Quick Takes With: Kate Berry

Kate Berry is a creative powerhouse. A floral designer in her past life, she can whip up a gorgeous centerpiece with utter ease. During her tenure as editor-at-large for Martha Stewart Living, she mastered both the glue gun and the piping bag. Later, as the chief creative officer at Domino, she learned exactly what goes into making an artful home. Now the U.S. editor-in-chief of Cabana Magazine, Kate can add one more skill to her resume: wallpaper designer.

The multi-talent recently launched her “Garden in the Sky” collection of wallpapers for Graham & Brown. It’s inspired by her lush 16th-floor terrace garden in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. “The launch has been very satisfying for me. Three wallpaper designs with Graham & Brown, including a climbing branches pattern and an espalier motif, both pulling directly from my terrace garden. It’s been really rewarding to translate something so personal —my own outdoor space— into something people can bring into their homes,” she says.

Below, the plant lover shares one formative memory involving an apricot tree, one tragedy involving a fig tree, one lesson learned from Martha Stewart, and other gardening stories.

Your first garden memory:

We moved a lot when I was growing up, but my mom always planted Vietnamese herbs wherever we lived. I would watch her tend to those little garden beds as if she were a farmer working her fields back in Vietnam. One house, in particular, has stayed with me. We had peach, plum, cherry, and apricot trees, and I was especially drawn to the apricot tree with its beautiful umbrella-like canopy. As a suburban kid with long summers (and no screens), I’d spend hours lying beneath its branches, eating apricots from the tree. They remain the most delicious apricots I’ve ever tasted. Those memories are so deeply embedded in my mind that I can still recall every detail: the warm golden skins dusted with coral-red freckles, their perfect round heart shapes, and their incredible fragrance. It’s one of my happiest childhood memories.

Instagram account that inspires you:

My gardener and designer friends @francespalmer @jduncancampbell. [Read Frances Palmer’s Quick Takes here.]

Describe in three words your garden aesthetic:

Untamed, bountiful and lush—which is really the same instinct I brought to designing “Garden in the Sky,” my wallpaper collection with Graham & Brown. I wanted that same lived-in, slightly wild feeling, just translated onto a wall. The collection is named after my terrace garden, which has always felt like my own little slice of nature above the city.

Plant that makes you swoon:

Oh so many but for fragrance, I’d have to say Jasminum sambac.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

I mean, I don’t hate any plants but my least favorites would be peace lilies and pothos. They make me think of bad office plants.

Favorite go-to plant:

Begonia.

Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:

I didn’t wrap my fig trees properly and they froze to death this past winter. I feel terrible about it.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

To each their own. Are there any bad trends?

Old wives’ tale gardening trick that actually works:

Martha Stewart has a bunch of blueberry bushes that produce these giant and tasty blueberries. I’m convinced it’s because of the coffee grounds she feeds them.

Tool you can’t live without:

Swiss Army pruning knife.

Go-to gardening outfit:

My pajamas or whatever I wake up in.

Favorite nursery, plant shop, or seed company:

Surry Gardens in Maine and Logee’s in CT.

Favorite way to bring the outdoors in:

I have plants and trees and style them in clusters at different heights within my apartment to mimic the outdoors. I will add a touch of the garden to meals we have indoors, too—a sprig of lemon verbena or mint in a glass water bottle, or herbs as a centerpiece. And if you’re into wallpaper, that’s the ultimate way to bring the outdoors in through the walls. Its actually what led me to design my wallpaper collection.

On your wishlist:

A greenhouse.

Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:

Lotusland in Montecito.

The REAL reason you garden:

I love witnessing the transformation from flower to fruit. It’s incredibly satisfying to watch this process and then be able to pick that fruit. I just love it.

Thanks so much, Kate! (You can follow her on Instagram @nygardeninthesky and @kateberryberry.)

For our full archive of Quick Takes, head here.