Growing Together ·

Nomadica's Garden Conservancy Open Day in Connecticut

Touring Nomadica in Weston, Connecticut, on a Garden Conservancy Open Day: a moody dahlia arrangement, tree-trunk deer fencing, a native meadow and an asparagus berry wreath.

A lush arrangement of deep burgundy and wine-red dahlias, magenta celosia, scabiosa and small red blooms with ninebark and golden foliage in a white crock, set on a rusty metal table with plums and petal-less sunflower heads, against evergreen trees

Can we all just take a moment and stare at this beautiful arrangement? My new friend, Christina Koether of Nomadica, created it for her Garden Conservancy Open Day. If you don’t know what that means, learn all about the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days, because it’s awesome and you should join!

Okay, back to the arrangement. This is what greeted you as you walked into Christina’s amazing garden, and it was DREAMY. Moody burgundy dahlias, chocolate cosmos, celosia and Dark Knight scabiosa all came together with ninebark branches. She pulled the petals off some sunflowers and added plums and blackberries to bring out the purple shades. Obsessed!

How She Grows Them

Raised wooden beds overflowing with peach and coral dahlias, orange zinnias and pink cosmos, held up by tall wooden stakes, with purple asters in the foreground

Christina’s taller flowers, like zinnias and dahlias, were growing in raised beds (some in crates!), with wooden stakes placed every few feet for support. She used twine in the corralling method, which wraps the whole group in twine on the outside to keep them from falling over.

A huge coral-red Sylvia Craig Hunter dahlia bloom on a tall stem, against leafy trees and blue sky

This Sylvia Craig Hunter dahlia was particularly show-stopping, but she shared that it’s ideal for gardens, not cutting, since it was slow to grow and not churning out blooms. But real pretty!

Two Smart Garden Ideas

Two photos side by side: mesh deer fencing strung between rustic tree-trunk posts around raised garden beds, and a native meadow island of goldenrod, purple asters and other wildflowers, with a white arrow pointing to Christina, small among the flowers

Christina (that’s her, tiny, in the second pic with the white arrow) has all of the annuals that deer would devour fenced in, but instead of regular posts she used tree trunks, and it looked prettier than most deer fences. She also has a native meadow “island” in the middle of the yard. Native flowers will provide food for bugs and birds long after the annuals have made their exit.

A wild, twiggy wreath covered in bright red asparagus berries, airy asparagus fronds and spiky dried seed heads, hanging on a weathered wooden greenhouse door with ribbed clear panels

One more fun thing (there were so many!) was this wreath on the door of the greenhouse in her kitchen garden. The red berries are actually seed pods from her asparagus plants that had gone to seed for the season. It was so autumnal and happy, and an excellent use of seasonal ingredients.

I loved meeting Christina and seeing her beautiful garden, and I highly recommend checking out her Open Day next year!

Love, Erin (handwritten signature with a heart)