modern landscape design

i love the seamless carpet-style design of this landscape installation in beer sheba, israel...read more about the landscape architects' concept here.

how not to install a stone wall

stone is wonderful and versatile design element for commercial buildings, residences and their gardens: it can be modern or ancient, rough or smooth, big or small, or any combination of those attributes. i love stone! so when i saw the wall below, i just had to say something...something like "what the hell were you thinking? or doing at the time of installation?" how can something made from beautiful parts end up so ugly? i dont know, but this stone guy has done this same lame stone wall on three main street buildings...and he puts a sign out front to tell everyone the name of the company that installed this travesty of design and execution! the worst part about this particular wall is there is a "matching" stone wall flanking the other side of the door, except he used too many stones on that one, thus leaving this side wanting for more. please dont try this at home: so sad!

butterflies are not free

let butterflies migrate to your living room on this papillon chaise by d.sign21. the designer envisioned hundreds of butterflies chasing each other: i am not sure if it comes in custom colors, but i like the concept!

via contemporist.

future flower

i love tonkin liu's future flower!

installed as the premier project signaling the resurrection of widnes waterfront, the big blossom stands almost 46 feet tall and 15 feet wide and has solar powered, wind activated lights in graduated shades of red: wow! a lot is riding on the future flower: a local councilman states "it is an amazing piece of artwork. we are proud to see how quickly the widnes waterfront area is developing and expect thousands of people to enjoy the future flower over the coming months".

right on!

read more on contemporist.

ambiente planters

ambiente 2010, the largest international fair of consumer goods was held in frankfurt the week before last- i just forgot about it because i was buried in snow. i picked some of my favorites from the slide show on contemporist, and not surprisingly, they all have to do with gardening and plants!

conversation starter

this is a new bench for public spaces that the designer says will promote chit-chat among bench-mates because its tippy. the tree in the center has no say.

breaking news:gnome village destroyed!

well, the gnome village lasted two weeks before the haters destroyed it...i am so sorry people are so angry! here is a note from the creator left on the tree.

stonehenge replica

ok: this stonehenge replica is sort of near me and i had no idea! its called foamhenge and is a project erected on april fool's day 2004 by enchanted castle studios in natural bridge, virginia: bravo!

modern inversion planter

i love the concept of those upside planters for tomatoes, peppers, herbs, et cetera: they require 80% less water; push nutrients right down into the plants; and allow for earlier plantings; but frankly, they are really a design disaster and i cant get over their looks! but here comes the sky planter: sleek, modern and right up my garden path!

how to dress a cabana

if i ever had a modern cabana in miami, i would put this modular chaise in it. does it rock? that would be cool.

coolest tree house ever!

this is the coolest tree house i have ever seen! well, it actually looks more like a tree-top house, since it stands on it's own legs: whatever, it is fantastic! designed by the creative people at baumraum and seen on the contemporist. so great!

garden upcycling tip: rubber hose chair

my garden hose is one-hundred feet in length and constantly gets kinked while trying to water my pots and containers around my little yard. today i tried to rinse the rotten egg from my black lab's back after he rolled in it (?) and had no flow! so, i have to replace it with something shorter and less kinkable. no need to trash the current hose, though: i can make a few pieces of garden furniture! the chair above was featured on the contemporist and instructions to make it appear on Instructables.com. i like the idea of running water through it!

south face

stunning south facing vertical garden designed by italian architect iosa ghini as part of the interni design energies exhibition held during salone del mobile in april.