Dahlia Days

As the fall days shorten, there’s one bright spot in the garden – at least until the first frost. Stiles and Jonathan’s collection of dahlias is second to none!

When you visit Halcyon House Antiques, you will see masses of freshly cut dahlias decorating the tables, using some of our vases and bowls.

At the recent Valleys Planning Council’s Art for Land’s Sake Show and Sale, Stiles made the most magnificent arrangement, nearly FIVE feet tall!

At the top, you can get a glimpse of one of the most beautiful dahlias – it’s the palest shell pink on the outer petals, and fades to a creamy white on the inner ones.

Sometimes, when we’re closing on Saturday, we give the flowers at the shop to friends who are at the store, and they re-arrange them at home.

We’re expecting the first frost any week now, and once that happens, the dahlias will be gone again for another year. But while they’re here, they bring a lot of joy!

Zinnias from Our Garden

As you may know, both Stiles and Jonathan are master gardeners and at this time of year, the gardens are lush with a variety of flowers which we like to use in the shop.

Last week, we put zinnias (Zinnia violacea) in two big hurricane lamps, which do an excellent job of doubling as vases.

Because we were closing on Sunday and Monday, a friend took the zinnias home and used them in loose arrangement, this time in an old champagne buckets.

We hope that you’re taking advantage of the final burst of fresh flowers from your garden or from the local farmers’ markets in the area. The days will be drawing in soon, and fresh flowers will be at a premium.

Flowers at Halcyon House

One thing we pride ourselves on is our selection of fresh flowers around the shop throughout the year. Jonathan and Stiles both excel at arranging flowers, and can both do it with virtually no effort!

For this arrangement, in an old salesman’s sample, Jonathan went out and picked some pink and white azaleas and stuck them into the trough. They won’t last long, because there’s no water, but for the few hours, they looked terrific.

Here’s another little arrangement a friend whipped up, using azaleas and lilacs she picked at the shop… with our permission, of course. She used a small double-handled bowl for the arrangement.

Here are some of our other arrangements through the years.

Be sure to check out the flowers at Halcyon House Antiques!

Book Signing with Felix Francis!

We were so lucky to have famed author, Felix Francis, come to Halcyon House Antiques to sign his newest book, which was just released on October 7th!

Felix is in Baltimore for a few days, and Halcyon House Antiques held an English Drinks Party and Book Signing for him. Dick Francis’s DAMAGE, by Felix Francis has just been released, so it was extra special to be able to get the book on its release date! It’s also the 50th book that the Francis’s have written, so that’s quite an accomplishment.Felix brought along copies of the covers of all 50 books, which have been done and redone over time, moving from very modern graphics, to the more realistic cover of his newest book. If you look closely below, you can see several of the older titles arranged on the mantel and the newest book on the desk.

Since this was an English drinks party, we had a pitcher full of Pims and some noshes for everyone!

Felix was charming and gave a nice background chat to the crowd and then spent the next hour or more signing books for everyone… and several books for a number of the guests!He was also very kind about posing with the guests, many of whom were from the local hunts, or were riders themselves. Lots of our friends were on hand to celebrate and to get an early start on picking up a unique Christmas present!As usual, the flowers at Halcyon House Antiques were gorgeous and from the gardens up at the farm. Felix is on a cross-country tour now, so check his Facebook page to see where he’ll be next. And if you’re looking for a great Christmas present, Halcyon House has a dozen or so signed copies of DAMAGE for sale.

Naked Ladies in Our Driveway!

It’s at about this time each year when we are visited by a group of naked ladies. They stand on the edge of the driveway in front of our shop, trying to be unobtrusive, but really showing off all of their glory.

You need to be quick to see them, as they don’t hang around for long.

Halcyon’s Pop-Up at Ladew!

We thought that we would show you some of the images from this weekend’s Ladew Topiary Garden Festival, which takes place on the first Saturday in May. Again this year, Halcyon House Antiques was a sponsor and also had a space in the tent.

One of the Henry Koehler paintings at the entrance to Halcyon House’s space. 

It’s finally getting warm enough to even consider wearing one of our great tunics.

Do you have a selection of canvas bags for each and every occasion? We do!

These beads + a great tan = great look for summer!

New pieces from Angela Caputi! We love her look.

Is there anything more classic than tortoise-shell?

Is there???

Turquoise and a tan!

Of course, it wouldn’t be Halcyon House Antiques without fresh flowers!If you missed this year’s Garden Festival, make plans to be there next year! Or just come see us at the shop!

Halcyon House Antiques at the Ladew Garden Festival!

Halcyon House Antiques will have a pop-up shop at the Sixth Annual Ladew Garden Festival on Saturday, May 3, 2014. We hope that you will come by and visit us there, and check our selection of garden antiques, summer goods and fun jewelry!

For more information on the Garden Festival, please click here.

The Maryland Hunt Cup

As many denizens of the area know, it’s Hunt Cup Weekend here in the Valleys. This race has a long and storied history and is central to the lives of a lot of people in these parts.

From Wikipedia:

The Maryland Hunt Cup was established in 1894, as a contest between two hunts, The Elkridge Fox Hunting Club and the Green Spring Fox Hunting Club, to determine the relative merits of the local hunting horses. In the first running of the race, the riders and owners had to come from either of the two hunt clubs. A year later the race was opened up to horses owned and ridden by members of any recognized Hunt Club in Maryland. In 1903 this was further expanded to horses owned and ridden by members of any Hunt Club in North America. Nowadays there are no restrictions on where the horse and rider are from. Throughout its history, the Maryland Hunt Cup has been limited to amateur jockeys.In the late 1970s women were allowed to ride in the race for the first time. The first female amateur jockey to win the race was Joy Slater on Cancottage in 1981. To prove this was no fluke, Slater and Cancottage repeated in 1982. Since then, other female riders to win this race include Blythe Miller and Anne Moran.

In 1922, a permanent location for the Maryland Hunt Cup was established, in Worthington Valley, where it remains to this day. Prior to this date, the race was run at a variety of locations.The Maryland Hunt Cup is a timber race, which is a steeplechase run over solid timber fences. This form of steeple-chasing is unique to America. The timber fences mimic the hunt country over which many of these horses are prepared. The Maryland Hunt Cup is part of a series of timber races run in Maryland in the Spring, which also includes My Lady's Manor (second Saturday in April), and the Grand National (third Saturday in April). The Maryland Hunt Cup is known for the size of its timber fences, some of which are close to 5 feet tall. The third fence (4 feet and six inches) and sixteenth fence (4 feet and ten inches) are particularly challenging.

Of course, a big part of the day is the picnic and tailgate party before the race. It’s very competitive as to who has the most beautiful flowers, and the best-looking food.

The day wouldn’t be complete without a cocktail or two, preferably a Southside from Mr. Lee’s coveted recipe, in an inherited silver julep cup.

Stop by and see us as you’re on your way up Greenspring Avenue! We’ll be open.