"Garden Gifts"

Plants have always been traditional garden gifts and flowers grown in your own garden are wonderful presents for that extra special person in your life.

If you havent got your plants and flowers ready for giving away this year, look at the stunning garden gifts available in the shops or online. I've been scouring the net for interesting ideas - here are just a few:

These Bonsai trees are available at Amazon....

Bonsai in Water Pot Bonsai Golden Gate

Books - see Amazon for a wonderful collection of gardening books - there are a few mentioned on almost every page on Flower and Garden Tips! And if you want to encourage a friend to enjoy thier garden, have a look at this.....

"Grow Your Own Veggies"

Give your 'budding gardener' friends a unique and personal gift this season...Find out more here...

Grow Your Own Pharmacy: If, like me, you want to be able to eat the best food on the planet, grow your own!

Grow Your Own Pharmacy
• Clear instructions on planning, planting, growing and harvesting the fruits, vegetables and herbs required for a healthy vitamin intake.
• Recipes and menus to help incorporate the fruit and vegetables into your daily diet.

Seeds and containers - available from a number of wonderful suppliers. Thompson and Morgan supply seeds all around the world as well as a number of gardening gifts and essentials. Their regular site links are listed below. Thompson & Morgan are always worth a browse or two!

Thompson and Morgan UK
Thompson and Morgan US
Thompson and Morgan Worldwide

Tools, hand tools and larger items such as mowers and other power tools can all be found at Crocus UK. This willow trug is a perfect gift:



Crocus in the UK Garden gifts and more at Crocus UK Type 'willow trug' into the search box on thier homepage.

To save a few pennies and still give a wonderful gift, get a little creative!:

- Buy a colourful pot - or paint one yourself and fill with small sealed bags wrapped in coloured tissue paper of seeds you've collected through the year. A few fennel seeds, nasturtiums, squashes, whatever you have.

- If you have too many winter greens ready for outside planting, re-pot them into decorative pots and give as gifts.

- Grow small pots of herbs and delight all your friends!

- Find out more about growing herbs as gifts on this page..Christmas Herbs

Herb Gardening: Herbs are becoming recognised more and more as superfoods, as if we didn't know that really! 'Herb Gardening' has been beautifully put together by the publisher (Crowood Press) into a well presented book with full colour photos.

Along with the growing instructions for forty different herbs, there are lots of great ideas, including culinary delights and medicinal alternatives.

You'll also find gardening advice as well as some ideas on planning a herb garden. Order it now direct from the publisher... Herb Gardening

Collect dried grasses, pine cones and interesting branches with berries, such as holly and mistletoe. In some parts of Europe, mistletoe grows on apple trees, starving the trees of the nutrients they need and if you remove the mistletoe you will be doing the apple trees a favour! Find a log or piece of driftwood and make a table decoration. Or buy a nice vase and fill with dried grasses, perhaps sprayed silver or gold.

And what about the kids!! Instead of a play station game or a new dvd, encourage their interest in nature.

In the UK Crocus have a wonderful collection of gifts for kids , friends and family.

Great Garden Gifts at Crocus UK This link will take you to their homepage. Click on 'home and gifts' then choose your category.

Whether you decide to buy or produce your own, garden gifts are always welcome. Even if your friends aren't green-fingered a well-chosed pot plant or a windowsill container of herbs will always be appreciated.

Happy Gardening!

Grow Your Own Groceries: Producing your own food is not only rewarding but - in times of economic and environmental changes - increasingly a must!

http://www.flower-and-garden-tips.com/gardengifts.html