Grand gardens: Interior designer Charlotte Moss will speak in Cedar Rapids on gardens, travels

When interior designer Charlotte Moss looks at a room, she sees a blank slate she can paint and design and accessorize into a piece of art — a functional piece of art that should be comfortable and relaxing for those who live in it.

'I've always loved looking at four walls and fantasizing about what I was going to do with the room,' she said. 'I like things that are classic but uplifting and modern. I don't want it to be too trendy; people should want to live with it, not spend the rest of their life decorating. I raised five kids, and the house was the center of our universe. I just couldn't imagine not being totally comfortable at home.'

That aesthetic extends to the yard, which she calls just another room in the house.

She'll visit Cedar Rapids Wednesday and Thursday (11/9-10) as guest speaker for the Cedar Rapids Garden Club to talk about applying interior design techniques to the yard and finding ways to bring the beauty of the garden indoors.

The Cedar Rapids Garden Club funds civic gardening projects around Cedar Rapids — past donations have helped fund the Cedar Rapids Public Library's rooftop garden, the newly-renovated Greene Square garden beds and the winter garden at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Moss's visit will be the club's major fundraiser for the year.

Event co-chair and past club president Melanie Olson said Moss's vision fits well with the Garden Club's mission.

'We promote beautification in terms of landscaping. We try to beautify our city. And we love promoting the learning, education and hands-on part of gardening,' Olson said. 'Charlotte Moss fits the bill in terms of the impact we wanted to make. She has a real eye for gardening and is very inspiring.'

Moss's background is interior design rather than gardening, but she said interior and exterior decorating work hand-in-hand. Ideally, a home will feel like it flows into the outside — the indoor and outdoor spaces should relate to each other, she said. That means being cognizant of what the view from widows will be in the kitchen, living room and bedroom when planting a garden or pruning trees, and it means thinking about how to bring elements of the garden inside, whether through vases of freshly cut flowers, color schemes, patterns or art on the walls.

Her own garden in East Hampton, New York, took 20 to 25 years of working with an architect to design and build. She took inspiration for it while traveling the world. Her latest book, 'Garden Inspirations,' documents the gardens she's seen while traveling and shows off the ways they have inspired her own home and yard.

'I have seen hundreds of gardens, historic gardens that sort of wow you in their scale and the way they've been maintained,' she said.

But the book doesn't just focus on the world's grandest gardens.

'It really is a little bit of memory lane,' she said. 'And I also want to open up people's eyes to seeing things differently when they travel, or even when they see their friends' gardens.'

She said Americans take gardening traditions from all over the world to create their own styles, everything from practical British kitchen gardens to formal French Parterre gardens with hedges pruned into geometric patterns.

'The thing I enjoy about American gardens, for one, is traveling to the homes of people who have made their own gardens — they're very personal,' she said.

Not everyone is able to see grand European gardens in person, which she said is one reason she wrote her book. 'It has always been important to me to make these faraway places accessible to people,' she said.

People can also find inspiration close to home, in the gardens of public parks, historic homes and in their friends and neighbors' backyards. The key, she said, is for each gardener to look for the small touches that appeal to them and look for ways to recreate those details.

She recalled a staircase in a garden at the French palace of Versailles, which had planters of flowers on each step.

'Just this simple notion — you could do that on your front steps,' she said. 'Or if you can't do a full kitchen garden, you could do a big pot of herbs at your front door to get a fragrant whiff walking in everyday.'

Home gardeners don't need access to a team of professional landscapers, architects and gardeners to get started. She recommends cultivating relationships with local plant nursery staff, who are well versed in what plants go well together, which will do well in the climate zone and how to care for them.

'I think you should always think big and then think about how you're going to fill it in. Sit down and draw up your wish list, then do your homework and find resources,' she said. 'Books and blogs have so many good ideas. You can get that kick in the pants, the encouragement to get started. Start with something that's achievable so you can have some sense of satisfaction.'

IF YOU GO

A Day with Charlotte Moss

What: Garden market, luncheon and lecture

When: Thursday, 10 to 11:30 a.m. garden market; 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. lunch and conversation

Where: Cedar Rapids Country Club, 550 27th St. Dr. SE, Cedar Rapids

Cost: $100

Tickets: Cedarrapidsgardenclub.com/events

What: Patron Party

When: Wednesday (11/9), 5:30 p.m.

Where: Eastbank Venue & Lounge (former Smulekoff's building), 97 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids

Cost: $75