Gifts for gardeners: Think outside the (flower) box
If you have a gardener in your life and need some help selecting a gift, read on for some ideas that should please even the choosiest of gardeners.
Most gardeners would be so pleased to receive a gift card to their favorite garden center or nursery. How will you know what that is?
Simply recall a prior conversation as your gardener carried on about a purchase of 20 new perennials at a certain nursery sale last spring. Offering a gift card to the coveted store allows the gardener to select the plants, seeds or supplies needed.
For the houseplant gardener, a whimsical stake adds a lovely decorative touch to any potted plant.
For a more personal experience, you could give a gift of an outing together to select a specialty houseplant. Local garden centers now offer citrus trees, a wider selection of orchids and some rare varieties of houseplants. These unique plants can be a bit pricier than a typical houseplant, and thus, they make a thoughtful gift.
To pursue another gift idea, simply follow the light, the reading light over the head of your gardener friends, that is, while they peruse the seed and bulb catalogues. If you are quick enough, sneak the catalogues away while they are not looking. Then simply follow the trail of earmarked pages and circled products showing you exactly what they would be happy to receive as gifts.
Gardeners tend to be patient people who enjoy the anticipation that accompanies the wait for future benefits. Therefore, offering them tickets to a regional flower show within the next few months, or a trip to a botanical garden during the upcoming season, will likely be met with much enthusiasm and anticipation.
Or you can simply bring the beauty of plants and gardens to them directly with a book. Your dahlia-loving friend would thoroughly enjoy poring over the pages of a photo book with pictures of dahlia varieties, for example.
Perhaps your garden enthusiasts have expressed an interest in learning a new skill, such as seed saving, or would like to bring more native plants into their gardens. Gift them a book that can teach them the new gardening technique that they want to master or can serve as a reference guide.
Garden sculptures and statuary, available for purchase at many nurseries and garden centers, will add beauty to a perennial gardener’s flowerbeds.
Webinars and local in-person seminars also are an excellent idea for the knowledge-seeking gardener. Another option would be to sign you and your friend up for a botanically inspired workshop so that you may enjoy the experience together.
Many gardeners are so busy planting and tending their gardens that they sometimes forget the décor. A gift of a garden statue for the perennial gardener, a solitary bee house for the vegetable gardener, or a decorative stake for the houseplant gardener are just a few ideas to add even more beauty to those lovely spaces.
Whatever the gift, your gardeners will appreciate your support of their passion for plants.
(Amy Simone is a University of Vermont Extension master gardener from South Burlington.)