Joy Newton Designs: Jewelry, Home Decor and Decorative Accessories in the News.

Gifts To Gladden Gardener's Heart

By Valerie Finholm

If you have a friend or relative who is a gardener, chances are you've received some benefits over the years: a hand-picked bouquet, a cutting from a special plant or, if you're really lucky, a basketful of freshly picked tomatoes.

If it is your turn to return the favor, here are a few gift ideas for the gardener.

Consider giving your favorite gardener a special vase. At Joy Newton Designs, the vases are works of art. The Connecticut artist transfers prints of her original paintings of irises, poppies and other plants from her garden onto white terra-cotta vases imported from Europe. Newton sells a range of garden-themed gifts, including earrings and magnets.

"They're for people who love and appreciate plants," says Newton, a botanical illustrator whose products are carried by the shops at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, White Flower Farm in Litchfield and Gledhill Nursery in West Hartford and are available at her website, www.JoyNewtonDesigns.com.