Hints for Santa: A Gardener's Wish List

Included on almost every list of gift suggestions for gardeners is a set of gardening gloves and a pair of pruners.

While I've grown to appreciate gifts that are useful, for Christmas I want a treat.  A pair of pruners is rather like getting a toaster for Christmas. It's just way to practical! If I need a good set of pruners, I'll buy them for myself.

I'd like to find something pretty under the tree. And if that pretty gift has a practical use, so much the better. With this in mind, I have gathered together a gardener's wish list of hints for Santa.

Dahlia May Flower Farm specializes in growing romantic and fragrant, often heirloom, varieties of flowers. Owned and operated by Melanie Harrington the farm is located near Trenton in Southern Ontario.

This year Melanie has put together two calendars that would make wonderful gifts for any flower lover. The portraits in the Men with Blooms calendar are of Melanie's husband, her family, friends and fellow local business owners. The Florals calendar includes pictures of tulips, daffodils and other favourite photos from the last year. 

Both calendars are just $20 each plus $5 shipping for Canadian customers (very slightly more for those customers in the USA). Here's a link right to the Men with Blooms Calendar order page and the Florals 2018 Calendar order page. 

Are these watering cans gorgeous or what? 

I have a number of vintage waterings cans (that I use all the time), but who wouldn't want one of these shiny, new models made by Haws in the U.K.? The one the left is their Copper Watering Can, and on the right is their 8.8 litre Heritage Watering Can. 

You can find a range of these waterings cans new on Amazon, previously loved on eBay and new at Lee Valley Tools. Here's a link to the American branch of the company as well.

This Thompson and Elm Bird and Spool Twine Holder and Scissors Set is both attractive and handy. This one came from the shop at the Toronto Botanical Gardens here in Toronto, but you can also find it on Amazon.

I was telling my husband about all my terrific finds the other evening while we were walking the dogs. 

"I bet you'd never think to get me a rain gauge, would you?"

"A rain gauge?" he returned, proving my point.

"Yah, I think it might be fun to track the amount of rainfall we receive", I replied enthusiastically, "And it would be even nicer if there was a cute frog holding the glass gauge."

I am not sure if he got the hint, but here's a couple of adorable rain gauges if you think it would be fun idea to monitor rainfall too:

Both are from Iron Accents. Here is the webpage with the Bird and Nest ($38 US) and here is a link to the Scientist Frog ( $45 US).

Iron Accents also have whimsical hose guides: Dancing Frog ($33 US) and Bunny Holding Umbrella ($36 US) 

Finally, how about this palatial abode for toads? Toad House ($60 US)

The one time I have to worry about the dogs trampling my garden is in the spring when the perennials are just beginning to pop up out of the cold ground. The garden eventually fills in to a jungle-like density, by which time, the dogs prefer to run in the open grassed area. Having a wire cloche to protect the most precious of my emerging plants would be great.

These Victorian-inspired wire cloches from Gardener's Supply Company are $23 (US) or $18 (US) each when you buy three or more.

Terrariums are always a welcome gift. On the right is Gardener's Supply Company's Hanging Prism Terrarium ($19.95 US) and on the left is Teardrop Tabletop Terrarium (on sale for $31.88 US). 

While your on the Gardener's Supply Company website check out the bird feeders, plant supports, Mason Bee Houses, tomato cages etc, etc...

Floret Flower Farm is a family run business in the Skagit Valley (Washington state) that specializes in growing unique, uncommon and heirloom flowers (Read more here). Their online shop features cut flower seeds, dahlia tubers, spring-flowering bulbs, tools, supplies and gifts.

You can buy individual seed packages, but I think that one of Floret Flower Farm's Seed Collections might make a really nice gift. I've picked just two examples from the many options: 

The Creamsicle Mix ($25 US) on the left includes Amaranth 'Coral Fountain', Annual Baby's Breath 'Covent Garden', Celosia Supercrest Mix, Cosmos 'Purity', Zinnia 'Oklahoma Salmon' and Zinnia 'Salmon Rose'.

The Pink Romance Mix ($25 US) on the right includes Bachelor's Buttons 'Classic Romantic', Bells of Ireland, Chinese Forget-me-not 'Mystic Pink', Corn Cockle 'Ocean Pearls', Orlaya 'White Finch Lace' and Stock 'Malmaison Pink'.

Another great gift idea might be a print of the farm's flower filled truck. Erin writes, "The truck, lovingly nicknamed Little Fat Dragon by the kids when they were small, is the heart of the farm..." 

The print is 12" x 12" and is on sale at the moment for just $15 US.

If you have followed this blog for awhile, then you'll know that I have a collection of rusty silhouettes scattered throughout the garden. Rusty metal stakes with birds also form the centrepiece of many of my container plantings.

These stakes would make nice, affordable gifts.  Bluebirds on Pussy-Willow Stake ($25.50 US) and Chickadees & Berries Stake ($21 US). They're all from Rusty Birds.com As well these stakes, there are animal silhouettes, plants and trees, Christmas decorations and more. 

I have long been a fan of photographer Ellen Hoverkamp. Ellen did the illustrations for the book Natural Companions by Ken Druse (which itself would make a nice gift). 

