Here are some holiday gift ideas for the gardener on your list
The first week of December is the time to consider Christmas gifts for gardeners. The big advantage for these garden gift suggestions are:
▪ You do not need to use wrapping paper.
▪ You do not need to find a parking place at the mall.
▪ You do not need to log into Amazon.
An early spring
Order early bird tickets to the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival at gardenshow.com.
This is the annual indoor garden celebration that has become a gift of spring to the entire region. This year the show runs Feb. 26 to March 1.
Hotel rooms in downtown Seattle offer special pricing as our neighbors in Canada and Alaska flock to the show. Locals have discovered this show is about much more than show gardens and garden-themed vendors. A festival atmosphere makes the updated version more entertaining and interactive with do-it-yourself planting and garden craft demos, sit-down lectures and reality show inspired contests. ( Speaking of reality shows, I will be hosting “Container Wars” again this year, every day of the show. )
Who would love this gift? Anyone from your favorite date, best friend or favorite grandmother are obvious choices, but consider opening a new world up to a teen or millennial. Any young person who has shown an interest in houseplants, design, vegetables, cooking or gardening would love this show. Mothers and sons, fathers and daughters. It doesn’t matter the age when experiencing a festival of beauty and new ideas. Tickets can be tucked into stockings or a mailed Christmas card.
Order tickets at www.gardenshow.com or phone 206-231-0140. Early bird price is $20 adults, $10 students, kids under 12 free.
Subscription to GreenPrints magazine
Now here is a throwback to the good ole days of enjoying a magazine with paper and words. No glossy photos or celebrity news, no politics or weight loss ads, not even any “how-to” information. Just uplifting, funny, sometimes tear-inducing stories about gardens and gardeners.
GreenPrints is called the “Weeders Digest” as the short stories come from around the country and take up only a few pages each. Read GreenPrints with a cup of tea in front of the fire and all will be right with the world. GreenPrints has been published by the Stone family of North Carolina, bi-monthly for more than two decades. When you give someone a subscription to GreenPrints, you’ll be introducing them to a whole new crew of friends on a printed page.
Who would love this gift? A garden lover that may no longer have a place to garden, a new gardener just realizing the mental gifts that a garden offers, anyone struggling to find the good in the world or someone who just needs to slow down … and breathe.
One year gift subscription $24.95 with bonus holiday gift. Information at greenprints.com.
A living plant
You could choose an easy-care houseplant for low light (I vote the Sanseveria or snake plant), an elegant orchid or a living, indoor Christmas tree such as the Norfolk Pine tree.
Most impressive of all would be a dish garden of young plants you started yourself from cuttings. The advantage of giving a living plant is not only that real plants give off oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, but you can purchase a plant from a local nursery or garden center without having to wrap it, go online or fight for a parking spot at a crowded mall.
Who would love this gift? Anyone that needs to breathe oxygen.
Reach Marianne Binetti through her website at binettigarden.com or write to her at P.O. Box 872, Enumclaw WA 98022.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 7:00 AM.