Step into the garden.
The doors to Ina’s East Hampton home open up to her
garden where lavender flowers scent the air, masses
of colorful blossoms burst from beds, and bees flit
happily about. This is Ina’s inspiration. Her plantings
provide a palette of flavor and color combinations that
she uses in her celebrated recipes.
Although she has become a cookbook author and
Food Network star, Ina had no formal training as a
chef. She jumped into planning the layout of her yard
with the same enthusiasm, and the same gratifying
result. “I started gardening in 1985 when I moved
to East Hampton,” she says. “Once I got started, I
couldn’t stop myself.”
Ina’s spring planting actually starts in the winter
with the arrival of seed and plant catalogs and change
is always in the plan. “The thing that’s unusual about
my garden,” she admits, “is that it’s almost completely
planted with annuals.” Big beds of lime-colored
zinnias and blue salvia will fill her property with
color this summer—but all can be replaced with new
combinations next year. “My garden takes a little while
to get started, but by mid-June it’s in full flower and it
continues until the first frost in October.”
S A L A D W IT H W ARM
G O A T
CHEESE
W
2009
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
