Collecting | Top 6 Garden Antiques

If you read my last post about Styling Your Garden With Antiques, you already know I love garden antiques. Garden antiques add instant patina and personality, history and that certain “je ne sais quoi” to your outdoor spaces, as well as inside.

Garden antiques are meant to be quirky, with wear and stories of gardens and gardeners long ago. A well worn watering can reminds me instantly of following my grandfather around his garden in Europe, watering “our” special plants together. That is the magic of antiques, they create connections to activities, places, and interests you shared with people you love in the past, as well as the present.

Along with your love of gardens and plants, a collection of garden antiques can add to the joy during the warm season, then delight your eye {and heart} inside when the weather turns cooler.

Here is my list of the top six garden antiques to collect:

 

1. Pots and Planters. I prefer French ones, but any antique pot or planter is a sure fire way to bring style to your garden. Use planters and urns inside to display a collection of shells, or moss balls.

This antique jardiniere is elegant, a classic style with the ribboned wreath, used inside and out it brings instant history and style!

Antique Belgian zinc bird feeders have age and patina. Use them outdoors as shown, or inside, for fantastic contrast to a more chic setting.

 

2. Watering Cans.  Again, ours are mostly French zinc watering cans in all shapes and sizes. We have too many, even one brings history,charm and French country style to your garden, or sunporch. {When I can bear to part with one or a few, they are available on frenchgardenhouse.com.} The quirkier the watering can is, the more patina and wear, the better.

The antique enamelware body pitchers from France make perfect watering cans too. Even if they no longer hold water, you can insert a glass jar with water to hold flowers.

Not just for watering the garden, fill one with blooming branches for an instant centerpiece for your next garden party

3. Garden Chairs. We have antique French bistro chairs on our back patio around our large French country table. Each is a little different, which adds some excitement to the mix! Garden chairs used indoors can create a room that expresses your own authentic style in a fun, fresh way.

4. Gardening Books. Beautiful antique gardening books with rich, chromolithograph illustrations are becoming rare. Sadly, many dealers are ripping out the illustrations and selling the small prints off one by one.
Books with poetry often have exceptional floral illustrations.

 

5. Garden Tools. Always a favorite, with wonderful patina, I will admit that often, when we find a great antique gardening tool for FrenchGardenHouse, my in-house gardener {mr. FGH} keeps it. The antique tools were made to last for generations, often they are still very usable, and much sturdier than new ones.

6. Baskets and Trugs. One of my all time favorites! Garden trugs from France are a great way to tote seeds, twine, pots and tools around the garden. Each one is different, as often these totes were made at home, so each is a one-of-a-kind piece packed with personality and history.

 

Often hand made long ago, this type of wood carrier is typical of French totes for the garden. History, patina, a little quirkiness…these have it all!

 

This is a shot I took of a yellow French garden trug for Victorian Homes Magazine a while ago. Doesn’t a wood carry-all like this look stunning filled with flowers cut from your borders?

 

Our garden antiques are often the very first to sell, so if you see a piece that speaks to you, grab it while it’s still there! Shop our garden antiques here.

Shop for the best in French Antiques, furniture with the patina of age, vintage accessories to delight you and your family & friends, and French Country utilitarian pieces. Treasures that make your home fresh, beautiful, inspirational and uniquely yours. Visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.com.