Ellen creates her fine art photographs using a flat bed scanner. Medium and large sized archival prints of her work are available through her online shop. If Santa was feeling generous, these prints would make an amazing gift.

A very affordable alternative might be a set of gift cards ($20 US).

I had great fun putting this list together. Hopefully it will give you a few ideas. Up shortly will be a number of recommended books for gift giving.

The Creative Side of Gardening

So often the creative side of gardening is overshadowed by the more practical aspects of planting and nurturing flowers, fruits and vegetables.It's important to remember that gardening is not just work, it can be fun and inventive as well.

Gardeners can be a resourceful lot. They look around them to the materials at hand and see a creative potential. This post celebrates different ways to add whimsical or rustic touches to a garden using found objects and materials. Some of these ideas make use of natural items such as twigs, branches and tree stumps in a host of clever and unique ways. In other examples, everyday objects and industrial materials, like metal, have been re-imagined and given a second life.

Natural Ways to add Rustic Touches to a Garden

Even in death and decay, nature has an eerie beauty. Trees, with their twisted and gnarled roots, retain some of their majesty and grandeur even in death. Not surprisingly then, there is an old tradition of using tree stumps in a garden.

The first known "stumpery" was created in the 1850's by Edward William Cooke, an artistic gardener working on a large estate garden. In a flash of inspiration, Cooke saw a fresh use for tree stumps that had been unearthed when a section of the Batemen estate was cleared. Cooke piled the roots of these trees into a wall of stumps and then interplanted them with ferns. Very quickly the Batemen estate became known for its "stumpery." The delicate beauty of the green ferns emerging from the decaying wood was not only strikingly beautiful, it was a reminder, on a more spiritual level, that life can spring from death.

A modern stumpery that includes clay pots.

Making a garden stumpery grew to become a fashionable way to creat the perfect habitat for hardy ferns. Decaying wood returns nutrients to the soil providing the perfect rich, loamy environment that these woodland plants love.

At present stumperies are enjoying a resurgence in popularity do, in large part, to the efforts of Prince Charles who created a stumpery at his home at Highgrove House. In this instance, the Prince used sweet chestnut roots to create a shade garden filled with a large collection of hosta, ferns and hellebores.

The dramatic architecture of a tree's roots is more than just an ideal home for plants. Their mysterious and somewhat melancholy aesthetic can suggest a spiritual significance. One of the most dramatic examples I have seen is in the picture above. The stunning view is a reminder of nature's beauty and the ring that surrounds the large silvery-grey tree stump is a reference to the circle of life.

Tree stumps and driftwood can have modern uses as well. The only limitation is a gardener's imagination. Here on the edge of a pond (above) a weathered bit of wood suspends lanterns over the water. In the image below, a birdbath is nestled in the centre of a large, inverted stump that has been aged by the elements.

A large tree trunk can also make a fine pedestal for an object... 

or a pot filled with flowers.

A dead tree trunk can also make a tall apartment building for birds.

Logs and tree branches can find architectural uses as well. These rough wooden structures can sometimes have a large, imposing scale. There is something about this pergola that makes me think of Stonehenge.

The face that presides over this arbor again makes reference to that other worldly quality of rough, unfinished wood. In this example and the next, the faces reference fantastical creatures and the world of myths and legends.

Young saplings can be pliable. They can be bent into a curve or woven to make a fence or gate.

Here spruce saplings have been used to create a fence and arbor for this vegetable garden.

The tradition of making low woven fences for a vegetable or herb garden stretches back to Elizabethan times. In this modern example, branches have been woven to make a frame for an urn that sits in the centre of a formal herb garden.

Willow is particularly pliable and is often used to make rustic furniture, structures and even abstract sculptural figures like the ones you see below.

As well as more decorative uses, twigs can also be configured into an obelisk that provides support for climbing plants.

Even on a very basic level, twigs can make a very natural looking plant support.

In this final example a mix of different branches and a upright log support a couple of different types of clematis.

Found objects and Rustic Industrial Touches

Aren't these metal buckets hung on a length of chain a rather whimsical way to channel rainfall? In the second part of this post, we will focus on ways everyday objects and industrial materials have been repurposed.

The roof of this long rectangular birdhouse is a old rusted piece of metal. A row of maple syrup spigots provide a place for birds to land.

 Below the birdhouse, an old wagon wheel becomes a abstract sculptural object.

Ladders make terrific plant supports of one kind or another.

A window with an nice patina can be used as an abstract architectural sculpture.

An old milk can makes a rustic container for a planting of succulents.

In this instance old bottles are have been scattered through a shade garden.

This row of tomatoes are made more dramatic with a striking backdrop. The fence looks like it's rusted metal, doesn't it? But as you can from the closeup below, it is just a clever paint job on an ordinary wood fence. The oxidized metal stakes behind the tomatoes add to the effect.

It seems fitting to end this post with a few spring container plantings. This first one makes use of an old blue pot.

This is a re-imagined use for a rusty toolbox.

I hope this post will encourage you to get creative with found objects and natural materials. Remember, a garden is the perfect excuse for a grown-up to have fun express their imagination.