Award-winning garden designer and author Jon Carloftis [cq] will lecture on "Putting Style in the Garden" at the Middleburg Community Center on Tuesday, September 13. The open-to-the-public event, sponsored by The Piedmont Garden Club, will begin at 11:00 am and will be followed by a catered box luncheon.

Mr. Carloftis, a Kentucky native, has been gardening for more than 23 years. He began his gardening career in 1986 when he became the owner of a popular home and garden store, the Rockcastle River Trading Company, on his family's property in Livingston, Ky. Mr. Carloftis is the sole designer of the gardens that have been featured in BMW Magazine, Country Home, Garden & Gun, Outdoor Rooms, and Southern Living.

In 1988, Mr. Carloftis moved to New York City to start his new business, Fine Gardens. His first clients were noted art collectors Barbara and Eugene Schwartz. As word of his talent spread, so did the demand for his services. He became an expert in rooftop and small space gardening.

According to Mr. Carloftis, "Whether you have a rooftop or balcony in the city, a small backyard in the suburbs, or 100 acres in the country, it's that small space right outside the back door that everyone uses most."

Some of Mr. Carloftis's recognizable clients are the actors, Mike Myers, Julianne Moore, and Edward Norton; producer Jerry Bruckheimer and his wife Linda Bruckheimer; director, producer, and actor, M. Night Shyamalan; and the famed Lauder family (of Estee Lauder).

He has made multiple appearances on the Style Channel, The Home and Garden Channel (HGTV), ABC's Good Morning, America, and Martha Stewart.

In 2010, Mr. Carloftis was selected to design and install the Alltech Experience and the Kentucky Experience gardens at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, the Games' first appearance in the United States. In addition, he has designed gardens for the UK Arboretum.

Mr. Carloftis, and his clients, have been honored with a number of gardening awards. He was the recipient of a landscaping design award from the Museum of the City of New York City, his client, Nancy Barron, received Lexington, Kentucky's DLC 2007 Landscape and Streetscape award, and his commercial client, The Lofts at Main & Rose, received Lexington's DLC 2008 Landscape and Streetscape Award.

Mr. Carloftis is also the author of three books. His most recent is the Beautiful Gardens of Kentucky, where he shows a portrait of twenty-one private and public outdoor spaces. He describes these gardens, some his own designs, as being "as distinguished as they are seductive."

To attend the luncheon and lecture by Jon Carloftis, please send $65 to Piedmont Garden Club, P.O. Box 33, The Plains, VA 20198. The deadline for reservations is Sept. 6. For more information, contact Margaret Littleton at (540) 687 – 6246 or by email to: peidmontgardenclub@gmail.com.