Botanical wonders: give your home some garden style.

natural selection

Introduced to stunning new species during the age of exploration, painters replicated intriguing images like the exotic lotus flowers of this new pattern from Yves Delorme Paris. The bedding division of venerable French textile producer Pierre Frey, Delorme offers its Indochine design in triple-woven 100-percent Egyptian combed cotton on honey or ecru grounds. $849 for the king sheet set at Yves Delorme Paris, 28-B S. Boulevard of Presidents, St. Armands. [phone].

collectors' choice bijoux 

If the exquisite orchids adorning this glass vase look like jewelry, it's because artist Jay Strongwater got his start designing Oscar de la Renta's couture bling. Only 350 copies of this vase will be made, each individually mouth blown in Portugal. But it's the hand enameling and fanciful setting of Swarovski crystals and cabochons that appeal most to collectors--Cate Blanchett, Tom Hanks and Halle Berry among them. $2,800 at Annabelle's Home & Kitchen, 1924 S. Osprey Ave., Sarasota. [phone].

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master gardeners

Gifts and home accessories rival acres of plantings at Selby Botanical Gardens, with the new Banyan Treasures shop offering an impressive upscale selection. We love this wall sculpture arrangement of heliconia and orchids (17 by 43 inches), hand crafted by Bovano using age-old techniques. Skilled artisans use vitreous enamel fused to copper to capture the fine line detail of botanical subjects. $335 at Banyan Treasures, 900 S. Palm Ave. (entrance through Rainforest Store), Sarasota. [phone] ext. 242.

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orchid obsession

Designer Anna Weatherley's masterful illustrations, hand-painted on porcelain, are inspired by botanical artists of 18th-century Europe. Her newest collection recaptures British horticulturalists' passion for orchids, with a selection of six different varieties so dinner plates can be mixed and matched. Lady Slipper orchid plate ($398) is cradled in pink charger rimmed in 24K gold ($86). Mary's On Main, 1454 Main St., Sarasota. [phone].

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perennial border

Delicately rendered, the botanical images in this handcrafted needlepoint rug look good enough to pick because they're created the old-fashioned way: stitched onto canvas using the finest hand-dyed New Zealand wool. One of the few rug makers that combines artistic appeal with scientific detailing, Peel & Company designed "Botanical Ivy" in several colors with borders adapted to all standard rug sizes. $2,489 for an eight-by-10-foot rug at Rugs As Art, 6650 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. [phone].

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prints charming

That's what Architectural Digest dubbed our own William Hartman, purveyor and connoisseur of suburb antique prints like this early 19th-century botanical. Designers from Tampa to Naples pop Into Hartman's gallery for rare finds, often enlisting his framing talents as well, Engravings like Dragon Arum ($550, above) are framed traditionally with French matting and marbled inlays. William Hartman Gallery, 48 S. Palm Ave., Sarasota. [phone].

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