Giving plants as gifts is one of my favourite things. I love visiting friends’ houses and gardens and seeing the plants and flowers I’ve given thriving and growing and being appreciated. And I really love the fact that when people see these gifts on their windowsills, book shelves and kitchen counters they sometimes think of me and our friendship. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
This month’s Urban Jungle Bloggers theme is Offer a Plant To a Friend. Usually I give miniature succulents as gifts because they are easy to package and are a low maintenance plant for my friends who don’t have much of a green thumb. A few weeks ago my daughters and I gave this one to a dear friend and it made her so happy.
But for this month’s UJB post I decided to re-create my favourite green gift that I ever received. When my son was a chubby little four year old he arrived home from kindergarten one day with a little pot of self-sown water cress. He proudly snipped off the sprouts and served them to me on a piece of bread and butter. It was so simple but one of the most delicious little meals I’ve ever been served. The big blue eyes and dimples helped I’m sure.
I thought an “adult version” of this sweet little green gift would be perfect to take to a friend who had invited us to dinner and asked me to bring a little pre-dinner snack.
So about a week before the dinner date I sprinkled some watercress seeds on dampened cotton balls in a beautiful little hand-painted ceramic bowl (found at Maison du Monde). They were ready just in time for the dinner.
I also took some tasty brown bread and the fanciest little tin of butter I could find (because when else would you spend 5euro on butter?). The hostess was delighted with the gift and so happy that she could continue to grow the watercress in the little pot (I included a little envelope of seeds).
Not your typical “green plant” gift but one that I think a lot of people would love to receive.
*Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series initiated by 2 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month they share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on their Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board and keep up-to-date on our website and Facebook page. Want to join? Use #urbanjunglebloggers on Twitter and Instagram. Or let them know and they’ll share the badge and upcoming topics with you. Let’s bring some green into our homes and blogs!
After thinking about it for a few days and looking for the perfect spot in my house for a hanging planter I decided I was going to go the DIY route for this month’s post. I thought it would be a perfect little creative project to do with my kids while they were on February break and my daughters were happy that their room was going to finally get some greenery. 
Jillian In Italy 