Shopping for gardening gifts is so easy. These folks like practical and inspirational gifts.

Garden calendars make ideal holiday gifts. From Willow Creek Press comes the 2008 “A View of the Garden” wall calendar. This delightful calendar has the phases of the moon, which will be of interest to moon gardeners. Also it lists all the major American and international holidays. There are lush, full page, inspirational garden photos. With plenty of space to record appointments, this actually has four extra months, September through December 2007.

For that special person on your list, don’t settle for the ordinary. For that reason, I recommend the “Flemish Apocalypse” by Nelly de Hommel from Moleiro. This exquisite art book will be treasured by gardeners. Bound in red leather with a leather case, this is a limited edition of only 987 copies. This unique book features 23 full page illustrations with the edges beautifully decorated in gold using familiar garden and botanical motifs, such as flowers, leaves, and the like. The Tree of Life is also included as one of these garden themes. This special edition has a detailed history of the original rare manuscript dating from around 1400 A.D. The original text is presented in Dutch along with an English translation. In addition, a chapter by art expert Jos Koldeweij provides an engrossing account of the art style used in illuminated manuscripts during the Middle Ages.

Give an assortment of garden seeds. You won’t go wrong with Renee’s Garden seeds. These are available at leading garden centers, garden catalogs, and at Renee’s secure website. Renee’s offers beloved heirlooms as well as new outstanding international varieties.

Gardeners also appreciate hand-crafted gifts from hand-painted flower pots to garden art, handmade garden greeting cards, and garden quilts. If you sew or quilt, it is easy to create items for those special folks on your list. Four Corners Designs has a whole collection of small wall quilts with one for each month. These are designed by Kathy Schmitz. I especially recommend “November Bounty.” This would make a beautiful fall wall hanging. This appliquéd and pieced design measures one by two feet. Fast and easy to make, it depicts a cornucopia of fall fruits and berries presented on a background of lovely autumn hues. Like all of the patterns in this series, this includes full size pattern pieces, a list of the materials you’ll need, and illustrated, step-by-step instructions.

Hand-crafted items depicting flowers of all sorts are especially suitable for those gardeners on your list. That’s where “Sarah’s Big Book of Flowers” by designer Sarah Sporrer comes in handy. This book of patterns was published by Indygo Junction. It features 11 appliquéd projects that are fun and quick to make. Among the projects are wall hangings and quilts of various sizes as well as numerous pillows. These feature ravishing flowers like poppies, daisies, tulips, coneflowers, and others. There are easy to follow, step-by-step directions for each of the projects along with a list of everything you’ll need and full size pattern pieces. At the beginning of the book are complete instructions for the various techniques, such as finishing the pillows.

With Pamela Humphries as your guide, you can create wonderful bird and flower quilts as garden gifts. She is author of “Award Winning Appliqué Birds,” published by the American Quilter’s Society. These wonderful projects pair birds with beautiful flowers. There are 24 blocks to mix and match. This also features patterns for floral and vine borders, which look particularly gorgeous on garden quilts. For each project, there are easy to follow complete, illustrated, step-by-step instructions. At the beginning of the book are simple, illustrated directions for all of the basic steps and techniques. Using your usual method of appliqué or the author’s peel-and-stick template version, these designs are especially suitable for gardeners.