“Consider practicality when purchasing last-minute gifts for gardeners - Danbury News Times” plus 1 more

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Consider practicality when purchasing last-minute gifts for gardeners - Danbury News Times Posted: 17 Dec 2009 12:06 PM PST Your favorite gardener may not be digging in the dirt these days, but it's a sure bet he or she is dreaming of presents that will permit such happy play come April. Want to help make their wishes come true? Consider gifting the following: l Birdhouses and birdseed. Why, you may ask, are presents for the birds important for the gardener? Here's a few reasons: Not only do our feathered friends add color, sound, movement and interest to our yards, but they are also nature's best foe of insect pests. If you provide suet and seed for birds -- such as woodpeckers and wrens -- in the depths of winter, they'll stick around come the breezes of spring, to make their nests and raise their young in your domain. And they'll gobble their weight in mosquitoes, aphids and beetles when they do. Look for practical birdhouses and an endless supply of seed at Agway in Danbury, Bethel and New Milford. l Seed trays and lights. It's difficult to believe with the days so short, but in another couple of months, it'll be time to set up the seed-starting equipment. Might as well be prepared. Lay in a supply of seedling trays, soilless mix and lights. A gift certificate to Gardener's Supply can assist. www.gardeners.org. l Hand soaps and lotions: Good old-fashioned Lava soap, yep, that square- packaged, red-papered pumiced soap, can't be surpassed for getting out ingrained garden grime. Look for it at the grocery store. Bag Balm, which was invented to relieve, um, bovine udder discomfort, is matchless for repairing dried-out digits. However, if you want to get upscale and persnickety, try Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Hand Therapy cream, pricy but fabulous, and available at the Crabtree & Evelyn store at the mall. l Garden journals. A necessity for the new year. I like mine with lots of space, 300 pages or so, and a minimum of frippery. `Course, I also use it to keep track of my weight, jot favorite words, sorrow over how much money I've lost in the stock market, etc. Mostly my annual journals serve as a reminder of chores to be done, plants to try, and gardens to visit, as well as sowing times, weather vagaries, and my planting successes and failures. However, your favorite gardener's horticultural toy box may be already full. If so, think about donating to these worthy causes in their name: l Heifer Project, www.heifer.org, is an international organization which emphasizes sustainable agriculture and farming self-help. Donors choose agricultural gifts (and training) such as chickens, goats or bees to help families become self-sufficient. Recipients are expected to share the bounty when the heifer calves and the bees swarm. l Plant a Row for the Hungry, sponsored by the Garden Writers of America, www.gardenwriters.org, exists to encourage gardeners to plant an extra row of produce each year and bestow the surplus on food banks, soup kitchens and local social service organizations. Experience teaches that the best gifts are from the heart. If you know your gardener's heart, check out these ideas. Does your group need a speaker? Colleen Plimpton is available to present informative, humorous lectures on a wide variety of gardening and landscape topics. Contact her at colleenplimpton@yahoo.com for details. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Gardening: Gifts for that special gardener - Green Valley News Posted: 10 Dec 2009 01:43 PM PST There are so many choices, you can't be stumped about what to give your favorite gardener. Besides area nurseries and garden centers, there are many ideas from Web sites and catalogs. Among favorite catalog/Web sites are "Plow & Hearth," "Gardener's Supply Company," and "Smith & Hawken." New, ergonomically designed tools, clever and colorful watering cans, countertop weather stations, dancing metal chickens and garden angels, plant supports and stands, rooting vases, and even color-changing solar outdoor lights are among the many options. Because gardeners share their space with songbirds, there is often a special bond between them. Brightly colored ceramic or soft sculptured copper birdbaths make great gifts. There are many bird feeder styles, shapes, and sizes, including some designed specifically for the type of bird to be attracted. Bird houses of every imaginable architectural style add decorative punch to the garden, as well as providing shelter for the birds. A favorite for the gardener with an interest in birds might be a gift subscription to Birds & Blooms magazine. The photography of both flowers and birds in this publication make it too beautiful to ever throw away. The recipient can later share your gift by taking it to the waiting area of their doctor or dentist. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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