Landscape design, my other profession, can meet or even exceed expectations, but it cannot perform miracles. That was the challenge I confronted when asked to design and install a garden worthy of a stately home constructed in the style of a French manor house in 1927.

Located near the historic town of Salisbury in northwestern Connecticut, this splendid estate, with its unobstructed views of the Berkshires, belonged to a prominent family whose wealth went back to the 18th century.

Strong supporters of culture and the arts, the ancestors had built and endowed the local library and restored a Portugese villa in their possession, and a living member of the family had made a mark for herself as a sculptor. In a distinctly modern idiom, her sculptures enlivened the garden, which otherwise consisted of a series of formally defined architectural terraces and plantings.

The new garden and terraces, however, would mark an important occasion in the lives of the family - the marriage of a daughter, herself a noted artist. The bride-to-be took inspiration for the wedding from the work and world of the great American painter John Singer Sargent - an ambition that could be realized in the bridal gown, the floral arrangements and decorations. But how to create a garden evocative of a flower-filled canvas like Sargent's famous 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose,' during the early New England spring?

In May roses bloom in Virginia but not in Connecticut. The only solution, I knew, was to carefully select from Virginia nurseries, plants in various states of bud, that would bloom on cue. The wedding, set for May 18, was preceded by a stretch of cold weather that could have spoiled the effect, at least as far as the garden was concerned. However confident of my selection, I recognized that one can never be sure about the weather.

So, just back from Salisbury, I am pleased to report that fortune smiled on buds and guests alike and that the newly enhanced garden contributed its part to what many of those present said was the most beautiful wedding they had ever seen.

I like to think that even Sargent would have approved.