GMG Monday Espresso:

Just got back to reality today from the fabulous Costa Farms Social Summit in Miami last week. WOW! is all I can say! It was a fantastic few days with a smart group of style setters.

From Apartment Therapy and Inhabitat to Our Little Acre and Urban Gardens to Mother Earth News and All Things Farmer, it was an electric group. Here are some pictures from dinner at The Whisk to dinner at the Smiths', from Manie to Alfredo, we all were enchanted.

It was magical! Suzi, GardenMediaGroup

Pantone Color of The Year- in your garden?

Each year around this time, designers await the announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year like a kid on Christmas...  Ok, that's not exactly how it goes down, but it is a fun addition to all of the holiday excitement!

Known as Pantone 17-463 to those in the design community, tangerine tango takes home the "Color of the Year" award for 2012.  

Tangerine tango is described by Pantone as "a vivacious, enticing hue," "a provocative go-getter" that's "a bit exotic, but in a very friendly, non-threatening way" and "a spirited reddish orange ... [s]ophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive."

When planning your garden, think of the possibilities of color! 

Bloomtastics from Hines Growers

Aloes on Hillside © The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Image via Garden Therapy 4. Alonsoa meridionalis ‘Red’  5. Geum magellanicum 6. Antirrhinum majus ‘Defiance’

So, what do you think?  Will Tangerine Tango be making an appearance in your garden this year?

Apartment Therapy Discovers Our Friend John

From Apartment Therapy: "Every fall I notice townhouse fronts come alive with the season's colors. I rarely see it happen, and always wonder how they go about doing this. Are the townhouse owners dedicated gardeners? Do they hire a service? Are they related to those . . . people in Brooklyn who love entertaining their neighbors? Whatever it is, these homeowners efforts are noticed and appreciated by many.

"Without fail, these houses always deliver on Halloween. In the case of a certain townhouse on east 83rd street (which we posted pics of last year), I recently met the person responsible for its seasonal transformations as he was stringing up the lights early one morning. Jon Carloftis is originally from Kentucky. He grew up surrounded by nature as his classroom, and grew this love into a successful landscaping business.

"But hearing about how he came to work on landscaping projects in NYC was the most inspiring. After arriving in New York, he rang doorbells, met the homeowners face-to-face and grew a client base through word of mouth. He now commutes daily to NYC to work on his landscaping projects.

"Even the flowerbeds in NYC have interesting stories. -MN"

BTW, John loves Campania. Here he is with Glenn Appel and Peter Cilio in June.