5 gifts for the gardener on your list
It’s easy to buy gifts for the gardeners on your Christmas list. Here are some ideas: Indoor plants
You can force amaryllis, paperwhite and hyacinth bulbs for a beautiful stocking stuffer. Or give bulbs in a container; recipients get to watch them grow and bloom into a beautiful surprise.
Phalaenopsis orchids and cyclamen also make welcome gifts. Phalaenopsis orchids are one of the easiest orchids to grow. They should bloom for about four months and every year thereafter if placed where they will receive light from a southern- or eastern-facing window. Cyclamen do well for winter blooms. Place them in a window where they receive morning sun, and they will bloom year-round. Select from red, white, pink, lavender or purple blooms. This is a $6 Christmas gift that will please the recipient all year.
Gift boxes
Succulents and air plants work well in planters or gift boxes. Many companies — including Winston Flowers, Terrain (shopterrain.com) and Jackson & Perkins — offer boxes and plants that can be shipped to faraway friends. Or you can make your own if you are delivering it yourself. How about a planter of succulents packaged with a bottle of wine, or boxed treats paired with a beautiful container of air plants?
Mad money
Another excellent gift option for a gardener is a gift certificate to his or her favorite nursery.
If your gardener is improving the landscape or converting to a xeriscape with 12 months of color, he or she will be selecting new plants. Half the fun for a gardener is to wander around a favorite nursery and consider all the options before making choices.
Garden stuctures
A bird bath is a practical gift, but it can also be a piece of sculpture for the garden. Another sculptural option is a trellis. Whether flat or three-dimensional, a trellis gives plants another way to grow — up.
Nature books
Gardening books are always appreciated. My recommendations
include “Home Landscaping Texas” by Greg Grant and Roger Holmes; “Attracting Birds to Southern Gardens” by Thomas Pope, Neil Odenwald and Charles Fryling Jr.; and “Butterfly Gardening for the South” by Geyata Ajilvsgi.
Grant is an excellent horticulturist and writer, but my favorite part of the “Home Landscaping Texas” book is how home landscape is broken into small parts. All the components are there, but with the help of the book, you can address them section by section.
Many gardeners appreciate that a landscape that attracts birds is especially enjoyable. “Attracting Birds to Southern Gardens” shows that with minor changes in plant choice, arrangement and management, the landscape can have more birds and be more attractive.
With the monarch-population problems, gardeners have become more aware of butterflies. We are realizing how interesting they are and how easy it is to play a role in increasing their populations. Providing a gift such as “Butterfly Gardening for the South” will be greatly appreciated.
If you want to contribute even more to your gardener’s butterfly-producing efforts, include “Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: A Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America (Butterflies Through Binoculars)” by Thomas J. Allen, Jeffrey Glassberg and James P. Brock. This guide will help identify caterpillars that are eating the new butterfly-food plants in the landscape. Another good gift is a guidebook such as “Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America” by Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman.