Bring on the green.....and a green thumb giveaway!

Good Thursday morning to you!  One of my favorite things, especially this time of year is gardening, watching everything turn from a pale dull brown to a rich vivid green. Of course normally in April, we are getting our gardening gloves out, and hitting our local nurseries on a weekly basis. Don't know about you but over here we are still having winter like weather....mother nature are you listening? Assuming spring really is coming.......is anything more exciting than seeing a simple long stalk start to bloom into something wonderful, floral and fragrant? I think not! I love it and except for the potential poison ivy risk (for those of use who are allergic like me), nothing can keep me away.

I have a particular obsession with white flowers against manicured boxwood, have for years and my online album is chock full of reasons why this combination works. So today, we are taking a look at all the beautiful ways to grow a beautiful lawn/garden and then the lowdown on a wonderful gardening gloves giveaway courtesy of   Angela's Garden, home to some of the prettiest gardening items  I have ever come across.  So its a double treat today. How about you? Do you have a green thumb or maybe an "aspiring" green thumb?

 

White against the green is always spectacular!

  This is total perfection!! Vicki Archer of French Essence 

Who said blue and white porcelain is just for the inside!

 Love the way the white flowers border this magnificent hydrangea garden! Dirt Simple

Love the idea of a pebble walkway bordering a lush green lawn, Grace Design

 Love the tulips with the topiaries.....Midway Nursery

Stunning white hydrangeas with the rich dark green.....so pretty! Deborah Cerbone

I love the idea of an arbor feel...and the white flowers against the green backdrop is breathtaking! Grace Design

I want to be sitting there right now with Teddy at my feet, a cold glass of lemonade and a great book! Care to join me? Statlie Todd

Adore the gorgeous roses flanking this stunning balustrade wall......I bet the scent is intoxicating!Grace Design

Totally dreamy! I love small courtyards and intimate enclosed spaces like this.....

YES to climbing ivy!!!!!!!!

 How beautiful and luscious this is! Lenk Design

You know my feelings on black doors, topiaries and ivy!

 Breathtaking! Proof that white and green are always a winning combination! Deborah Cerbone

This space is incredible!

 

Love how the orbs have a "base" of beautiful white flowers...gorgeous! Deborah Silver

Another beautiful shot of s small enclosed courtyard, so inviting and lush....

  Love the orbs, statuary and the boxwood wreath

  Wow!! Isn't this a stunner of a garden, Tuinadvise 

 Never has green, purple and white looked so spectacular together!  And to get your green thumb on.....here is the giveaway lowdown from Angela's Garden!    GIVEAWAY!! A wonderful giveaway from my favorite gardening website, Angela's garden. In honor of the spring and gardening season just arriving, they are offering a wonderful gardening giveaway of a gorgeous pair of gardening gloves and matching knee pads!! Such a great thing to win....and the perfect items to get your green thumb in motion!  To be eligible, just visit Angela's Garden by clicking here, come back and tell me a favorite item or pattern. Want a second chance? Like them or leave a comment on their Facebook page,  click here to visit them at Facebook. I will announce  the lucky winner on Friday morning! All anonymous users...you MUST include your first name and last name initial in the body of the comment to be eligible.  

 

And the matching knee pads (all available in one of four colors)

 

On a totally different sidenote.....I just got 10 more of the navy trimmed raffia bag that sold out almost immediately. I promised to announce if I was able to get more. This is it for the season so if you were one of those who wanted to buy it but got there too late....they're back for a short time! Its such a chic bag and only $75.00! Click here to purchase.

 

How does your garden grow and a gardening giveaway!

What is it about gardens and why we love them so? I am a sucker for a more natural looking garden, kind of like the perfect combination of nature just doing what it does best...growing all kinds of beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers with a little help from us to keep things neat and pristine. Nothing overly done, nothing too perfect and a beautiful lake or pond, a charming gazebo and some gorgeous statuary and planters certainly is the icing on the cake. One thing I never tire of looking at is pictures of beautiful gardens. They literally have the ability to "take me away" to a beautiful, magical, serene place. Do they have that effect on you too? I had a loooong wish list at the start of this summer (being its the first summer in our new house, I came wide eyed and full of dreams and wishes) but the reality is that little has gotten done and the list remains nearly as long as it did when summer started! So....thinking next year is the year (please remind me that I said this).

