Gifts For The Avid Gardener!

After watching several episodes of Clean House , I sometimes try to stay away from giving my girlfriends home décor accessories--unless I know exactly what they are looking for. I have fears of watching this show someday and seeing one of my friends uttering how this was a gift from their beloved friend, the antique lover. I would hate to see one of my friends display a piece just because they felt obligated. Giving home décor accessories to even a close friend is very hard So after a lot of trial and error, this is what I have come up with! I will use my buddy Cruella for this analogy.


Cruella and I spend a lot of time shopping with one another; therefore, we know what each other likes and dislikes. In fact, we have even rub off on each other. We both love French and English antiques, but not all French and English antiques. We both love interior design but not all interior design. And we both love to dabble in cooking and we both love gardening-- her even more so then me. In the past, I’ve have given Cruella accessories for her house-- Papier Mache boxes, Papier Mache coasters--basically I could not go wrong in the Papier Mache department (Cruella loves Papier Mache, in case you could not tell). Now I like to give her books on design, cooking, or gardening, as I mentioned in my Dear Santa blog. However, a couple of years ago, I decided to give Cruella something different--I was out antiquing on a small budget and came across this prissy looking jewelry box. When I picked the box up, I thought oh, this looks like Cruella and the price is right, I’ll get it! Dresser set items have always been more in her field, after all, I sold French iron junk! Once opening the gift, Cruella cries out, in her always bubbly, passionate voice “Thank You, I love it”! And then she told me she was going to store her bedroom’s TV remote in it. Basically, the worst gift I ever gave her! I don’t blame her for wanting to throw the box underneath her bed.


I felt bad because she could not return it! The box had come from an antiques mall and not Stein Mart. I realized I should not have jumped into uncharted waters when I purchased it. I did tell her to sell it, after all, how could she go wrong? Note, this is what I learned-- knowing that Cruella spends from March to November in her yard, I can assume that she is truly an avid gardener. So why not give her something she could use that did not cost a lot but something she would probably not buy for herself! So a gift were I did score was Smith & Hawken 's garden tools – Cruella tells me that she keeps them on display in her kitchen- I was pleased. Hey I wasn’t even going for a home accessories, just a nice tool she could have for her yard.

Smith & Hawken 's Trowel

Smith & Hawken's Garden Essentials Gift

So for all your gardener friends try Smith & Hawken-- a few nice planting tools with a seasonal plant placed in a box with tissue. You can even throw in some nice garden gloves. Or you can just purchase a lemon or orange tree, or rosemary wrapped in burlap with a pretty ribbon.

Smith & Hawken's Women's floral Gloves

Rosmary Topiary

Just add a red bow!

A gift that Cruella always scores high in --is a gift subscription to Southern Accents to your truly!