JoAnne Skelly: Gift ideas for the gardener on your list

Ho! Ho! Ho! Or, when speaking to gardeners, that probably should be Hoe! Hoe! Hoe!

What presents are you giving the gardeners in your life this holiday season? I started looking online for unusual gift ideas for gardeners and found some curious ones.

For you wine drinking gardeners out there, and I’m sure there are a few, consider buying a four-pack of Plant Nannies to recycle your bottles and water your plants. With these handy little ceramic stakes and an upended wine bottle (or any bottle, but wine bottles look cool), you have an automatic watering system for potted plants that works for seven to 10 days.

Foodies may enjoy an oyster mushroom kit that comes ready to go. All it needs is water.

Or how about a fruit keg tapping kit — anybody for watermelon juice on tap right from the watermelon? Buy a microgreen kit as a gift, and let your recipient grow his or her own greens. A step above and beyond the Chia Pet is the “Postcarden” — a living postcard scene once you add water.

Better Homes and Gardens recommends some budget-friendly gifts. These include bulbs, such as amaryllis or paperwhites, in unusual containers or bowls or a birdhouse planted with succulents.

Better Homes and Gardens reminds us to think of our outdoor friends too when buying gifts. There are beautiful hummingbird feeders, butterfly puddlers (so they can drink), toad houses or bee abodes.

I fell in love with the idea of a counter top shredder composter that holds a gallon of shredded kitchen scraps. Shredding speeds the composting process, and the remains can be added to an outdoor compost pile for final decomposition or buried directly into the garden. It cost from $100 to $150, depending on the color.

For a bit of whimsy and humor, present your garden buddy with a mooning garden gnome, a pink flamingo or maybe a flock of them. On the more artistic side, perhaps a tiny Japanese pagoda or a beautiful mobile would make the gardener on your gift list happy.

Of course, there are fun gardening gifts for children, too. A multicolored garden bag filled with kid-size tools is one idea. And every child should have their own garden gloves in rainbow colors. A watering can or a wheelbarrow that is child-sized may make tasks easier and more fun for little people.

Make your favorite gardeners happy this holiday season with creative gardening treasures.

JoAnne Skelly is the Carson City/Storey County Extension educator for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and may be reached at skellyj@unce.unr.edu or 887-2252.