One thing I wanted to desperately do is start my own garden, had one in our first house and few things could make me as happy as when I ran out first thing in the morning to fetch what nature had sowed.....it was thrilling to load up a big crate of tomatoes and cucumbers! I have planted some flowers this year, and of course several new hydrangea bushes which grow really well around here, they are practically fool proof! I have done some container gardening, (mostly indoors though) and though I have done little....the little I have done has been immensely satisfying and I realized this year how much I enjoy it, always looking for an excuse to visit a nursery or a beautiful florist or greenhouse (to the point where I think some people think I work there)! So next year, my green thumb is going to be glowing and ready for action! Today  I share with you some exquisite gardening images I have saved that just make me exhale and immediately bring down my blood pressure a few notches. To boot....this is being tied in with a fabulous gardening giveaway!! Something from my shop in conjunction with a few chic gardening items from Angela's garden. All details on bottom. Enjoy..............

This is positively magical, Old Westbury Gardens

This makes my heart sing.....the white blooms, the charming seating arrangement, does it get any better?

The manicured look of I believe boxed hedges is simple perfection.

Beautiful planters and statuary, boxwoods, a fountain and lush foliage make this cozy, inviting but above all very elegant. London gardens

This charming parterre garden is just beautiful, Lamaisonfou

How beautiful is a simple garden bench on a sea of perfect grass with a raging flower garden as a backdrop!

Dreamy don't you think? A beautiful arbor or corridor of pale pink roses....spectacular!

Give me an expanse of bright green lawn, and a bed of blooming hydrangeas and I am good to go!

Green with Envy garden tour.....lush, secluded and magical is how I would sum this fabulous setting up.....

What awakens every one of our sense as much as a breathtaking rose garden/arbor? Granted this is not something most of us could easily achieve but its certainly a thing of beauty to aspire to!

White flowers in a lush green garden are the picture of elegance, Southern Accents

Statuary is such a gorgeous compliment to a lush and elegant garden, love this! Linda Floyd

How beautiful is this? What a perfect hideaway aka reading spot! Alfreds Gardens

Love a shaded parterre garden with a beautiful bench,  it just beckons you to sit and stay awhile, Pam Penick

One of my most favorite looks a boxed grass courtyard surrounded by hedges and towering large trees.....just breathtaking! J Schamp photography

Arbors and fountains are a beautiful way to complement a garden, Rinfret

How about a wisteria arbor to enter your herb garden? Yes thank you! The garden tourist

The right dose of weathered benches, boxed perimeter hedges, florals and lavender/heather......love love love it!

Gorgeous boxwoods frame this elegant patio, love the idea of a bold statuary item to center it.....Susan Friedman design group

OK if this isn't the picture of idyllic charm...don't know what is! Old Westbury Gardens

Love white in gardens and this lush garden's hydrangea borders are just amazing!!

Yes this requires boatloads of work and maintenance, but how stunning is this perfectly manicured garden featuring these round boxwoods lining a walkway? Domestic Executive

How beautiful is this bronze statue placed in the middle of a gorgeous lily pond? Love!!! Linda Floyd

This has been in my files for a long long time as a picture perfect "yard" (while I realize its far from your average yard) love the manicured, restrained feeling......visual perfection. Southern Accents

Are you channeling your inner green thumb yet? I am and most definitely feeling very inspired though we all know to have anything like those above, must be a true labor of love. These just do not "happen"! 

 So to get you really motivated I am offering a wonderful gardening giveaway! I am offering a beautiful aged moss fiberglass planter along with this beautiful pair of kidskin leather gardening gloves and matching stylish hat, courtesy of Angelas Garden. To enter its very simple, click on my store (here) and come back and tell me one item that you would love to own. Want a second chance then visit Angelas Garden (here) and tell me a gardening item you would love to have.  If you are in the market for great looking, very stylish, well priced gardening accessories, look no further, Angelas Garden is AMAZING!  I will announce a lucky winner on Friday! Good luck.......and get your garden on!

Here's the planter ready for your green thumb to work its magic!

And the beautiful kidskin gardening gloves and chic matching hat from Angela's garden...

If this doesn't get you motivated to begin gardening, don't know what will. Talk about gardening in style! Thanks for stopping in....wishing you a wonderful day. Be back on Friday!!