Special, surprising and useful, too

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/12/2023 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not everyone has everything they need and some who do would love to be surprised. Here are some gift ideas that will inspire the nature lovers and gardeners (budding or experienced) on your gift list.

Seed packets

Give the gift of a flower garden or food garden with seed packets. Seeds open the door to a world of possibilities, and seeds are soaring in popularity. “People really embraced growing flowers and veggies from seed this year,” says Dave Hanson of Sage Garden Greenhouses. “Seeds deliver a lot of value. It doesn’t matter where you live — an apartment, condo or house — you can grow plants. Growing from seed makes gardening accessible to everyone.”

Sage Garden is offering a broad selection of seed packets in time for the holidays. “We’re really thinking about the fact people are wanting to — needing to — be careful about how they spend their money,” says Hanson. “Our focus for the holiday season is a theme of personalized gift ideas.” Sage has created a gift enclosure to hold seed packets. Choose your own seeds, says Hanson, and put them inside an attractive gift enclosure that includes special instructions, so it is very personalized.

Trug-load

Hanson’s pick for the perfect stocking-stuffer is a trug-load for a trug-load of taters. (Trugs are shallow oblong baskets, traditionally used for carrying plants and produce. This unique gift card comes with simple growing instructions. The actual potatoes — a one-kilogram medley of certified organic seed potatoes — will be available for pickup or shipping starting the third week of April 2024. They can be shipped anywhere in Canada.

“There is a huge need for gardening,” says Hanson. “It gives people pleasure and a sense of accomplishment.”

Brick by brick

I could not have been more surprised when I received the Lego Botanical Collection last Christmas. The Lego Orchid has a permanent place on my kitchen counter. This popular home decor building set is designed for adults and now features eight botanical-inspired sets. The newest addition, which became available on Dec. 1, is Lego Icons Tiny Plants. The set includes 758 pieces. Lego Tiny Plants showcase a range of arid, tropical and even carnivorous species, each one in its own terracotta-coloured plant pot. Tropical plants like Jade Plant, False Shamrock, and Laceleaf thrive in warm, humid conditions. Carnivorous plants like Venus Flytrap, Red Sundew and the Pitcher Plant can lure and trap their prey. Succulents, Prickly Pear and Pincushion cacti thrive in hot, windy climates with very little rain. Assemble each one of these Tiny Plants and you will be inspired to learn more about the natural habitat of these curious varieties.

Lego Tiny Plants retails for $69.99. This newly released set was in stock earlier this week at the Lego Store at Polo Park, but a spokesperson told me they have been selling fast.

Help with your harvest

The Fiskars Garden Harvest Basket with folding handles will help you transport your harvest easily. It is made of durable, lightweight plastic. The colander side has drain holes for washing your produce. Shelmerdine Garden Centre has brought this item in for the holiday season, and it has been selling well, says Deanne Walstrom, general operations manager. There is also considerable interest, she says, in other gardening products Shelmerdine is carrying such as the Hori Hori Garden Tool, the Hula-Ho (an oscillating hoe), and houseplant pruning shears.

Colour and shade

Give the gift of cooling shade. In a world gone madly warm — 2023 is expected to be the hottest year in recorded history — planting trees is essential. A tree is a gift that keeps on giving. Leah Olson, co-owner of Morden Nurseries and Garden Centre in Morden, says this year’s warm autumn and its long-lasting colours have many more people thinking about planting trees for fall colour as well. Her favourite pick is First Editions Majestic Skies Northern Pin Oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis), a large shade tree with a symmetrical shape. A new homeowner, Olson planted Majestic Skies in her yard. Leaves emerge red in spring, turn dark-green for summer, before becoming a riveting red in the fall.

But in addition to buying a gift card for a tree — for the new homeowner on your shopping list, perhaps — you can also support the planting of new trees in Winnipeg through the Million Tree Challenge. Donations starting at $25 can be made to Tree Canada at treecanada.ca/winnipeg-one-million-tree-challenge.

Art of keeping cool

If you watched the U.S. Open Tennis Championships on TV when they took place in New York City from Aug. 22 to Sept. 10 during a blistering heat wave, you would have observed that many fans in the stands were fanning themselves. People were using whatever was available — pieces of paper, serviettes, fast-food cup holders — but some were fanning themselves in elegant style with beautifully patterned personal bamboo fans. I remember thinking at the time these stunning fans had to have come from Lily-Lark.

Lisa Selwitz owns Lily-Lark, a New York company which makes gorgeous, handcrafted bamboo hand fans with UV-resistant fabric and matching handheld parasols. “We pride ourselves on making art,” she said in a recent phone conversation. “All our parasol canopies and fans are printed with original, contemporary fine art.”

An art director by trade, Selwitz has worked with artists from all over the world. She has spent years developing her premium product which is manufactured in Thailand. “Lily-Lark parasols are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside,” she said. “The bamboo frames are constructed differently from anything on the market. Bamboo is a great material because it is sustainable and renewable.”

Handheld fans have always enjoyed a certain amount of popularity but now are everywhere. If you use a fan in summer’s heat, would you also carry a parasol or give one as a gift?

“The planet is on fire,” said Selwitz. “This past summer, parts of North America and Europe were broiling. There were reports from Europe of tourists visiting the Colosseum in Rome and everyone was carrying a hand fan and a sun umbrella or parasol.” Lily-Lark’s handcrafted parasols have a UPF 50-plus coating on the fabric canopy that protects the user from over 99 per cent of the sun’s UV rays. “Sun parasols are a viable way to protect yourself from harmful exposure,” said Selwitz. “It’s is also cooler under a sun parasol. You are taking your shade with you.”

The Lily-Lark parasol folds down easily and comes with a matching carrying case you can carry over your shoulder. There are two lines to choose from — Lily-Lark and Lark, which costs less but is also made with a proprietary method unique to Lily-Lark. Lily-Lark fans (US$18) and parasols (from US$86) can be ordered at Lily-Lark.com.

colleenizacharias@gmail.com

For advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing, sign up to receive Winnipeg Gardener, a free monthly digital newsletter I write for the Winnipeg Free Press at Winnipeg Gardener