The Best Patio Table Umbrellas

Santa Barbara Umbrella

• The Santa Barbara Umbrella is a patio fantasy that will set you back a vacation-size investment but inspire oohs and aahs from your guests. Its simple 9-foot octagon is made with a hard rock maple pole and brass fittings but venture into the custom line, and it represents high-end quality plus pure fantasy.

  The Flamenco is watermelon and white ruffles of commercial canvas that should probably have a few castanets dangling from it to clack in the breeze. It comes in a 7-foot diameter that curves up like a street umbrella.

  The Lilypond is a 9-foot hexagon of pond green and pink-trimmed petals.

  The Classic Weave is a 9-foot octagon of woven canvas strips, and a variety of specialty covers can be ordered custom-made form more than a dozen fabric choices and designs. Prices start at $1200, and the fancy models start at $2400 as of November 2010. Contact the company for the latest designs and sales.

Plow & Hearth

• Plow & Hearth makes a tilt-pole, wooden rib market umbrella that slips into a patio table or is standalone with a weighted base. The center pole is either aluminum with a crank handle for tilt adjustment or wood with a pulley system on the 9-foot model only. The larger umbrella also features a top vent. The dozen fabric choices range from solids to stripes to floral prints, and the covers are removable for cleaning. A 9-foot, wood pole classic market umbrella is available for $149.99 in November 2010 online.

FiberBuilt Umbrellas

• Octagonal FiberBuilt Lucaya Contract-Grade Patio Umbrellas are advertised as ideal for a bistro table. The 8-foot umbrellas are made with Sunbrella fabric, a breathable, water-repellent, mildew-resistant material that has been awarded a "seal of recommendation" by the Skin Cancer Foundation. Sunbrella fabrics provide up to 98 percent UV protection, and FiberBuilt uses marine-grade fabric for durability. The umbrella poles are aluminum, and the fiberglass ribs are designed for flexibility in a breeze to prevent breakage. These are non-tilt umbrellas made for commercial use and are meant to be tough, fade-free and weatherproof for years of use. Online sale prices for the umbrellas are $530.99 to $571.99 as of November 2010.

Solar Sanctuary

• Jo Angell's custom Solar Sanctuary can be adapted to any outdoor canopy design, from patio cover to umbrella fabric. The artistic cutouts mimic botanical shapes and filter light like sun through plants and trees. The material has a double-layered UV protection system wherein light passes through the first or topmost cutouts and is then diffused in the translucent underlying fabric. The dappled light beneath the petal-style constructions seems to be part of nature. Solar System is an entirely custom design and adaptation to a patio table umbrella is by commission.