake vigorously. Strain into glass.
In a tumbler, combine the scotch, coffee liqueur, chili and chocolate bitters. Stir and muddle the chili with a spoon or muddler. Remove and discard the chili, then add a couple cherries. (Select a chili to your heat tolerance).
Start to finish: 5 minutes Servings: 1 1 sprig fresh thyme ½ teaspoon sugar 1 ounce sour orange juice (or ½ ounce each of lemon juice and orange juice) ½ ounce orange liqueur 1 ounce reposado tequila 2 dashes rhubarb bitters
Start to finish: 5 minutes Servings: 1 2 ounces scotch ½ ounce coffee liqueur ½ chili (ribs and seeds removed, if desired) 2 dashes chocolate bitters Amarena cherries, to garnish
Sunday, May 4, 2014 | ESSENTIALS | 3
‘Maleficent’ offers Gothic fashion
BY ADAMTSCHORN LOS ANGELES TIMES LOS ANGELES
D
isney’s “Maleficent” may not be hitting the multiplex until May, but details about some of the merchandise (think fashionable goods for the bad girl) are starting to trickle out. Among the notable stylish “Maleficent” merchandise set to drop in advance of the film’s May 30 release: Stella McCartney kids’ clothes, Italian-made scarves and a jewelry collaboration with prices as high as Her Winged Wickedness’ prosthetically enhanced cheekbones. Most will begin hitting stores in early May.
CROW’S NEST
Daniel Belevitch, creative director of U.K.-based Crow’s Nest, mined the movie’s dark motifs – think feathers, fire, thorns, horns and dragons – to create a high-end seven-piece jewelry collection that includes a dangerous-looking cuff that evokes the shape of Maleficent’s horns rendered in black rhodium and set with a pear-shaped onyx ($5,720), and a breathtaking rose gold full-finger-length ring encrusted with sparks of yellow and red sapphires ($20,880).
FALIERO SARTI
Luxury Italian scarf maker Faliero Sarti has created two modal and cashmere scarves in partnership with Disney Consumer Products. A blue one, edged in a thorn border design, depicts the dangerous Maleficent lurking in the foreground of a moonlit nightscape, a cottage (presumably Sleeping Beauty’s) visible in the background. A black one features an image of the sorceress in the center, framed by a border of stylized thorns, beaked skulls and black birds ($438 each).
DAVID LERNER
If Maleficent decided to stow the horns and dress down for a night on the town, she might well choose to wear one of the pieces created in collaboration with the David Lerner label – either the black, thigh-length jersey dress with sheer shoulders ($275) or the black, form-fitting, side-zip leggings ($178).
MCCARTNEY KIDS
McCartney, who has partnered on past Disney projects, has designed an eightpiece collection themed around the deadly dame, the standouts of which include an Aurora dress with floral embroidery detail on the sleeves, neck and belt (for the good little girl, $145) and a dress for the miniMaleficent in your brood, complete with an all-over winged-witch foil print and fabric “wings” that attach at the wrists ($145, purple velvet horn headdress sold separately). The collection also includes a few pieces for the boys, including a cool pair of canvas kicks with an all-over feather print and a pair of detachable wings ($200). The collection will be available at disneystore.com in May and in Stella McCartney stores at the end of April.
4 | ESSENTIALS | Sunday, May 4, 2014
MAC COSMETICS
As one might expect, the cosmetics offering pegged to the film is glamour meets Goth, and the 11-piece wingsilhouette-emblazoned MAC collection includes the obligatory standout blood-red shade of lipstick (True Love’s Kiss, $16.50) and a trio of nail lacquers with names like Uninvited, Flaming Rose and Nocturnelle (nude, red and black respectively, $17.50 each).
NAEEM KHAN
A women’s capsule collection tied to the film and designed by Naeem Khan is set to take wing exclusively at HSN on May 7 (with a live TV selling event scheduled for May 27-30). Divided between “wicked side” (heavy on the black with the through line of a gray, black and white feather print) and “good side” (white tone-on-tone feather embroidery), it includes trousers, tops, cropped jackets and dresses, all of which will retail from $69.90 to $269.90.
Crow’s Nest Jewels has joined forces with Walt Disney Pictures to create an exclusive limited edition collection for it’s upcoming 2014 blockbuster, ‘Maleficent,’ which stars Angelina Jolie.
The 11-piece MAC collection includes the standout blood-red shade of lipstick: ‘True Love’s Kiss,’ $16.50