Launched this summer, Canadian design brand été specializes in outdoor planters that bear the imprint of founder Kate Fox-Whyte’s green thumb. “Working on a lot of projects, you get to know the pain points that come with certain products,” says the designer, who is also the principal behind Toronto firm Fox Whyte Landscape Architecture. “For years, we have had a running list in the office of things that we wanted that just don’t exist — like a planter that has what we need in terms of both materiality and functionality.”

In particular, Fox-Whyte says that most greenery containers don’t offer the depth required to accommodate rooftop trees. Also on her wish list? Lightweight, durable materials that would still look luxurious enough to feel like an extension of a client’s high-end interior design.

The two products that she’s introduced — a deep, rounded basin dubbed Soleil and a shallow dish named Eclipse — strike an appropriately sophisticated note. Each one is made up of two different components: a bowl and a tray. Visually, this allows for fun mix-and-match combinations of the collection’s materials, which include Corten steel, Muntz bronze or aluminum (available in either a satin finish, or powder-coated in one of 21 colours). 

But the range really comes into bloom with its well-considered details. Upon closer inspection, each planter reveals no shortage of practical touches that reflect Fox-Whyte’s decades of industry expertise. For one thing, the bowl-and-tray configuration gives water somewhere to drip. “A lot of planters are actually installed on hard surfaces, and when the water runs through, it stains the surface below,” she explains. And when rain pours down, holes in the bowl and an overflow slot in the tray facilitate excess drainage.

In another clever move, each tray rests on a series of adjustable feet that allow the planters to be easily leveled. After all, as Fox-Whyte notes, “Nothing outside is flat.” Meanwhile, gasket-sealed conduits ensure irrigation lines or lighting wires can be discreetly tucked away. “We’ve experienced all this from the other side, so we knew that being able to hide those things was important,” she continues.

Sure enough, the product line evolved from a pair of custom designs — a planter and a bird bath — that Fox-Whyte had previously developed for two of her clients. After having both bowls spun in Toronto, she realized that the city’s manufacturing community had capabilities that could be put to broader use. “Because we had already done a dry run with those custom versions, we had this spinning company and metal fabricator who were excited about partnering with us to develop them further,” she says.

That said, Fox-Whyte recognized that if she wanted to get serious about product development, she needed to call in some extra expertise. “We do a lot of custom furniture at the firm, but as much as we understand how to make things, making the transition to developing something for sale in a retail environment is a totally different thing,” she says. With that in mind, she tapped the design consultancy studio Workbench Design (led by product designer Jake Oliveira, a speaker at Azure’s upcoming 2025 Human/Nature conference) to help translate her one-off creations into something that could be produced consistently in larger production runs.

Some of Oliveira‘s expertise went into developing standardized product components like the planter feet and a proprietary cap for the conduit. But he also played a hand in fine-tuning the range’s finishes and palette. “Kate’s a fun person, and expressed a desire for colour in the garden. That meant finding a way to prep aluminum for powder-coating by orbital-sanding it so that the powder will stick to the body,” says Oliveira.

For Fox-Whyte, the collection’s versatility is a key part of the collection’s appeal. “As designers, we’re always looking to be able to customize things to fit the project,” she says. “So being able to bring that flexibility — even if most people aren’t going to go for a bright blue or pink planter, at least having those options — was really important. It allows designers to play and means that our products can speak to a project on an individual level.” Oliveira echoes this. “The product is not siloed — it has a broad use case,” he says.

Soleil and Eclipse made their debut this summer during an event at furniture showroom Studio B Home — and setting up for the launch party ended up being the ultimate payoff to Fox-Whyte and Oliveira’s considered design process. “Jake and I together were able to carry the 48-inch Corten planter, which is the heaviest of the bunch, but actually not that heavy for a piece of that scale,” says Fox-Whyte. “We were setting it up on these old paving stones that were super uneven, but it was still easy to set it in place thanks to the adjustable feet. It was really cool to experience those in action.” 

For Oliveira, the project has also been a lesson in the magic of greenery. “I’m not a landscape architect, so part of the joy of working with Kate has been learning more about that discipline,” he says. “The planter is really thoughtfully designed, but ultimately, it’s serving as a showcase for the life that’s being planted within it.”