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Garden  pots

Windowsills, terraces and garden patches are all perfect for saying it with flowers.  According to a recent survey, 75% of the French population has a place to garden whether they live in a house or an apartment. The garden is now the second most important room in the home after the living room and has even supplanted the kitchen in this respect. Its popularity is sustained by a continually renewed offering of planters and window boxes. The latest trend is the jumbo planter.
 
Luisa Bocchietto has designed a whole range of pots from 12 cm to 2 metres high. Together, they can turn your garden into a modern art exhibition that would do Jean-Pierre Raynaud proud. The illuminated version creates a magical atmosphere at night.  Standards IP 44 and IP 65 ensure that illuminated flower pots are completely safe outdoors. Square, geometric or curved and green, their lines are resolutely contemporary.  Jean-Pierre Massaud's &ldquoMissed Tree&rdquo series consists of giant flower boxes in the form of stylised tree trunks that combine to make a forest. The designer wanted to &ldquooffer everyone the privilege of dining in the shade even if they don't have room to plant a tree&rdquo.

These sculptural forms are possible thanks to high-tech materials such as polyethylene. Both recyclable and weather-resistant, it is the most widely used plastic along with polyester and resin. Another advantage of these composites is that they are easy to colour. Bright red, lime green, white and gold flowerpots will brighten up your garden. Metal garden containers also add lustre to your plants. Polished aluminium, galvanised steel and brushed zinc are used for their stainless properties and contemporary style. 5.5 designers have chosen concrete for their garden furniture. Both creative and fun, a window box can double as a chair or bench back. The user's green thumbs will soon convert the planter bench into a unique feature. Humanising concrete is one of the goals of apartment buildings today. However, alongside these designer creations, natural materials and conventional shapes are still very popular.  Wooden planters and terracotta garden vases are traditional garden ornaments. 

Ever-popular Versailles planters are still made according to the wooden model designed by Le Nôtre in the 17th century for the gardens at Versailles. The only innovation is the addition of a metal lining with a water reserve and irrigation system to make plant maintenance easier. Another tradition, from the south of France this time, is the Anduze vase handmade in the  evennes since the 17th century. Its floral, fruit and escutcheon ornamentation was no doubt inspired by the Medici Vase. Originally flambéed, it can also have a white lead or plain patina. There is no need to have a huge garden to be surrounded by greenery.
 
Stackable flowerpots and screen planters are perfect for balconies and small spaces and provide practical, attractive natural separations. With wall-mounted planters, indoor and outdoor green walls are made simple.  The Bourollec Brothers' design consists of three planters on nylon straps with a trellis in-between for climbing plants  that eventually turns into a screen of foliage. Wall fountains can also be installed in a small courtyard or indoors. Water is an essential element of gardening. Olde worlde stone fountains and high-tech stainless cascades add Zen and freshness to outdoor areas. Growing, planting and re-potting put you in touch with the seasons again and are an efficient way of sowing the seeds of serenity. Just ask any gardening enthusiast !

News...

| Philippe Starck has just finished renovating the 16 rooms, 6 suites, restaurant, PG&rsquos bar and G Club at the Palazzina Grassi in Venice bringing the best of contemporary living to the 16th century palace. | A new exhibition at the Cartier Bresson Foundation focuses on the idealistic viewpoint of photographer Robert Doisneau who uses art to isolate the individual in the crowd. As always, a moment of inspiration.  | The fourth edition of the Contemporary Drawing Fair will be held in the Louvre from 25 to 28 March. |

"Les Lalanne" at the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris, 18 March - 4 July 2010.

This major exhibition of the work of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne is their first Paris retrospective since their showing at the Artiste/artisan exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 1977. Two individual artists regarded as a single entity by the public, the Lalannes are primarily known for having made nature and animals the vehicle of many of their creations. Both unclassifiable sculptors, they have always exhibited together, with the joint idea of giving sculpture a specific use. Their often hybrid works puzzle, amuse and delight us with their surrealist poetry playing with words, forms and materials. More than 150 pieces take visitors on a journey through every aspect of the Lalanne universe, from their monumental sculptures to everyday objects, in Peter Marino&rsquos exhibition installation in the Arts Décoratifs nave.

www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr