From left to right: Firefly Ball Jar Lantern, The Potting Scoop and Renee’s Garden Seeds.
Do you have someone in your life who prefers dirt over decadent Valentine’s Day gifts? Gardening gifts don’t necessarily need to be 100 percent pragmatic or completely utilitarian. They just need to conjure up daydreams of this year’s garden and all of its pie-in-the-sky possibilities. Here are a few ideas some of which are already established favorites of mine and some things that are on my personal wish list.
The Potting Scoop . My mom bought me one of these years ago and it is used for everything from potting up container plants to scraping away soil for seed sowing. The pointy tip and the serrated edges work magic in my Virginia red clay garden. I panic when it has been misplaced and need to paint the handle blaze orange.
Cow Pots . Hot, I know, right? But if you can start your seeds in these and then just plant them directly into your garden, you will know to learn and love their efficient simplicity. So will the seed starter in your life. Cow pies turn cow pots that slowly, and organically, fertilize your seedlings. Nice.
Vintage planters. You can find these at thrift stores or yard sales starting at $3. I have a small collection of them that makes me very happy, as the simplest of plants look sweet and nostalgic in these indoors or out.
Renee’s Garden Seeds . Renee’s Garden Seeds get me all swirly-eyed and thinking big. The seeds are perfect for cottage gardens and are always of the best quality. Many are also heirlooms. My want list: Nigella, Love-in-a-Mist ‘Persian Violet,’ Calendula ‘Flashback,’ Globe Amaranth ‘Mardi Gras’ and Zinnia ‘Apricot Blush.’ Psssst. They are having a Valentine’s Day sale on their ‘Seeds of Love’ collection, too!
The Worm Factory . It doesn’t get more romantic than worm poop, but the worm factory was one of my prized acquisitions of the year. Kitchen scraps and paper bits in worm castings and compost tea out. You feed the worms, they feed your garden. If that isn’t a vaguely symbiotic relationship that verges on love, I don’t know what is.
The Firefly Ball Mason Jar Lantern (Set of Six) . Okay, this is more of a sit-back-in-your-garden-and-rest piece, but the trend of using old blue mason jars and creating ethereal lighting out of them just kills me. I need a few for our back porch container garden to glow serenely while the cicadas chirp and the ice in my mint julep clinks.
Tracey Crehan Gerlach lives on five acres in Sugar Hollow, west of Charlottesville, Va., with her husband and daughter. Their organic gardens include edibles, perennials, natives, herbs and vegetables. She blogs about these gardens at Life in Sugar Hollow .
Do you have someone in your life who prefers dirt over decadent Valentine’s Day gifts? Gardening gifts don’t necessarily need to be 100 percent pragmatic or completely utilitarian. They just need to conjure up daydreams of this year’s garden and all of its pie-in-the-sky possibilities. Here are a few ideas some of which are already established favorites of mine and some things that are on my personal wish list.
The Potting Scoop . My mom bought me one of these years ago and it is used for everything from potting up container plants to scraping away soil for seed sowing. The pointy tip and the serrated edges work magic in my Virginia red clay garden. I panic when it has been misplaced and need to paint the handle blaze orange.
Cow Pots . Hot, I know, right? But if you can start your seeds in these and then just plant them directly into your garden, you will know to learn and love their efficient simplicity. So will the seed starter in your life. Cow pies turn cow pots that slowly, and organically, fertilize your seedlings. Nice.
Vintage planters. You can find these at thrift stores or yard sales starting at $3. I have a small collection of them that makes me very happy, as the simplest of plants look sweet and nostalgic in these indoors or out.
Renee’s Garden Seeds . Renee’s Garden Seeds get me all swirly-eyed and thinking big. The seeds are perfect for cottage gardens and are always of the best quality. Many are also heirlooms. My want list: Nigella, Love-in-a-Mist ‘Persian Violet,’ Calendula ‘Flashback,’ Globe Amaranth ‘Mardi Gras’ and Zinnia ‘Apricot Blush.’ Psssst. They are having a Valentine’s Day sale on their ‘Seeds of Love’ collection, too!
The Worm Factory . It doesn’t get more romantic than worm poop, but the worm factory was one of my prized acquisitions of the year. Kitchen scraps and paper bits in worm castings and compost tea out. You feed the worms, they feed your garden. If that isn’t a vaguely symbiotic relationship that verges on love, I don’t know what is.
The Firefly Ball Mason Jar Lantern (Set of Six) . Okay, this is more of a sit-back-in-your-garden-and-rest piece, but the trend of using old blue mason jars and creating ethereal lighting out of them just kills me. I need a few for our back porch container garden to glow serenely while the cicadas chirp and the ice in my mint julep clinks.
Tracey Crehan Gerlach lives on five acres in Sugar Hollow, west of Charlottesville, Va., with her husband and daughter. Their organic gardens include edibles, perennials, natives, herbs and vegetables. She blogs about these gardens at Life in Sugar Hollow .