Secrets Of Redesign

Slideshow: 12 flowers you should plant right now

If you want an amazing spring garden, it’s not too late to get plants into the ground, but you are running out of time.

Veteran gardeners began planting seeds in fall for spring bloom. But even they will be scouring nurseries right now looking for fledging plants in six-packs.

These fluffy antique poppies can be planted for a few more weeks if you want to see a display like this in May. You can find them at specialty nurseries like Brita’s on Main Street in Seal Beach . They’re usually sold in a 4 inch pot. This year Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar has four tables of Annie’s Annuals, which sells a variety of antique poppies for $4 in 4-inch pots.PHOTO BY LORI BASHEDA

The key is to ignore flowers already in bloom and look for plants that are just getting started and might still resemble nothing more than a weed or, in the case of poppies, a baby lettuce.

I’ve put together a slideshow of some of the heirlooms and old-fashioned wildflowers I grew in my garden in springs past, a few of them when I was on the Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour, which is set for May 6 and 7 this year.

What you see is what you well get by May if you get them in the dirt right now. I have included a few pictures of the flowers in their adolescence so you don’t pass them up at the nursery. I also included where you can find the flowers.

Now get out there and getting planting!

Gardening trends for 2012

Even among gardeners who practice an art not much different than how the ancients did, there are trends among us you can track.

You remember Tulip Mania back in the 1600s when single bulbs, like real estate before the crash, where traded for thousands of guilders, sometimes 10 times over in a single day?

Buttercup and Plymouth Rock chickens along with birds live in a habitat custom made for them in this West Floral Park dream garden.CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Gardeners learned a long lesson from those hysterical times, and we haven’t really jumped on a big botanical bubble like that since.

Victory Gardens were the thing to do during World War ll to help lessen the demand on the food supply for the troops. A few decades later, the blue rose came along, not a true blue really, but a close second in lavender. Yawn. Most of us didn’t buy into the hype.

We had our own perennial mania for a decade in the ’80s, but that has settled down as we opt for more tried and true, less risky plants.

Yet, there are trends still emerging.

Losing the lawn and gardening in the front of the house is gaining popularity. Some cities don’t like it. But more and more of us realize that lawn grass is a waste of space better used by lower maintenance and planet friendly options such ornamentals and vegetable gardens.

Front patios are popular, and it’s a great way to meet the neighbors especially if you’re serving blood orange martinis.

Vertical gardens are gaining popularity as plant people in small spaces think of ways to garden on walls, along fences and other vertical spaces.

Chicken and bee keeping are going strong. Who can blame people for wanting to know where their food comes from, with all the recent food scares coming out of the commercial farming industry?

Bees are a no-brainer, even if you don’t so much keep them, as tolerate a natural hive or two on your property.

City people are discovering that a chicken is as easy to take care of as any other kind of avian pet.

Organic edible gardens are showing no signs of waning as gardeners are learning to grow all kinds of food from tomatoes to turnips and a host of backyard fruits.

Water conservation is not only a trend, it is crucial to our future. Gardeners are learning ways to use less, in addition to capturing rainwater on our own properties.

Maybe we will figure out how to capture grey water from the shower and use it to water the fruit trees.

Outdoor rooms, if done properly, are extensions of our homes. We are getting better at creating livable spaces outside that include comfy couches, TVs and fire pits. Again, cocktails are key.

Urban gardeners are all about miniature gardens and terrariums – in other words gardening in micro spaces. And why not? It’s fun and a great introduction to gardening in general, especially if one succeeds.

If you kill a houseplant though, don’t throw in the towel growing any kind of plant. Everybody kills houseplants, even good gardeners.

Succulent collectors show no signs of slowing down. Who can resist their seemingly endless shapes and colors and their ease of care? If you’ve got a few spots where nothing grows, try succulents.

