Design Now

Design aficionados are going green this summer. At the May garden fair in the Tuileries—called Jardins, Jardin—French plant nurseries came up with some intriguing new ideas to prove that, in a French garden, a tree is not just a tree.

Bonsais have never made my heart beat faster, but French grower bonsai-charbonnel.com cleverly clips medium-to-large-sized shrubs and trees into graceful Japanese-style cloud shapes that spiral upwards or strike out sideways into stunning botanical showstoppers. Among the varieties used for these big “bonsais”: Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa), Japanese or spreading yew (Taxus cuspidata), Japanese holly (Ilex crenata kimme) and white, red or black pines. www.bonsai-charbonnel.com

A rose is not just a rose, despite Gertrude Stein’s edict, especially when it has been created by eminent French rose nursery Les Roses Anciennes André Eve. Eve made his reputation with glorious old-fashioned style varieties that bloom from spring through autumn. On show in the Tuileries was the nursery’s latest prizewinner, Jardin de Granville, named for the rose-bedecked Normandy garden of couturier Christian Dior, whose childhood home in Granville is now a museum. The new rose will be used by Dior in perfumes and cosmetics. With pale pink petals edged in white that open into a deep rose surrounding a golden yellow center, the Granville won the Parisian Jardins de Bagatelle’s annual international competition for the best new rose. Its subtle fragrance only shows its power when the blooms are gathered in bouquets indoors. www.roses-anciennes-eve.com

One of the show’s most captivating proposals was a verdant “parasol”. Designer Germain Bourré’s Dais Végétal, made of a steel base and a steel cable or polyethylene strand net, can be planted with grapevines, honeysuckle, jasmine or clematis that sways in the breeze to provide the soft, dappled natural shade of a tree. One Dais shelters a minimum 60-square-foot area, and a pair can be joined up to produce a delightful vine-covered dining pergola.

What you might want to slip under this leafy gloriette are French designer Christophe Pillet’s zigzag outdoor dining chairs for Kristalia. Called Pulp, they’re notable for their technical prowess and the sleek polypropylene silhouette that echoes the seated human form. Hardy, easy to stack and clean, they come in white, black, brown, beige and a fetching coral red, and they look equally at ease inside a contemporary decor. www.kristalia.it

On a terrace or balcony, in the garden or courtyard, French designer Patrick Nadeau’s new-look, thermo-lacquered steel fountain for the brand new French company Laorus offers a compact, colorful option for a multitude of uses. Available in chartreuse, orange, violet or Majorelle blue, the fountain’s flat, L-shaped stand spouts a spigot over a three-legged bucket-shaped basin equipped with a second spigot. One model curves into a top shelf for a flowerpot, another has a hook on the back for looping a garden hose. Both work well for washing hands, boots, fruit and vegetables, watering plants or playing splash games with the kids. Coming soon: an outdoor shower, a watering can and a bird feeder. www.laorus.fr

Designed by Daniel Pouzet and Fred Frety for the German outdoor furnishings specialist Dedon, the Nestrest is a woven lounger made of a weather-resistant secret-resin fiber, and it’s irresistible, whether it’s swinging like a XXL basket from a tree or sitting like a birdcage on the beach. Celebrated fashion photographer Bruce Weber has made a romantic movie starring the Nestrest with Philippe Starck’s Dedon Play lounge chair in a supporting role. www.dedon.de

Higher into the heavens—up to 25 feet off the ground—the arboreal architectures of La Cabane Perchée aim to fulfill the childhood wish of anyone who ever dreamed of a treehouse. Produced by company founder Alain Laurens, designer Daniel Dufour and master carpenter Ghislain André, these ecologically sensitive constructions are intended to surround one or several trees without damaging them, in a happy merger between host and guest. The company’s atelier, in the Provençal town of Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, creates an original project for each client—more than 350 cabins so far, in France and other European countries as well as Russia and the US. Designs range from observation platforms and one-room eyries to almost full-fledged houses with bedroom and bath. Oaks, plane trees, beeches and large pines are recommended as the best supports. A team visits the site to take photos and measurements and to ascertain the customer’s preferences. Blueprints and aquatint sketches follow. When the project is accepted, master carpenters, joiners and woodworkers assemble, then disassemble, the finished project, ship it and install it on site. From €20,000 to €75,000. www.la-cabane-perchee.com

Another very clever French creative team, designer Godefroy de Virieu and landscapers Virgile Desurmont and Louis de Fleurieu, have come up with BacSac, a lightweight, user-friendly and good-looking line of portable garden planters that can be used in the garden, on a terrace or even indoors. Made of a recyclable, ultra-light, double walled, sun and frost resistant geo-textile fabric, BacSac planters maintain an ecological balance between air, soil and water and, the team claims, produce five times more than a classic kitchen garden. The original designs have evolved into an array of choices: the chic Bacsquare, available in multiples of 4, 9 and 16; Baclong, which comes in 2, 3 or 4 units; suspended plant pots in half-gallon to 23-gallon sizes. They can also be made to measure. Best of all, you can grow your posies or veggies all year round. €20–€165. www.bacsac.fr

French designer Jean-Marie Massaud’s whimsical new indoor-or-outdoor furniture also incorporates a touch of greenery. Created for the O2asis collection of the Swedish company Offecct, Massaud’s Green Islands are oversized, upholstered foam ottomans with a hole for plants, flowers or even small trees. When planted with a miniature palm, the circular green model resembles a tiny tropical isle; the square white version seems to call for colorful florals. www.offecct.se

In any weather, taking a seat on one of Roche Bobois’s comfy and colorful Mayflower chairs by Fabrice Berrux is like plopping yourself down into the petals of a giant foam flower. www.roche-bobois.com.

Originally published in the July/August 2011 issue of France Today