Cristie Thomas and Scott Lindberg, who design and fabricate arbors, gates, and other landscape ornaments under the name :L:M:N:O: Arts, describe their professional style as "eclectic and graceful." So what is the couple doing with this delightfully silly fence in their own backyard? Having a good laugh, says Thomas.

"We were harvesting Walla Walla onions ― we've been growing them for at least a decade ― and I was suddenly struck by how beautiful they were," she says. "The wispy little roots, the sensuous bulbs, the floppy tops." So, on a whim, Thomas took several onions to the studio, made templates from them, and created this fanciful steel gate. The onion tops are made from flat bar, the roots are old welding rod bent to shape, and the gate frame is solid square rod. :L:M:N:O: Arts (831/728-3998 or