Last by not least, and not exactly related to gardening given current health codes, is going out green. Companies are springing up all over the nation that craft woven willow coffins, others made of sea grass and bamboo. They are very garden-like, if you ask me, and a good way to get planted if you’re a gardener.

Wild for wallpaper

For some, wallpaper conjures memories of their grandmothers. For designers, wallpaper continues to be one of the quickest ways to transform a space. Throughout the years, it has fallen in and out of favor, but now it’s the object de jour.

Papering walls began around 200 B.C. when the Chinese glued rice paper to their walls for decoration. Throughout China, and later in Europe around the 12th century, wallpaper gained in style and favor.

Subtle colors add texture and interest to an otherwise boring wall.SCHUMACHER

In 1675, French engraver Jean-Michel Papillion created block designs in continuous patterns and became known as the inventor of modern-day wallpaper. Wallpaper has grown immensely in popularity with its range of styles, prints and materials to choose from.

Both 2009 and 2010 saw bold-print wallpaper as the ongoing trend. This year there has been a move toward more subdued prints and tone-on-tone colors. Metallic wallpapers have become hugely popular, giving a sophisticated sheen to walls and creating visual interest, especially when done in tone-on-tone colors. Everything from warm bronzes to icy silvers grab attention and create a sophisticated space for entertaining and relaxing.

Natural textured wallpapers such as sea grass are top choices for office settings and bedrooms. Coming in monochromatic colors as well as multicolored hues, they add dimension and texture.

Stripes have also gained in popularity, and when hung vertically can make a ceiling appear higher. Pairing the right-colored ceiling with a striped wallpaper can create a sophisticated dining room.

Now the hard part – determining which walls to paper.

Current trends lean toward fewer accent walls and more fully papered spaces.

“People are finally moving away from just a feature wall and are once again wallpapering two, three and four walls in a room,” says David Klaus of the wallpaper company Graham & Brown.

If you do choose to create an accent wall of paper, pick the wall that grabs your attention when you enter the room. To complete the look try matching the paint on the remaining walls to one of the background colors of the chosen wallpaper. This will provide symmetry and harmony.

If budget is not a concern, wallpapering the entire room will give the most dramatic and impactful statement.

Just as the current styles of wallpaper vary, pricing can also range drastically. Sold by the roll, prices can range from $35 to well over $600, with an average around $120 per roll. Typically an average-size master bedroom will need about eight rolls of wallpaper, whereas an accent wall generally may need only two.

An easy estimation for wallpapering a bedroom including installation is typically $1000 to $2000 based on an average-price wallpaper. Costly as it may seem to those of us familiar with paint and its prices, wallpaper is hard to beat when it comes to the impact it brings to any room.

Simply stated, wallpaper is the single most dramatic way to re-create a room. Considering the range of materials, colors, styles and walls to possibly adorn in wallpaper, it is almost impossible to not be open to the options available.

Sabina Vavra is an interior designer and creator of Creative Power Course, an educational program for emerging design professionals.  She is also the designer behind two episodes of this season’s “Fix This Kitchen,” featured on A&E as well as former co-star of A&E’s “Keyshawn Johnson: Tackling Design.” Based out of Aliso Viejo she can be reached at sabinavavra.com or 949-916-4664

Deceptively Floating Hearths – Bio-Blaze’s Veniz Fireplace Produces Absolutely No Smells or Smoke (TrendHunter.com)

What better way to create a magical and cozy ambiance for the holiday season than with a hearth that looks like it is floating such as the Veniz Fireplace. Children and adults alike are bound to be captivated by the optical illusion, even if the latter can detect exactly where that illusion begins and ends.

Brought to us by Bio-Blaze, the Veniz Fireplace is sleek and sophisticated. Unlike traditional fireplaces, the Veniz Fireplace can be placed much closer to furniture and people because of the glass that is used to create the floating illusion. That same glass acts as a shield against potential sparks and hot flames. This portable hearth is powered by ethanol rather than wood as well, thus not producing smoke or smells.