Are you thinking about what to get for those gardening folks you know so well?
Well, here are a few suggestions that might help.
Foodie items are still growing in popularity and are much appreciated.
Larger rosemary, bay laurel, sage and thyme plants are so handy for enhancing the flavour of a variety of dishes, and they make great year-round gifts. Other food plants will be harder to find at this time of the year, so a gift card for them would be a great present.
Although citrus plants are more challenging to care for indoors, particularly over the winter months, in spring and summer they have fragrant blossoms, and their fruits are so attractive on any patio.
In small spaces, with good sun exposure in summer, espaliered fruit trees make not only a nice neighbour-friendly fence, but they are also easy to grow and will produce a lifetime of various fruits. A fig or persimmon would also make a treasured fruit tree in almost any garden.
Seed packets make wonderful stocking stuffers for gardeners, and West Coast Seeds, our local B.C. seed supplier, now have seed racks already set up in many garden stores.
Gift cards for some of the best roses in the world, such as the highly perfumed David Austin English roses and the Kordes roses from Germany, would be very much appreciated. The new Flavourette roses from Proven Winners are the first delicious edible roses that can be used in so many ways, including baking.
Small greenhouses and cold frames are great for extending the gardening season and for protecting tender plants, like fuchsias, hibiscus and citrus over winter. They are also great when used for starting seeds and for sheltering young plants.
If folks already have a greenhouse, then accessories, like maximum/minimum thermometers, heating pads, LED lighting tubes and Dramm nozzles, are much valued supplies.
Pruning is something all gardeners do year-round, and quality shears, like the Swiss-made Felcos, as well as loppers and pole pruners, would be most welcome gifts because they make pruning so much easier.
Garden magazines are a little harder to source these days, but stores that carry a good magazine selection will always have a few great ones. If you can track it down, the Sunset Western Gardener is one of the best encyclopedic resources for our area; I use mine constantly.
Raised planter boxes and comfortable outdoor benches would also be a nice idea. As we age a bit, garden kneelers and other aids for getting up and down when planting are becoming very popular.
Also popular are tickets to the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival in Seattle from Feb. 19 to 23, 2025.
Every year, this show is a spectacular gardening event, and it would be a memorable occasion, especially if you take your gardener down and extend the visit for a day or three.
Gardeners love to hang out in garden stores, so perhaps a gift certificate for one of their favourite haunts would be greatly appreciated.
There is still lots of time to pick up some great gifts for your favourite gardeners. I hope these few tips are helpful.
