Throughout the year there are all sorts of special occasions when gifts are appropriate. For that special gardener on your list, buy practical and inspiring gifts that will add value to their lives. Along with the usual gardening apparel, gardening hats, and gardening supplies, here are some other ideas.

Garden Seeds as Gifts

Seeds are always a welcome gift. Choose an assortment of seeds from Renee’s Garden. They’re available from leading garden centers year-round and online from the website. Renee’s has the finest selection of gourmet herbs, the latest European vegetable varieties, and outstanding flowers. These attractive seed packs with gorgeous water color art on the front have complete instructions that promote gardening success.

For the fall and spring gardens nothing beats the flavor of Renee’s new Wasabi Arugula. Also new for 2012 is the scrumptious Tronchuda Beira Portuguese kale, which thrives in warm areas. For flower lovers choose Renee’s new Cup of Sun Mounding Nasturtiums. Easy to grow, these blooms are in shades of gold and yellow with the pastel fading to cream. Other new recommended varieties for 2012 include Stardom Mix Edible Landscape lettuce mix and Cha-Cha-Cha Butterfly Zinnias.


Gift Baskets and Other Gift Containers for Gardeners

For the best gift of all fill a gift bag or basket with garden-related items. Include an assortment of small items. These could include hand pruners, trowels, hand rakes, garden twines, and several pairs of high quality gardening gloves.


Stationery for Gardeners

As a novel gift container, wrap a mailbox with gift wrap or floral fabric. Fill it with garden-related stationery items, such as those from Galison.com. Their products are available at leading stores. Galison has everything from Avian Friends Decorative Garlands with birds and blossoms to floral-decorated party place cards and floral party picks. The new Victoria and Albert 1950’s Floral Book of Labels is perfect for gardeners.

Galison.com also has several new sets of Correspondence Card sets that gardeners will love. These include the Victoria and Albert 1950s Floral, Impressionist Blossoms, and Vincent van Gogh Bouquets. The Galison Keepsake Boxes of note cards are just ideal for gardeners. Gardeners can store seeds or other small items in these beautifully decorated boxes. Floral-themed Keepsake Boxes include Hummingbirds, Japanese Gardeners, and Japanese Cherry Blossoms.

The product designers at Galison.com have raised the homely folder to a new height with its exquisite line of floral folders and its matching file totes. The sets include eight file folders with two each of four designs and 20 labels. The Victoria and Albert 1950s Floral File Folders are an ideal choice for gardeners.


Gift Plants

For flowering gift plants, I highly recommend the new type of year-round poinsettia relatives. Sometimes called Princettia, these were sold during this past spring. They’re similar to Christmas poinsettias. They feature bracts in beautiful shades of pink.

Use an attractive cache pot or a beautiful plant wrap. The new fashionable Plant Wrapz comes in different sizes and colors. These preformed gift wraps have an elasticized top edge to hold them securely in place.


Special Books for Gardeners

For special gift books I highly recommend Miraculous Bouquets by Anne T. Woollett from Getty Publications. This features exquisite flower and fruit paintings by Jan van Huysum and includes the story of the artist and his work. It is small enough to fit into gift baskets.

The artist was among the leading 18th century painters. He was widely known for his botanical accuracy. He even painted rain drops and insects on the fruits and foliage. This title has 17 lush full color plates. For each plate, this gives the common and Latin name for each species, including insects.

I acknowledge receiving samples of the book, seeds, and stationery for review purposes.