The growing season is here, and it’s time for a new desk plant – which will need its own watering can and spritzer, of course – or an assortment of gardening tools for your home. But you don’t want these things to be dowdy. After all, what’s sexy about a black rubber hose or a watering can that’s fit for your grandma? Plenty, as it turns out – hoses are shiny hot-pink now – and with matching nozzles.
Gardening gloves come in silver or gold, and the humble watering can is worthy of prizes in industrial design. Follow Ladders guide to looking chic while brightening up your desk – or your backyard – with greenery.
For your garden
Hot-pink garden hose
Whoa! Your husband will freak out when he comes home and sees that you’ve installed a hot pink garden hose with matching nozzles, hung on decorative wall mounts – but who really does all the watering around here anyway? The PVC hose comes in a range of colors, doesn’t kink, and is protected from sun exposure – so yes, it’ll stay that color for years. Garden Glory, a Swedish company, has been an object of attention recently for its fashion-forward garden designs.
$99, Garden Glory
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Floral garden pruners
Pruning, a thankless task, will be so much more enjoyable with these floral-patterned pruners. (The task will also be easier with the carbon-steel blades.) A note about the charming print: the wallpaper pattern was designed in 1877 for London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.
$24.95, Williams-Sonoma
Silver metallic gardening gloves
You won’t want to get these silver gardening gloves dirty. Luckily, you won’t have to. Made out of stretchy synthetic leather, the material makes them dirt and water repellent. If you’re not into pewter, they come in gold, too.
$59, Garden Glory
Diamond watering can
Is one supposed to use this watering can – this particular color is called Rosé – as a decorative object, or to actually water plants? Luckily, this multifaceted object doesn’t make you choose.
$49, Garden Glory
Rattan tool basket
That old quilted cotton bag overstuffed with gardening tools has got to go. This rattan basket holds it all, does double duty with pockets and adorable ties for your tools on the outside, and is much more pleasing to the eye.
$39.95, Williams-Sonoma
For your desk
Indoor watering can
This lightweight, indoor copper watering can from Williams-Sonoma, when placed on your desk, will let everyone know you mean business. It’s by Haws, a brand that has been a mainstay in English gardens since 1886, and is meant for tending to indoor plants.
$89.95, Williams-Sonoma
Desktop plant mister
Many plants love to be misted – study up on yours to see if it’s one of them – and this stylish desktop glass plant mister with a brass nozzle from Smith and Hawken looks like something out of a chemistry lab.
$14.99, Target
Desktop watering can
Another, more affordable style of desktop watering can – one with fewer frills but just as attractive – is this small teal number from online plant purveyor The Sill. While you’re on the site, order up a new desk plant if you’re in the mood. They also have their own version of a plant mister, which is printed on one side with the words, “Plant people have more bright ideas.”
$8, The Sill
Magic plant clock
Now, you can have your desktop plants and you can have your clock … all in one. No batteries necessary, because the clock “runs operates on energy generated from the chemical reaction between metal electrodes and wet soil. The only thing you need to provide is a plant.
$39.95, LeGrow
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