A House Abloom!

These are the days when things slow down before the frenzy of the new school year begins – and don’t we all really consider September the beginning of the year, not January? The days have that quietness to them and the evenings are getting dark noticeably earlier. In the stillness, you can hear the hum of the crickets and other creatures.

The flowers are getting showy and beautiful, with the flamboyant ones like dahlias and zinnias at their peak. Of course, not all of the flowers are in the garden. They’re in here decorating our shop. Jonathan’s green thumb keeps us supplied with fresh flowers almost year ‘round. Flowers can also be found on many of our selected pieces, like these plates, this John Derian piece, this stone sculpture, this suzani, this classic blue and white transferware plate, this jeweled bracelet, this napkin ring, and these Sam Robinson paintings.

But it’s the real flowers that capture our hearts.

As ever, if you see anything that interests you, please contact Eric at Halcyon House Antiques.

Naked Ladies

If you’ve driven in our driveway in the past week or so, you may have noticed some Naked Ladies along the drive. No? Perhaps you were looking for something other than lilies!This plant (Amaryllis belladonna) produces green, leafy growth that emerges in spring and dies back by mid summer. In late summer, leafless stems produce elegant, pink flowers. The plants shoot up within a week or two and only stay in bloom for about a week after that. They’re called Naked Ladies because they have no foliage, other than their stems. After the blooms die back, the long, strap-like leaves re-appear.

Harvey Ladew was a great fan of Naked Lady lilies, mainly because of their name. I am sure that he loved shocking his proper friends with the name. Near the Ladew Garden’s entrance is a carpet of naked lady lilies. “Ladew had admired the lilies in a friend’s garden,” says chief gardener Tyler Diehl. “The friend cabled to say he would send 50 naked ladies to Monkton if Mr. Ladew could handle them. Mr. Ladew cabled back, saying that he could easily handle 50 naked ladies if they were disease free. Of course he knew the message would scandalize telegraph operators on both ends, which was part of the fun.”

Home to Roost

Once of the enduring motifs in home design is the rooster. For years, roosters, chickens and the like have been used as a decorating element, particularly in designs from the Provence region in France. Our Provencal plates follow the hand-painted themes that have remained popular for decades, but they have a 21st century twist! Rather than being heavy earthenware pottery, these plates are light-weight and very sturdy melamine. They look like great china, but you don’t have to worry about breaking them if you use them on the terrace. Since there are least two more months of outside dining, you can take advantage of using these plates, and the others in the range, until at least October!

We also have glassware, and cutlery. They won’t break and they won’t break the bank!

We Sell Seashells!

As the summer starts winding down, and the light begins to change, you will want to keep your memories of the shore, the ocean and the beach in one of our great shell boxes.

They are so intricately made and have a wide variety of shells on them.

These terrific boxes come in a range of sizes and shapes.

Some are large enough to store all of your fun summer jewelry and others are just the right size for a little beach keepsake.

Should you want to keep things monochrome and serene, we have boxes with all-white shells with a pearlescent finish on them.

We even have some great capiz shell accessories for the bath.So, when you’re thinking of something to remember the Summer of 2013 with, remember that we sell seashells at our store!

As always, if you see something that interests you, please contact Eric at the shop!