Thursday's Unique Pick - How Does Your Garden Grow

In the case of this Garage Sale Girly I should say, "How your garden doesn't grow."
What is the "opposite of having a green thumb"?

Vintage ephemera found in The Vintage Mode's etsy shop.

I Googled that phrase so I could have a name for my affliction. As it turns out there is not a specific phrase that is associated with someone that has the inability of keeping plants alive indoors or outside.
I salute my neighbors for their beautiful flowers, gardens, lawns and lack of weeds.

I grew this.

I see how hard they work everyday to achieve this living exterior decor. I understand that if I applied myself (and watered regularly) I may be able to achieve a similar effect in my yard. Unfortunately my track record with making my outdoor plants thrive has left me feeling like I should leave the fancy plantings to my neighbors and I can enjoy looking at their plants from my shabby chic deck.

Stick to what you know. Right?
I was able to achieve this lovely plant by using vintage curtain tie backs and vintage woven trim. My kind of garden.







In honor of Earth day, Arbor Day and my neighbors very green thumbs, I am devoting This week's Unique Picks to gardens and gardening and garden related gifts. These are fab finds that may even entice this self proclaimed plant killer to give her garden another go.

I know that Earth Day gets a lot of press but I saw a commercial on TV the other day about Arbor Day, (I hadn't heard much about Arbor Day since my pre-school days) and I decided to do a little bit of research about the differences between the two besides one being devoted to trees.
So before I get to my picks here is my PSA about Earth Day and Arbor Day.

Illustration by Fridolf Johnson from the 1944 book "New Mother Goose Book"- Part of my personal stash of vintage goodness.

Did you know Arbor Day was first celebrated in 1872?

Did you know that Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970?
Did you know that Earth Day was created to raise awareness about environmental issues and how to protect the environment?
Did you know Arbor Day was a day set aside for planting trees and recognizing the importance of trees?
Earth Day is on April 22nd and Arbor Day is on April 24th. (The official date of Arbor Day is flexible though. It is left up to each state to determine the best day to plant trees based on climate)
The more you know...
Read more about the difference between Arbor Day and Earth Day.

Lettuce get started with today's Unique Picks...

This fantastic greeting card is available from Pup and Pony Press on etsy.

The logical place to start is with the seeds, right?

If you don't shop on etsy very often you may be surprised to learn that you can even buy an amazing array of heirloom seeds to help you create your own designer garden.

 

 Azure Dandelion sells seeds to grow these unique (and I bet delish) Heirloom Parisienne
Carrots on etsy.




If growing veggies isn't your thing you can also buy seeds to bring some color into your yard with these gorgeous flowers.





The seeds to plant these Canterbury Bells are sold in The Bear Foot Shaman's etsy shop.

Not sure what kinds of seeds to buy to create your glorious garden?

You can find beautiful full color illustrations in this 1940's reference book on flowers to make it easier for you to pick your poison.

This book can be found in Grandmother's Attic's etsy shop.

I wonder if that book would help me to identify this species of flora growing on my side yard.

After you have the seeds and get them planted you just need to add water, right?





Maybe if I had a really cool vintage watering can like this one, sold at piratesb00ty's shop, I would be a better gardener.

If you are all about watering efficiency with a hose and a vintage chic touch you could pick up this metal hose reel.

Buy this unique pick at Bird-in-Hand's etsy shop.

Another great way to express your personality in your garden is by using really great vintage planters.

I found this "Swimmingly Divine" planter in Pearl's Vintage shop.

or

you could use something like these vintage fishing bait buckets to pot your plants if you are going or more of an industrial look.

This set of galvanized metal buckets can be found at Lackluster Co. on etsy.

What can I say about these next picks other than...

Check out these personality packed illustrated greeting card from Glen Hibline Illustration.

Inspired by this charming little scene the hubby and I spotted while wondering around Monaco, I have developed a fond fascination, if you will, with garden gnomes and the folks that have them in their yards.

photo courtesy of my talented hubby

I get the feeling that people that have these little friends in their garden may have a pretty good sense of humor or even border on the edge of eccentric, either way it works for me.

 

You can bring home this little vintage garden gnome from Summer Ground's etsy shop.

I know that I have had a lot of picks this week but I had a difficult time weeding through my favorites to get to the cream of the crop!

 

Garden boot vintage collage by Luna clay design's  Shop

There were way too many great etsy finds to choose from.

Just because I really love all of these great garden picks doesn't make me want to go outside and pull weeds.

 

This dress sold in jessjamesjake's etsy shop.

A dress like that would totally bring a little color to our yard...and I won't even have to water to achieve results.