The petals are in peak bloom, and they’re absolutely dazzling.
Hydrangeas, dahlias, and roses — oh my!
Everyone loves a gorgeous flower, but our very own Katie is truly the queen of fabulous florals. She’s a huge fan of the tulips that populate New York City during the springtime — especially because of her deep personal connection to them — but the real pièce de résistance is her very own garden.
Team KCM has been raving about Katie’s backyard fantasyland for years, but you don’t have to take our word for it: She’s inviting you for an up-close-and-personal visit with a serene and beautiful video tour that she just posted to her TikTok page. Watch it here:
There’s a whole lot to love in the lush environment Katie’s cultivated, but she says her favorites are the bright pink dahlias. “They kind of look like spiny seashells,” she says. They’re right next to an incredible patch of purple balloon flowers (official species name: platycodon grandiflorus), and nearby is a wonderful collection of lavender, then some climbing roses.
And all this beauty does attract a fair share of visitors: “Oh, I hear a lot of bees!” Katie says during the tour.
Although Katie’s got a pretty green thumb on her own, she does get some much-appreciated help from her sister Kiki, who’s a landscape architect. She also gets a hand from her friend Andrea Mason, a designer with Hampton Yards in East Hampton. If this video inspires you to up your own garden game, Mason shared with us a list of her go-to gardening tools that always make for a bountiful harvest.
And the tips don’t stop there! Katie asked Ingrid Carozzi, the florist from her daughter Ellie’s wedding, for advice about creating your own flower arrangements at home. One big no-no in Carozzi’s eyes is using the green foam that’s often found inside a vase: “Unlike chicken wire, flower frogs, or natural, biodegradable base alternatives, so-called ‘floral foam’ is terrible for the environment, does not decompose, and is full of harmful chemicals so I never use it!”
But her biggest piece of advice is to relax, and enjoy whatever creations your garden turns up.
“There are psychological studies that indicate that flowers trigger happy brain chemicals like dopamine. Flower arranging should be fun, not stressful,” Carozzi says. “I truly think that flowers serve the purpose of bringing us joy, and we all deserve the pleasure of interacting with them regularly.”
And now, excuse us while we imagine ourselves on a quiet morning at Katie’s place, taking in the sights and sounds of her tranquil oasis…
