Fashion designer and author Carolyne Roehm stated emphatically to a large luncheon crowd that she thought Stella’s Chicago Botanic Garden Antiques & Garden Fair, conducted April 15-17, was the best garden and antiques show in the United States, including Philadelphia and New York. In between the formal gardens designed by Bill Heffernan were some of the best garden antiques dealers in the world. Each booth contained the most exquisite garden elements, and many of the dealers were happy to report at the show’s end that they had the best show ever.

The show was presented in one 50,000-square-foot tent, reported to be one of the largest tents ever to be erected in the Chicago area. Dealers and customers alike were pleased with the design of the tent, which they found to by airy and spacious, making the fair easy to navigate. As a direct outcome of the new floor plan, customers reached all of the dealers they wanted to see and many of the dealers experienced increased sales as a result.

Linda and Howard Stein of Solebury, Penn., reported great sales. They sold an important landscape painting, circa 1928, by second-generation Twentieth Century Hudson River artist Edgar Melville Ward Jr to a new collector with a house full of modern furniture and fine art in Winnetka, Ill. The Nineteenth Century French bronze seagull they brought was sold to a young collector they met at last year’s show. Among the important garden objects the Steins had at the show were Galloway oversize planters. Galloway, the oldest American potter, which opened in 1802 in Philadelphia and closed in the 1930s, focused mainly on terracotta furnishings and decorative items for the garden. The planters were purchased by Detroit Garden Works.

The East Coast was represented at the show when a collector from Philadelphia and Newport bought a not-easy-to-find copper ball made from Nineteenth Century lightening rod insulators; the first copper ball of this type the Steins have had in three years. Linda and Howard Stein had customers from California, Washington, Wisconsin, Kansas, Tennessee, Montana, Michigan and Florida shopping for garden antiques in their booth at this show.

Steven Abeles, owner of Balsamo Antiques of Pine Plains,N.Y., sold a Twentieth Century French provincial fountain to a newclient. Mr Abeles’s client list grew this year, as all of theobjects he sold during the course of the fair went to completelynew clients. This is a dealer who remembers that there aredifferent levels of collectors – beginner, young and seasoned – andaims to bring something for all of them. He sold several Victorianseedling pots, circa 1880, to visitors who wanted to walk away withjust a little something.

John and Virginia Dahlfred, owners of Manchester Antiques in Londonderry, N.H., were kind enough to loan Bill Heffernan a sculpture that he placed in the middle of an arrangement of lush flowers and greenery at the entrance to the fair. By Saturday, the sculpture was sold right out of the garden display. The Dahlfreds also reported that they sold a collection of zinc mushrooms to a couple from Iowa.

Most of the exhibitors new to the show this year were very happy to be a part of it and expressed their pleasure with Stella Show Mgmt Co.’s management style and their own sales. Local dealer MJ Spear of Wilmette, Ill., reported the best show ever. Dan and Kathy Roe, owners of Roe House Antiques in Springfield, Ill., called the show “perfect.” Mario Pollo of Bearsville, N.Y., said “super crowds,” and Ronnie and Guy Weil, who came from New Hope, Penn., stated, “This was a most beautiful show and we are proud to be a part of it.”

Show sponsor, Garden Design magazine, provided adiscount subscription to the magazine with the purchase of a ticketto the fair. An enthusiastic crowd came together to walk throughthe show with and listen to Donna Dorian, style and design editorof Garden Design. Tracey Young, owner of The ElementalGarden in Woodbury, Conn., discussed what to look for when buyinggarden antiques. Jeff Henkel, owner of H.K.H., Inc. in Pennington,N.J., spoke to a crowd on the subject of midcentury garden objects;and Beau Kimball of Kimball & Bean in Woodstock, Ill., spokeabout architectural salvage and the wrecking ball’s place in gardendesign.

Patrons of the Chicago Botanic Garden thoroughly enjoyed a luncheon and took in everything Carolyne Roehm and Charles Stick had to tell them about Weatherstone Garden in Connecticut.

Overall, everyone was pleased with the presentation and the diverse amount of garden antiques available. Garden antiques enthusiasts can look forward to next year’s fair on April 21-23. For information, 212-255-0020 or www.stellashows.com.