Let’s take a quick walk through a new project at Stratton House. The plateau is a leveled circle in the central part of our garden and property. This area was leveled to create a flat space for garden parties and other fêtes best enjoyed in the wild.

Scilla siberica, an old standard in most estates and gardens, was chosen to continue the tradition of this little blue wonder. The gesture in this garden amounts to ten thousand tiny blue gems, ready to burst forth.

Crocus Tommas Lilac Beauty and Crocus vernus Jeane d’Arc, bulbs planted in the tens of thousands, comprise much of the circle's surface. Pale violet and clear white blooms will dance for a moment in the early spring.

The start of the stacked stone circle can be seen here as we leveled the plateau. With attempts to beat frost laws on the roads, the team will continue encrusting the circle for as long as we can ship fieldstone to the property. Our wilding ode to the ancient circles of Europe will continue to evolve with each passing season.

Building a bulb garden of this magnitude and scale can present challenges. Planning and preparations for drainage were paramount to ease my mind. The ever-more-frequent storms unleash biblical amounts of rain in Grosse Pointe. With the rain gardens and now this final piece of the master plan, all storm runoff has been beautifully mitigated.

Layers of bulbs were scattered as we built up this new circle plateau.

Everyone took part in the great planting of 2024. Bensimon and the chicken gang couldn’t have been more excited about all the open earth. Joyce was on the prowl for the juiciest worm, while Hugo and Ilse performed an impromptu bulb dance to stir up some worms.

Over-seeded with clover and turfgrass, this new spring garden will quietly meld into the background of the wild tableau once the warm weather returns to town.

Our property and gardens are planted with trees that celebrate the family and friends we've lost along the way. This month, we added to our wood. We planted an oak in honor of our friend Maura, who recently passed. Nine years ago, we met in a garden, and our last conversation took place in our garden, quite near where we planted this oak.

I walk the gardens many times a day, passing these totems of the people we love. Each time, I smile and often think about moments we may have shared and laughed. To this sanctuary, we welcome Maura’s light.