Gardener on your holiday gift list? Read on . . .
Is it December already? It still feels suspiciously like fall as the garden hasn’t had much of a solid freeze yet. If this keeps up, I may have to revise my fall cleanup suggestions, although this late in the season a little spade work in the vegetable garden is about as exciting as it gets.
Most gardeners have likely set thoughts of plants aside until the Christmas season has passed. They’re currently focused on shopping, but with the winter solstice approaching and seed catalogues arriving in the mailbox daily, it won’t take much to get them excited again. Opening a suitable gift on Christmas morning will do it — but if you have to buy something for a gardener, what’s it going to be?
There’s no lack of possible gifts to brighten up the lives of gardeners during December doldrums and it should be easy to find something suitable.
Gifts range from practical to quirky and it’s really down to the taste of the recipient. One more garden gnome when the backyard is already a gnome commune might not be appreciated. Nor will wordy plaques if there’s a complete library of proverbs and aphorisms lying around the flower beds.
Course, the beauty of garden gifts is that they can still be found a place in the yard, even if not obvious — lovely, yes, I have the perfect place for it.
I suppose I should help with gift suggestions, but I’m afraid I’m on the completely practical side with not a lot of interest in anything that doesn’t grow or doesn’t help me make something grow. The first category is difficult as anything that can be planted at this time of year is limited to a lucky find of bulbs lost among tree decorations at a hardware store. Other than gift cards for a garden centre, that leaves the things that will ultimately help make me grow things well — like tools, plant ties and supports, fertilizers. And, of course, books.
At this time of year, garden books are certainly more attractive than sticks and twine or a pail of 20-20-20 fertilizer, except finding the right book for the right person is the challenge. There are almost as many garden books as cookbooks out there and I hesitate to suggest, but here goes:
The serious indoor gardener — who calls all their plants by the correct botanical name — or anyone with an interest in tropical plants would love to receive a copy of Encyclopaedia of Tropical Plants: The Identification and Cultivation of 3000 Tropical Plants, by Ahmed Fayaz.
It’s from Firefly Books, has a suggested retail price of $75 and is an essential book for anyone needing accurate and detailed plant information. Also for the serious gardener is a pair of encyclopedic books by Geoff Bryant and Tony Rodd. Trees and Shrubs and Annuals and Perennials will make useful reference books. They’re also from Firefly books and listed at $19.95 each.
A locally produced and totally practical book I always like to mention is Gardener’s Journal, by Margaret Bennet-Alder of Toronto. It’s a daily journal and a remarkable source book listing everything garden related from radio and TV shows to landscape architects and plant societies. You can order it online at torontogardenbook.com for $24.95, plus $3 for shipping.
If those books sound a little too serious, there’s a new book out by Fergus author Sonia Day that should make for a wonderful winter armchair read. It’s called The Untamed Garden: A Revealing Look at our Love Affair with Plants. It has a list price of $26.99 and is published by McClelland and Stewart.
Sonia, irreverent as always, tells how plants have seduced us through the ages. From flirtation to rapture and everything in between, she provides tidbits and anecdotes from myth and history as she reveals our fascination with flowers. $26.99 from McClelland and Stewart.
I have a copy of this book on my desk, waiting for that winter morning when the garden has frozen solid, the driveway needs shovelling and I need a good chuckle. Has to happen soon.
