Awesome Gifts for Gardeners and Homeowners

Here are the gifts for gardeners and homeowners on your holiday shopping list!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Holiday decorations! Pumpkin pie! Hot Chocolate! Christmas carols. And lots of shopping for holiday gifts.

But don’t fret. It is actually quite easy to find great gifts for gardeners and homeowners. These folks always need something to satisfy their green thumbs, finish a DIY project, or add one more personal touch to the property.

This year, the editors of HomeGardenandHomestead.com have checked out the websites and flipped through the catalogs to find some awesome gifts for everyone on your shopping list. All these gifts can be purchased online for fast delivery in time for the gift-giving celebrations.

Heck, you might even want to give some of these gifts to yourself.

An Easy Way to Water Plants

Everyone who has indoor houseplants or container plants outdoors can use a little help with watering. Let’s face it, we’ve all forgotten to water a plant—only to find it bone dry and looking sad.

The Hydro Bloom is a new way to keep potted plants happily watered. Just fill the UV-resistant water reservoir, and the water will gently seep into the potting soil. The attractive water globe holds 6.7 ounces (200 ml), which will keep the plant hydrated for up to a week with a steady supply of water. The Hydro Bloom sells for $9.99 from biogreen-products.com.

A Great Tool for Stand-up Weeding

The CobraHead^® Long Handle Weeder  https://amzn.to/3okbBKE  takes the back-breaking labor out of weeding a flower bed or a vegetable garden. That’s because the long handle makes it possible to weed while standing up straight. The unique shape of the famous CobraHead blade can cut through soil and tough weeds with ease. The blade really is shaped like a cobra head, and it’s made of tough steel for years of use as a cultivator and weeder.

Older gardeners and those with limited kneeling and bending ability find the CobraHead Long Handle Weeder an especially enabling device. Three different handle lengths are available to make the tool comfortable to use no matter how tall you are. The CobraHead Long Handle sells for $64.95. (Add $3 for the extra-long handle.) CobraHead hand tools are also available at  www.cobrahead.com. CobraHead LLC is a Wisconsin-based family business that makes every tool in the USA.

This magazine shares the heart and soul of gardening

GreenPrints magazine is a special gift for anyone who delights in planting seeds and caring for plants. Unlike other magazines that deal with the “how-to” aspects of gardening, GreenPrints is the only publication that shares the joy, humor and inspiration of gardening with wonderful stories and beautiful illustrations.

For the past 30 years, GreenPrints is where gardeners have gone to share stories of the human side of America’s favorite outdoor hobby. This delightful quarterly magazine has twice received the Best Small Garden Magazine award from GardenComm, an international organization of garden communicators.

Subscribers say things like “I kiss each issue when it arrives!” and “This (magazine) is the most joy one can give for this amount of money!” Order one-year gift subscription for $24.95 and receive an extra issue free. www.greenprints.com.

Grow fresh mushrooms in your own shade garden

Home-grown mushrooms are delicious nutritious and easy to plant. A Shiitake log starter kit includes everything you need to start your own mini mushroom farm (except the logs). After planting and establishing, the logs will bear tasty and healthful mushrooms every spring and fall for many years.

The mushroom kit includes 250 pieces of mushroom plug spawn, a drill bit with stop collar, sealing wax, instructions and recipes. The kit stores perfectly in the refrigerator for months until planting time so they make great holiday gifts.

You will need five fresh hardwood log pieces cut during the winter, a few household tools, and the kit. Cut your logs green in the winter and inoculate with the spawn from your kit in the spring. Incubate the planted logs outdoors in a shady spot and start harvesting your mushrooms the following spring and fall for years to come.

The Small Shiitake Plug Spawn Starter Kit sells for $36.00 from www.fieldforest.net. Other species of mushroom kits are also available.

