seasons in the sun; They had joy, they had fun this summer, at parties bright with sunshine and flowers.

Byline: William Norwich

If I asked once, I asked a thousand times, but clearly the last trade secret venerable events designer Robert Isabell was going to share was where he found an abundance of bougainvillea in the ides of a New York summer.

But bougainvillea it was, and seemingly miles of it, gathered in colorful bunches in earthy terra-cotta vases on five long dining tables covered with dark-red and dark-orange and yellow cotton cloths. It was Mexican-theme pageantry at its urbane and mellow best, for an occasion that was equal parts happy and sad.

The arts patroness Anne Bass, just home from England, where she attended the Chelsea Flower ...