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wendy_the_pooh

Favorite Gift for a Gardener

Wendy_the_Pooh
20 years ago

What's the gift you would most like to get from others for your garden, or what have you given another gardener? It could be a plant, a tool to garden with, a garden service, a gift basket with packets of seeds, a special trellis, handmade pottery, a potting bench... Maybe you would like something yourself or have have already given something to someone else.

I've given gift certificates to a local nursery, garden books, and a collapsible garden waste container (Fiskars) to my sister-in-law, as well as Amaryllis bulbs from White Flower Farm (WFF).

I've given my stepson a book on gardening hints ("1001 Hints & Tips for Your Garden") from Reader's Digest, perennial divisions and many houseplants (with wooden sticks stuck in the soil containing care instructions, and free check-ups when I visit).

I've gotten gift cards or certificates from Lowes and Agway, and an I.O.U. for a shrub, which I got to choose, books on perennials and bulbs, and a gift subscription to "The Gardener" Magazine from WFF.

How about your ideas/gifts? There are more birthdays coming soon...

Comments (17)

  • Growin_Crazy
    20 years ago

    I've actually traded plants to get a rare plant that my best friend wanted, grew it out, and gave it to her for Christmas. She was so touched, she cried. It was very hard hiding it from her all that time, though. It had to go into a closet every time she came over.

  • Wendy_the_Pooh
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    That's such a fantastic present... You both must have gotten a lot of joy from it! What a great surprise.

  • Growin_Crazy
    20 years ago

    She still has that plant, and has since given away many babies as presents too. It's turned into a holiday and birthday passalong plant.

  • hopflower
    20 years ago

    Wow! That sounds like a marvelous idea; I will have to keep it in mind. Sometimes a subscription to a great gardening magazine is a nice idea, too. Fine Gardening, Horticulture, or Garden Compass are some examples. I have given these and they are most welcomed by the recipient. If the person has a favourite flower, a specialist publication can be given, too. Another thought is a membership in a particular organization such as the American Rose Society or the American Orchid Society. There is even a club for daffodil enthusiasts!

  • Growin_Crazy
    20 years ago

    Great idea, hopflower. My mother sends me a subscription to Bugs and Bloooms every year.

  • Wendy_the_Pooh
    Original Author
    20 years ago

    I'd never heard of "Garden Compass" magazine (until now), and found out it's specifically for West Coast gardens - looks pretty nice for west-coasters. I currently get "Fine Gardening" and have gotten "Horticulture". I've seen "Bugs and Blooms", too - it has a nice layout. A few days ago I casually opened an envelope from Van Engelen (bulbs) when I was browsing through old mail, and found my brother and sister-in-law had sent me a $50 gift certificate for my birthday (last week)! Glad I finally opened it.

  • carky
    19 years ago

    What is "Bugs and Blooms"? I searched for it on the web but found nothing?

  • barb_tx
    19 years ago

    I have heard of a magazine called Birds and Blooms. Barb

  • kathicville
    19 years ago

    This year for Christmas I'm giving friends pots of spring bulbs that I potted up in early October and are now chilling in my garage. Together with care instructions, so they'll know how to shepherd the bulbs through the rest of the forcing process and end up (I hope!) with a bit of springtime in February.........I'm also giving one special gardening friend a yellow clivia that I purchased online a month or so ago from the American Clivia Society---she's been coveting a yellow for at least a couple of years.

    Solid bird-seed balls and wreaths are nice, too. I order a few every year from Gardeners Supply.

    Garden- or nature-themed Christmas ornaments are another idea. Last week while visiting Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond (VA), I nabbed about a dozen terrific ornaments--including a tomato, a squirrel, even a slug!

    As for what *I* would love to receive as gifts, I lean toward the practical----tools, gloves, hand soaps and balms, gift certificates to my favorite nurseries, books.

    But a real 'treat' would be the promise of a day trip in the spring or early summer to someplace like Tower Hill or Longwood Gardens. Or the Philadelphia Flower Show!......Ha, ha, just thinking of Longwood makes me want to get in the car and drive the four hours north from Virginia to see it decorated for Christmas! (I did it last year as an early Christmas treat for myself---it was well worth all eight hours behind the wheel!)

  • gulliblevolunteer
    19 years ago

    Early one spring, when my car was in not-very-reliable shape, a gardening friend announced that today we would do what I wanted. Which meant we hopped into his very reliable SUV and drove across two counties to spend all day at my favorite nurseries, buying stuff neither one of us really should have bought, because it was early in the season and the good stuff hadn't been picked over yet. That was the best gardening gift anyone ever gave me: access and time.

  • kab121170
    19 years ago

    I'm going to take all my leftover seeds and extras from trades and repackage them in pretty handmade envelopes. Then I'm going to make some special seed Christmas cards/packets for my gardener friends. I'll include instructions for wintersowing. [Heh, heh, heh, spreading the addiction]

  • ninamarie
    19 years ago

    Gift certificates. Plants. Seeds (or a certificate from a seed company.) Garden Clothes. Hats. Scented soap (for after garden care.) More gift certificates. Tools, tools and more tools. Especially good quality ones I wouldn't buy for myself. Gift certificates.

  • flowergirl70ks
    19 years ago

    For Xmas this year I gave my best gardening buddy a new tree peony, yes she got it early and it's in the ground. For my birthday one of my boys gave me a cute sign for my gardening shed. For my nephew, who likes purple and white flowers, I try to hunt something different for him every year. This year it was purple dome aster. for myself I would like Michael Dirrs tree book.

  • ankraras
    19 years ago

    Fertilizer, more fertilizer, much more fertilizer. Em..... Is this some kind of hint!

    {{gwi:12341}}
    Ankrara's Hobby Corner

  • vetivert8
    19 years ago

    One year I gave four 40litre bags of ancient horse manure to an urban gardener who yearned to grow rhubarb.

    Bags of seaweed for making liquid manure.

    A voucher committing me to working in a friend's garden - no questions asked! (Talk about Hard Work!!!)

    This year I would really like a little solar-powered water feature. I thought about a bird bath but the feathered residents are fond of the high level icecream tub so why cause disgruntlement?

  • postum
    19 years ago

    What I'd really like is a gift certificate for a massage! oh my aching back...

  • sunburygirl
    19 years ago

    Something I'd like (if it exists)is a handy tool to sharpen pruners, shovels, etc. I think any gardener could use that!

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