Silver Dream carport garden at The Kampong 2016 Showhouse. Design: JMMDS. Photo: Rolando Diaz.
Recently JMMDS had the pleasure of participating in the Junior League of Miami’s 2016 Showhouse fundraiser at The Kampong in Coconut Grove, which benefitted Miami’s women and children in need.
The former home of Dr. David Fairchild, renowned horticulturalist and plant collector, and a National Tropical Botanical Garden dedicated to preserving tropical plant diversity, The Kampong is known for its breathtaking natural and historical beauty. In a carport nestled between the lotus pond, the Main House, and the Sausage Tree Cottage, JMMDS’s Bethany Gracia and Julie Moir Messervy fashioned a playful “silver dream garden” for the carport’s imagined inhabitant, a silver 2016 Mercedes-Benz E-Cabriolet (arranged by Nicole Waters at sponsor Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables and Cutler Bay). So the car could contemplate her own beauty, the design featured a gorgeous antique Trumeau mirror (generously loaned from Bonnin Ashley Antiques), displayed amidst Mercedes hood ornaments and grill whimsically dangling from the ceiling. Tropical plants from Douglas Beard and Mike Tevelonis at Botanics Wholesale provided color and drama in elegant silver-leaf planters from Katia Nascimento at Saccaro.
We couldn’t have done it without the tireless support of Michael Anna de Armas, Gabrielle O’Quinn, and Carla Crossno. We’re indebted to all the helping hands who helped muscle the pieces into place and the Kampong gardeners who kept the plants watered during the exhibit. Most of all, we’re grateful to the Junior League of Miami for inviting JMMDS to participate. The JLM also arranged a gorgeous outdoor brunch in our honor, at which Julie gave a talk about landscape archetypes and how people can find a home in nature, even during life’s most unsettled times. We were thrilled to be included in this special project.
