Heat up your outdoor experience by incorporating a fire feature in your landscape. Fireplaces, fire pits and fire tables light up the ambience and extend the usability of your outdoor space from day to night and summer to fall.

ONE: Palazzo fireplace, by Heat & Glo, available at Forshaw.

TWO: Vintage 2424 fire pit, by The Outdoor Great Room Company, available at C. Bennett.

THREE: Hammered copper top fire pit, by O.W. Lee, available at Amini’s.

A seasonal trend for some, a lifestyle for many, the growing popularity of urban and rooftop gardens in the last decade has been significant. The development of the nouveau foodie persona, and the rise of the farm-to-table movement, have played a huge role in encouraging otherwise cement-treading, air-conditioned dwelling individuals to pick up a spade and bend from the waist for hours upon hours to tend a plot.

If you lack a green thumb but pine for a lush landscape, try one of these easy-going plants. SLHL asked local landscapers to share plants that are resilient.

What better way to cure cabin fever than to design next season’s garden and landscape plan? The Kemper Center for Home Gardening is a tremendous inspiration to both the budding gardener and seasoned pro. This eight-acre portion of the Missouri Botanical Garden features an 8,000-square-foot enclosed pavilion, which contains displays, a reference library, the Plant Doctor clinic, a classroom, indoor gardening displays, a monthly gardening-calendar display and much more.

There should be no mystery as to what inspires the stunning garden that surrounds Carol and Steve Higgins's Ladue home. The clues are everywhere.