Quick Takes With: Frances Palmer

Plant that makes you swoon:

So many—fritillaria, tulips, bearded iris, roses, peonies, dahlias.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

I can’t think of one. All flowers have something redeeming about them and one must be open to learning what that is. Maybe more commercially produced flowers don’t have as much soul as home- or farm-grown ones?

Favorite go-to plant:

I love bearded iris, roses, tulips, rudbeckias, amaranth, zinnias and dahlias.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

I think that people are finally learning to garden without pesticides and how to strive for healthy soil.

Old wives’ tale gardening trick that actually works:

My friend Connie taught me a natural spray for roses and citrus: juice of 2 lemons, 2 tablespoons of potassium, 2 tablespoons of cayenne or cinnamon, 1 liter of water—and spray over the leaves. Good for fungus and bugs.

Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:

Every gardening year is different and things can be out of your control. It is most important to be kind to yourself and the flowers and try again the next season.

Favorite gardening hack:

I love to fill in bare spots in the garden with coleus. They spread out quickly and add lots of late season color.

Favorite way to bring the outdoors in.

My pelargoniums, auriculas, and begonias live outside in the summer. In the winter I bring them into the house or keep them in my small greenhouse. These keeps me cheered throughout the darkest winter afternoons.

Every garden needs a…

Some sort of water source, such as a bird bath, fountain, or rill.

Tool you can’t live without:

TABOR TOOLS K7A Straight Pruning Shears with carbon steel blades. Natural sisal binder twine.

Go-to gardening outfit:

Bill’s Workshirt from Gamine Work Wear; blue jeans, usually from JCrew; Italian Garden Clogs in red from Gardenheir.

Favorite nursery, plant shop, or seed company:

Issima Works [Go here for our Quick Takes with founder Taylor Johnston]; The Bunker Farm; Olive Nurseries; Johnny’s Selected Seeds; Floret Flowers; Rare Seeds.

On your wishlist:

A rill or fountain cut into the tennis court surface. Mature quince trees. Deer fence around the fruit orchard.

Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:

In the US, Wave Hill in the Bronx and Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Virginia. In the UK, Rousham House & Garden, Great Dixter, and Charleston Garden.

The REAL reason you garden:

I marvel at the beauty of each flower. I love to be in the garden and listen for the hummingbird’s wings and the bees in the petals. Gardening brings me joy and gratitude. I love to use the flowers with my vases to make photographs.