When you give the gift of seeds, you also give the miracle of life bundled up in those tiny living packages. Give seeds to non-gardeners and who knows what might happen? You might give a gift of passion. Many passionate gardeners grow from a tiny seed.

Food for the table fulfills us as gardeners. It’s the hunter/gatherer syndrome in all of us. Growing beauty from seeds feeds our souls. Both are healthy addictive experiences that can be life-long enjoyments.

Park Seed is making it easy for us to gift a garden with offerings of seed collections. Herbs are always a hit with indoor and outdoor gardeners, both novice and experienced. Stuff stockings with the Organic Herb Garden Collection.

You might want to stuff the Mirai Corn Collection into your own stocking. Mirai is new age sweet corn: Super sweet, disease resistant, super tender, and super popular with anyone who has tried it.

If you have a non-veggie eating child in your family, try gifting the Eat Your Weird Veggies Collection. Kids have a sense of humor. They will love the wild and wackies they grow themselves. Purple carrots? Wow! Toad-like broccoli? Ewww! Baseball Zucchini? Kid-size sweet corn? What child could resist trips to the garden to see what’s growing now?

For the more mature gardener, David Austin® Roses are perfect for the cottage garden or anywhere you want an old rose look. Jackson and Perkins carries several selections sure to do well in almost all gardens. These English roses have excellent disease resistance and there is one suited for either USDA Zones 5-10 or 4-10.

I had the good fortune to try the David Austin rose Falstaff® in my garden this past summer. Its deep crimson petals gradually undergo a purple overtone change. The flowers are tightly petaled in that old rose way. It fountains from a four foot height outwards three feet. I am never kind to roses. Much as I love them, I refuse to coddle them. Now I’m a believer. There really are beautiful roses with strong old rose scent; roses that need no spraying to bloom all summer and keep their foliage.

The Fiskars Rain Barrel I’ve been trialing is by far my favorite garden helper. This is a gift any gardener would appreciate receiving. Not only is it easy to set up and use, it is a help to the environment. Using rainwater saves on water bills and is better for the plants.

The barrel comes with a cover and spigot. Attaching a hose to the spigot is easy as long as you also purchase a base to get it up off the ground. We used an old hose section and cut it off to reach into a nearby flowerbed. You will also need a diverter so that when the barrel is full, the water will be redirected back to the downspout to empty as it normally would.

Once the rains have deposited water in the barrel, it’s an easy chore to fill buckets or watering cans or just open the spigot and let it run into the bed.

I’ve trialed many trowels and grab different shapes for different chores as I head out to the garden. One I have trialed has stolen my gardener’s heart. The Planter’s Buddy from Ames True Temper is long and skinny, with inches marked along its stainless steel edge so that I can see the depth I am planting.

Do you have floppy plant syndrome? The notch in the Planter’s Buddy blade makes short work of cutting string to tie up those flops. One side of the blade is sharpened for cutting through sod. The other side is serrated, which is great for slicing through masses of roots bound up in a too-small pot. You can use it to cut off a plastic pot that won’t give up its tenant. There are even uses for the handle end and digging end. The handle butt is a tamping tool. The pointy end has a notch for digging out those tap-rooted weeds, like dandelions. It even digs little holes, just like any other trowel. I always grab this one now on the way to the garden.

Here is a special gift for that special someone, signifying the hope of peace; a specially decorated potted Alberta Spruce tree. Pearl garlands ring the Angels of Peace tree. Tiny angels suspend from the branches, each holding a miniature pink rose. Pink ball ornaments and white fabric roses finish out this beautiful little live tree.

As we approach the busiest shopping days of the year, let’s remember to give thanks for our time in the dirt. Gardening erases so many cares. We can all share our pleasure either with a purchased gift or just by giving a gift of our time. Help someone else discover this great gift called gardening.

---Posted by Anne K Moore, November 24 2008---