Nashville Antiques and Garden Show

The 2011 Nashville Antiques and Garden Show lived up to its reputation as a perennial hit, and this Farmer was honored to be a part of the event. Great designers, authors, antique dealers and landscape architects filled the Downtown Convention Center with booths chocked with treasures, displays of fabulous flora, and educated the masses on the art of living well. With the likes of Charlotte Moss, Alexa Hampton, Veranda’s, Carolyn Engerfield, Albert Hadley, Bobby McAlpine, Ben Page and Gavin Duke, Sarah Champier, Cathy Whitlock, and Julia Reed, this show was an all-star hit, and this Farmer felt enlightened by their knowledge, talent, and presence. Of course, with the generosity of Beckett Antiques, my booth was furnished with a few of Italy and France’s finest pieces.  

     
As for my part proper in the show, I procured a ten foot by ten foot booth to display my floral, landscape, and interiors panache with a mélange of flowers, antiques, and photos from gardens I’ve designed. With some fanfare and much excitement, I was also able to promote for the first time my upcoming book, A Time to Plant, due out this September! Gibbs Smith Publishing is publishing the book and I could not be more thrilled!  A whole post on my book is coming soon!

For my little space, I bedecked all I could with the color theme of my Antiques and Garden Show song – coral, salmon, and pink! Grapefruit, tangerines, and navel oranges filled a fantastic planter from Amsterdam. The inside color of the fruit’s flesh is truly remarkable, thus slicing the fruit gave texture and exposure to the sumptuous color hiding beneath the rind. “Delight” amaryllis, “bronze” snapdragons, quince, forsythia, lilies, antique and hot pink hydrangeas, and greenery from sassanquas and magnolia poured, spilt, and sprang forth from containers and planters, thus making my booth a blooming homage to the coming spring. “Crushed Orange” having been named the hot color by many designers and trendsetters, many folks asked if that was my inspiration for the booth. “I simply love orange!” I would answer… “Salmon, coral, peach, and apricot to be exact!” Being en vogue and a la mode was just, as we say down here, “a blind pig finding an acorn" or," lucky” for those needing a Southern translation.

Visitors from most all the Southern states perused the show, attended lectures, and bought antiques to feather their nests. Nashville itself is an amazing Southern city, and this Farmer was wined and dined by locals at the best restaurants and even a cocktail party was given in my honor by dear friends. The party may have been in honor of yours truly, but I was honestly more humbled by the graciousness and generosity of these fine Nashville natives. Many, many thanks my friends!

So after nearly a week of toasting, antiquing, learning, and experiencing all that the Nashville Antiques and Garden Show had to offer, this Farmer had to head back to Kathleen, which leads me to the topic of most discussion during my tenure in Nashville. “Where is Kathleen?” was asked a million times at least, but the best answer I can give is that this bucolic hamlet of Houston County is a suburb of Wonderful Robins, Perry-dice, and Hawkinsville… it is my home as are those said towns. The common ground among said towns is Kathleen proper. I too share the common ground among those small Middle Georgia towns, and though it is always grand to see and visit afar, it always just as lovely to return home. From Nashville to Kathleen and everywhere in between, this Farmer hopes you find antiques, garden, and fun shows wherever you can!