Waaaaaaay back in April, right around the time I turned into a whirling dervish of work on the book and every other project under the sun, I put everything down for two days to travel to Little Rock for an event at P. Allen Smith’s garden home retreat.
Now, I’m quite certain I’m the last blogger to post about this, for reasons above as well as some technical difficulties I had with the blog in the meantime (because of course I had time to deal with that), so it’s been a while. Perhaps there’s not much left to be said about the event, but what I will tell you is that it was a fantastic time, our hosts and the event’s sponsors were gracious, Little Rock was surprisingly adorable, and I’m glad I went.
The first day, we toured three gardens designed by Mr. Smith’s firm, including one at the Arkansas governor’s mansion and a wildly over the top villa-inspired garden with a terrace to die for. My favorite, though, was the third garden, and that’s the one I wanted to share with you. It was a Mediterranean-inspired jewel box, exquisite and practically perfect in every way, Mary Poppins, and I only wish I took more photos. Narration is in the captions you’ll see below each photo when it pops up.
I think this is the point where legally I’m supposed to divulge that P. Allen Smith’s people sponsored our trip to Little Rock? And I thank them for that, and for their hospitality.
{ 10 comments }
Gorgeous photos Andrew. So glad you were able to join us last April. It was a pleasure to meet you.
Thanks, Mary Ellen, it was great meeting you too! I just wish I’d had more time to follow up before now, AND, again, I wish I’d taken more photos.
Absolutely beautiful! Love the pergola, and yes the cedar combination with the palms!
Andrew, I loved that garden, too! Especially the covered deck area-I only took infinity pictures of it. It seemed so cozy and…..perfect. I was so glad to have been there and to have met you (finally!) in person.
Beautiful photos! Love them.
Yes, I’d love to see more pics of that.
More of the layout in fact.
the Eleaeagnus in the pot with the crinkled edge to the leaf is I assume not x ebbingei.
Do you know what it is?
You being Mr. Plantsman an’ all.
Would love to crib that idea for large pots and I suspect it must be a dwarfer form, but its the crinkled edge I like!
Thanks for this post.
Best
R
So good to see you again, Andrew! This was my favorite, too, because I could see myself living there. So cozy, so classy, so warm and inviting. Great photos! And I think I might have been after you with my final post about the trip. A close second, if not. LOL. It’s been a VERY busy spring, hasn’t it?
lovely… what a pretty place to live.
Thanks for commenting, folks! It was GREAT getting to see and hang out with all of you who were at the event.
@Robert: This is Elaeagnus pungens, as far as I know. It’s pretty easy to come by in the South, though neither terribly popular or overplanted. I’ve always loved it!
Thanks for that info Andrew
R
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