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There's a trend afoot to use interior designing skills to decorate the great outdoors...at least the backyard or the patio. As gardeners and garden supplies become more varied and sophisticated, a wave of whimsy is washing over yards and gardens.

There's a new focus on fun, according to resaerch by the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center.

Designers and savvy hostesses define outdoor dining areas by hanging grand chandeliers and flowing curtains from garden pergolas or overhanging tree branches.

Tall garden torches look jolly stuck here and there in the garden, where their bright waxy colors and evening charm add something special to beds of fragrant lilies and other dramatic flowers.

Cut flowers are displayed in all their glory where they are least expected! In a fresh twist on floral design, flower fanciers are finding fabulous fun spots to decorate, the more mundane the merrier.

A can of hot pink gladioli is cheery on a deck or dock.

A galvanized bucket of fat happy dahlia looks fabulous set on a charir, beside a pond, by the garden path or just outside the kitchen door.

Surprisingly pretty posies can be made by hanging colorful totes or vintage pocketbooks by their straps from trees or fences, with a jar tucked inside to hold water and stems of colorful summer blooms such as lilies, brodiaea, calla, zinnia or sunflowers.

Decorating the outdoors is easier when you grow a selection of colorful container gardens. Put them on coasters with wheels, and you can easily arrange and rearrange to match your daily living and party planning desires.

Even trees can go portable when planted in containers. You can spice them up with Christmas tree lighting and use them as anchors for curtain rods of elegant translucent space dividers.

For more information about flowering bulbs and garden ideas, check the website of Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center at www.bulb.com.

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