A Book for Flower Lovers

Debra Prinzing founded the Slow Flowers Movement seven years ago after the publication of her book, Slow Flowers: Four Seasons of Locally Grown Bouquets from the Garden, Meadow and Farm, which inspiried thousands of gardeners and floral lovers to adopt a seasonal approach to growing and arranging flowers.

In Slow Flowers Journal – Volume One, Prinzing highlights the leaders, best practices, inventive floral artistry and creative experiences that are changing the floral marketplace while connecting people with the origin of local and sustainably grown flowers.

This book draws from the past two years of the Slow Flowers Journal content in Florists’ Review magazine—completely redesigned with fresh graphics and new photography. Featured are sections on Slow Flowers Heroes, Botanical Couture, Field to Tabletop, Slow Weddings, and more. Illustrated with more than 150 photographs that tell a visually compelling story of a lifestyle immersed in flowers. The book sells for $19.95 from shop.wildflower.media.

 

The Ultimate Way to “Dig” Holes

If someone on your gift list is a real tool geek, then an ultra-heavy-duty power drill is a good choice. If he (or she) is also a gardener, then the Ultimate Gardener Starter Pack (which combines a heavy-duty drill and two indestructible planting augers) is a no-brainer.

The Dewalt 996 20V MAX XR cordless drill kit makes the typical cordless look like a toy. The kit comes with two battery packs, charger, a side handle for the drill, and a tough carrying case. The solid steel garden auger drill bits (3” by 7” and 2” x 7”) can drill holes for flower bulbs or starter plants in seconds. This powerful combo kit can change your life. I am not kidding. The Ultimate Gardeners Starter Pack sells for $315 from powerplanter.com.

 

Flower Arranging Made Easy

This may be the best book EVER about flower arranging. Not only does Flower Arranging provide a foundation for novices entering the world of floristry, but it also serves as a refresher course for experienced flower designers. This new book includes more than 150 floral designs ranging from basic and traditional to advanced and contemporary, all created by professional designers.

Included are step-by-step instructions and illustrative photos for 36 all-occasion arrangements, wedding bouquets, flowers to wear, sympathy arrangements, holiday designs, and even novelty arrangements and fruit baskets—designs that professional florists make every day. Also featured are more advanced and creative variations of each traditional design, and the initial chapters provide a wealth of in-depth information on the principles and elements of floral design as well as floral design mechanics.

With more than 630 photos, this all-encompassing and inspirational guide to the art of flower arranging is a must-have for everyone who has ever bought or grown flowers and put them in a vase. This hardcover book sells for $39.95 at shop.wildflower.media.

A “Peppermint Candy” Gift Plant

Giving plants as gifts is a long-standing holiday tradition. If you are looking for something beyond the traditional Poinsettia or Amaryllis, now you can give a “Peppermint Candy” plant. Crown of Thorns “Peppermint Candy” (Euphorbia milii) brings beautiful white and green leaf variegation and bright red, everblooming flowers to any sunny windowsill.

This rare plant flowers throughout the year. Its compact size and slow-growing habit make it perfect for smaller spaces. A plant in a 4-inch pot sells for $24.95 from logees.com.

Give a blooming holiday classic

A flowering amaryllis plant is always a welcome gift. Red amaryllis flowers (such as the Red Lion variety) are a holiday tradition, but white and pink amaryllis are also available. Barbados Amaryllis has velvety red petals striped with white, which creates a star-like effect. Nymph Amaryllis flowers are white with soft sprays of pink and just a taste of light green.

These varieties and many more are available from American Meadows. Large single bulbs are available, which are perfect for potting up at home and keeping for yourself. Amaryllis gift kits are also available, which contain a large amaryllis bulb, potting mix and a decorative pot. View all the amaryllis varieties at AmericanMeadows.com. Also check out the website for handy amaryllis growing tips. https://www.americanmeadows.com/flower-bulbs/amaryllis-flower-bulbs

Check out all of these great gifts at www.HomeGardenandHomestead.com