Urban Secret Garden
04 Tuesday Jul 2023
Written by Debra Prinzing in American Flowers Week 2023, Botanical Couture, News & Events, Promotional Ideas, Resources for Farmers & Florists, Uncategorized
Tags
Cincinnati secret garden, In the Garden Flower Farm, Linda Spradlin, Nan Matteson, Queen City Flower Farm
A floral wrap jacket with two sources of inspiration
![Urban Secret Garden by Nan Matteson of Queen City Flower Farm and Linda Spradlin of In the Garden Flower Farm](https://i0.wp.com/americanflowersweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/01625_DP_AFW_2023-10.jpg?resize=1024%2C537&ssl=1)
Design by Nan Matteson, Queen City Flower Farm
Cincinnati, Ohio
Linda Spradlin, In the Garden Flower Farm
Seven Mile, Ohio
Photography by Jill Bader @jillmbader
“The urge to grow can take root anywhere,” says Nan Matteson of Queen City Flower Farm, a devoted city gardener. “Pick your city. If you’re walking down the street you might get a glimpse of a private garden, seen from an alley or through a gateway.”
![vintage Japanese firefighter's coat](https://i0.wp.com/americanflowersweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/image-31.png?resize=447%2C371&ssl=1)
![1920s women's coats with fur collars](https://i0.wp.com/americanflowersweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/unnamed.png?resize=308%2C419&ssl=1)
The idea of a pocket garden led Nan Matteson and fellow grower Linda Spralin of In the Garden Flower Farm to create a wrap jacket with two inspirations — a shawl collar composed of dried botanicals to suggest a 1920s fur-collared woman’s coat and a 19th century Japanese firefighter kimono, often, traditionally, only a plain garment with a decorative textile lining.
I just love the whole concept of a guardian inside the fireman’s coat, providing protection even if you didn’t know it was there.
Nan Matteson, Queen City Flower Farm
![Urban Secret Garden for American Flowers Week 2023](https://i0.wp.com/americanflowersweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/DSC_5226_B.png?resize=678%2C1024&ssl=1)
The coat, sewn by Nan from a pattern she adapted, has a sky blue lining against which a spring flower garden is displayed — a secret border rooted in small, moss-covered bags that provide a water source at the hemline. “I just love the whole concept of a guardian inside the fireman’s coat, providing protection even if you didn’t know it was there,” she says, smiling. Similarly, the flower-lined garment illustrates how much our gardens can provide a sense of comfort and protection — even if we’re the only ones who see them.
![](https://i0.wp.com/americanflowersweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/collar-detail.png?resize=1024%2C848&ssl=1)
DESIGN + CONCEPT:
Nan Matteson, @queencityflowerfarm and Linda Spradlin, @inthegardenflowerfarm
FLOWER SOURCES:
Collar: Dried amaranthus, craspedia, love-in-the-mist, celosia (plume and crested) scabiosa, gomphrena, spirea, dock, foraged grasses.
Secret Garden: redbud, tulip, bluebell, daffodil, hyacinth, hellebore, columbine, moss. All flowers grown by the designers.
MODEL: Carmen Sanders @Carmen.sanders3
VENUE: Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, @cincyartmuseum