The release of Martha – Stewart's eponymous Netflix documentary – is welcome news to those (including us) who love catching glimpses of the businesswoman's empire. Arguably, at the heart of it all is her love for gardening – a practice to which Stewart is synonymous – so naturally, it came up in conversation throughout the documentary in question.
Alongside footage from Stewart's iconic Bedford home, the media mogul shared a list of everything she dislikes in life, from 'inefficiency' and 'aprons' (yes) to 'not paying attention to details.' Following her distaste for 'house dresses' were two colors, purple and red – the latter of which she avoids in her garden.
'I used to dislike the color purple a lot. But I don’t dislike it so much [now]. And red. I don’t plant very many red things in my garden. If something pops up red, it’s usually taken out – so red is another thing I’m not very fond of,' Stewart says in the documentary.
In the footage, Stewart explains that she inherited her drive to create the 'perfect' garden from her dad, who, like her, was a 'perfectionist.'
'If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, make a garden… I am a perfectionist, and it runs in the family. It started with my father. Dad made each of us learn how to garden – he could grow anything. I was the ideal daughter, I wanted to learn, he had a lot to teach, and I listened,' Stewart says.
She later takes viewers behind the scenes of one of her vast homes, showcasing the many trees that surround her property. 'I have planted every tree you see — several thousand,' she adds. 'A garden is a very beautiful place for me because I like to get things done. I never look the other way. I look at a problem, look at it, and try to solve it.'
Red is unlikely to make the cut in Stewart's garden, but what can we expect to see instead? In a blog, Ryan McCallister (who has been the head gardener at Stewart’s 150-acre Bedford estate since 2011) shares the summer flowers he and Stewart look forward to every year, starting with a timeless favorite: roses.
'At the farm, roses are incorporated into the flower garden where they line the perimeter of the whole garden. We also have two long rows of roses flanking two parallel rows of lilacs, which start to bloom right as the lilacs fade,' he says. Next, we can expect to see Cosmos. 'We like to plant them from seed, as they prefer to be directly sown in the garden once it is warm. They need to be replanted every year, but they very often self-seed where they are happy,' McCallister says.
Recreating Stewart's garden colors is one thing, but replicating her success is another. Our content director, Lucy Searle, tried and tested Martha Stewart's pruners in her garden with beautiful results (but of course, since they carry her name, after all).
Our director has written about gardens for 30 years, and these pruners are among her favorites. From a quality point of view, she says they're ‘designed for a lifetime,' thanks to their tough carbon steel and rust resistance. With these pruners, old-world style craftsmanship meets precision yard and gardening equipment – it's the best $12 a garden lover can spend.
Robust with deep green, disease-resistant foliage, this beautiful rounded bush will impress all season long. It has orange buds opening to cupped flowers that are perfectly apricot and what is described as a tea-like scent. Plus, they're easy to handle with few thorns on stems.
Much like the pruner, this mini weeder carries Stewart's name, so we can expect quality. It's perfect for those smaller weeding projects that require dexterity, and it's at the lowest price we've seen, so there's no better time to invest.
