THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506020100
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO HOME & GARDEN
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
WHILE OLD WATERING cans have taken root as collectors items, so too have new models. A browse through local gift and garden shops turned up enough novel, contemporary cans to fill a good-sized wheelbarrow.
Some of the cans are bright and shiny and can be either functional or decorative items. Some are reproductions, with the tarnished, old-timey look of antiques, and would sit pretty on a shelf or mantel alongside a plant.
Some cans aren't even watering cans at all. As a decorative motif, the watering can is in full bloom around Hampton Roads. We discovered watering cans on T-shirts, note cards, wreaths, rugs and more.
Like the black-and-white cows that became a favorite decorating theme in kitchens a while back, the watering can has arrived. It is popular, say local shop owners, because it is a symbol of the simpler lifestyle many of us yearn for and because gardening as a hobby has blossomed in recent years.
Foxglove, a garden and gift shop on 21st Street in Norfolk, features many unusual watering cans, including some that can be worn. Tiny colorful watering cans, along with other miniature garden tools and baskets, are strung into a folksy necklace. More reserved is the small gold-colored pin in the shape of a can. Watering cans and other garden tools fill the front and back of a T-shirt that would make a good gift for a gardener.
And they decorate a needlepoint pillow, a doormat, notepaper and greeting cards at Foxglove, which also has plenty of real watering cans for sale. These are as varied as a tarnished, copper-colored reproduction, a neon green can with shiny gold bands and a tiny wire can that could hold a dried flower arrangement or be fastened to a wreath.
Classic and contemporary interpretations of the watering can are found at the Jessie Williams shop on Colonial Avenue in Norfolk. The delicate ceramic watering cans from Portugal have an Old World look, while a glass vase attached to a rustic-looking metal cutout of a watering can makes an unusual way to display flowers.
At Ghent Gardens on Granby Street in Norfolk, a popular item for gift-giving is the small metal watering can in hot colors that's stuffed with garden tools in matching colors.
New watering cans hand-painted with flowers are one of the specialties of Virginia Beach mother-daughter crafts team of Ros Stallcup and Kristie Violette. For sale at the Spotted Cow in Countryside Shops on Landstown Road in Virginia Beach, these blend well with a country decorating theme.
Those who prefer a more formal look might like the 2-inch-high Limoges porcelain watering can from France, a collector's item for sale at Barnett's Gifts & Lamps at Hilltop North in Virginia Beach. Its price, $125, is hardly a drop in the bucket. by CNB