Electric Nights

Shade your days and brighten up your nights with an illuminated cover. Hedge Row Decorative Outdoors offers an umbrella (9 feet tall, starting at $1,050) that sports a low-voltage lighting system.

Canopies are made of acrylic fabric and hand-dyed. Background colors are mahogany, mica, parchment sage, sandstone and slate. One of seven designs--from Victorian to Deco Pond--is hand-painted onto the canopy. Acrylic tassels of green, rust, beige or salmon are added.

Custom designs are offered, as are matching fabrics and tassels for cushions.

The finials are hand-turned and come in six styles and four colors.

Available at Roger’s Garden, Corona del Mar, (949) 640-5800, or through Hedge Row Decorative Outdoors, 1046 Bradbury Court, Westlake Village, CA 91361; (805) 494-1645. E-mail: dchantra@aol.com.

Slippery When Round

Do you think painting is hard work? Try doing it on a small piece of glass. That’s what artist Iwona Wiszniewska does.

In the tradition of European master glassblowers, the holiday ornaments from the Polonaise Collection (starting at $25) are handblown, silver-coated, lacquered and decorated in Poland.

“Painting on glass is totally different than painting on any other surface because it is slippery and rounded,” says Wiszniewska, who was born in Bialystok, Poland. “You must know the right techniques or your ornament will be lopsided.”

For this season, Wiszniewska has designed several new ornaments that continue her book series: A Christmas Carol set, Behold: the Lamb of God and the Bible.

She will sign her pieces from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Armstrong Garden Center in San Juan Capistrano.

The Polonaise Collection by Komozja is available at Armstrong Garden Centers in Costa Mesa, Laguna Niguel and San Juan Capistrano. (800) 55-PLANT.