Designer Spotlights, brought to you from the BBC Garden section, is as aesthetically pleasing as a website as it is with garden tips.  The Designer Spotlights feature many up and coming and highly regarded garden designers from Great and Greater Britain:

The first featured artist is Sarah Eberle, who has a degree in landscape architecture and was awarded an honorary degree from Greenwich University for her designs just last year.  She drew early influences from the Modernist Art period and was classically trained, at first, as an architecture proper student.  She claims she is more of a farmer than a gardener, so her designs reflect this attitude as well.  Her top plants to have in a garden are: Euphorbia wulfenii, cow parsley, hawthorn beech trees in autumn.

Here is a photo of Sarah Eberle’s submission to the 2007 Ellerslie Flower Show

To recreate her look, check out some of these products:
Heronswood.com for “unusually great plants”: Euphorbia ‘Jessie’ for sale for $13.95.

Modernist furniture at a modest price: Ellis 3-Piece Sitting Group for $449.00, a total of $180.00 knocked off the original kist price.

On to the second favorite designer of the BBC Gardening Section: John Brookes, a legendary designer with over 50 years experience in landscape designing!  While Sarah Eberle brings a fresh, modernist approach to landscaping, John can help build your knowledge of the basics of landscaping.  Interesting enough, when John first started out he was considered ahead of his time and labeled–a Modernist!  To him, that means using concrete skillfully in your designs.  His designs are often described as “handsome” rather than “cute” or “pretty”.  Understandable, when you observe his hearty, large plant life, sleek pathway and furniture design, such in the Denmans, one of his favorite gardens:

To channel John Brookes’ classic, handsome designs, here are some garden products and plants to consider:

Lavender buds for your garden, sold by the pound or in bulk by the San Francisco Herb Company

Ranging between $8-15 a pound, the San Francisco Herb Company gives you several different options of Lavender plants to customize the product for your garden needs. You can’t resist the smell of Lavender in the summertime!

The other product I would recommend to emulate John Brookes’ design would be concrete.  While I can’t exactly recommend exact places to buy concrete since it is a very localized process and unfortunately not conducive to the Internet, I do want to say that concrete for pathways or walls is not as disgusting and stark as you might think.

Some tips:

1. Always draw out a map of the landscaping plan beforehand, and make sure it is to scale and you have the measurements of your land and the projected width/ height of any plants, walls, fountains, etc you plan on putting into the garden.
2. Think about how you will water the garden and keep it healthy: will there be an underground watering system? Hoses?    Do you have the adequate soil and water supply to support the type of garden you want to create?
3. Think about the aesthetic of your home and how you can compliment it with a garden.  Old colonial?  Do some brick pathways.  Modern bungalow?  Concrete paths and maybe some bamboo.

Best of luck with your designer tip of the week!  Don’t forget to check out the BBC Gardening page itself, there are plenty of other designers to discover!

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for garden decor and flowers.

Flowers!  There is nothing like a garden full of colorful flowers. In my opinion, the best plants to get are the perennial ones. Why? Because not only do they look great, but they last at least two years. Perennial plants resist every season, and you can be sure that if you get them this spring, they will be blossoming the next one too.

Here are some of my favorite choices:

The first one, called Rudbeckia Laciniata ‘Goldquelle’, stands out for its intense dark yellow blooms. Their size is 3 1/2 inch, and they begin flowering in midsummer lasting until well into fall. Butterflies find these flowers extremely attractive, so your garden would be full of them.  Perennial Plants - Black-Eyed Susan ‘Goldquelle’ - only $6.95

My second choice is this amazing Blanket Flower Collection.  It includes three different varieties of flowers: Burgundy, Arizona Sun and The Sun.  Their long-lasting 4-inch blooms can make any garden look full of life because of their brilliant colors:  the wine red of the Burgundy, the reddish orange of the Arizona Sun and the strong bright yellow of The Sun.   It’s very easy to take care of this plants since they resist any kind of weather.  Perennial Plants - Blanket Flower Collection - $19.95

Now, what do you think about fountains? I personally love them!

As soon as I thought about garden decorations, I knew a fountain had to be included.  Picture setting all this plants with their beautiful flowers making a circle, and placing in the middle this stone water fountain, that works with solar energy.  It would look totally classy and it would bring beautiful birds into your garden!

Let me tell you another great thing about it:  The sound of the falling water is relaxing, so it would definitely help to create the atmosphere I told you about before.

Grandin Road - York Solar Fountain - $199.00

Decorate your garden, create your own space and enjoy!

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more flowers.
Discounts on fountains.

I have to confess, I love flowers. Well, actually almost every woman does. There is no explanation why they look so romantic (especially the red roses) and why we like them so much. I particularly love this floral arrangement, which is quite classic and would definitely look amazing on the living room table. Not only do flowers bring charm, the Ruby Vase is really elegant and lovely itself. 12 Red Roses with Ruby Vase - For: $49.95

Are you throwing a Valentine’s Day Party? Are you gathering with some friends and couples? Or are you just spending the evening with that special one? Ok, I’m sure this cute (almost childish) wreath would look really nice on your front door. There is no doubt every woman looking at this wooden red and pink painted wreath would sigh saying a typical “Aww it’s so cute!”, and the best part is it could be hanged anywhere you want, like on a bedroom door, or even be used as a wall decoration! Painted Happy Valentine’s Day Wreath - For: $4.99

Last but not least, I want to show you these lovely little Tinplate Pails. They not only look really cute with their different Valentine designs, but can be used for whatever your imagination leads you to. For example to fill it with candies and place them all around the house, so that you guests can get some, or to line them up on some shelf so that the drawings on them can be appreciated. Another option would be hanging them wherever you want or just wrap them and give it to your friends like a Valentine’s souvenir. You have many choises, go for it! Tinplate Valentine Pails - For: $8.49

Decorate your house with cute stuff and have a very Happy Valentine’s Day!