E-mail article     Print view

Digging For Gifts

Without leaving home, you can unearth everything from sturdy jeans to delicate glass birds

PREV |  of  | NEXT

Floor pouf and pillow by Chiásso Kid-size tools from Territorial Seed Co. iittala glass bird by Oiva Toikka Outdoor heater from Frontgate

WITH A DIAL of the phone or a tap of the keyboard, you can save time and trouble while soothing the conscience of the gardener on your gift list. No need to use a drop of gas, which should satisfy environmentally aware gardeners; you can find just the right present from home. Think mail order for a range of gifts from practical to decorative, sure to please any gardener from the worm-bin obsessed to the design-savvy type whose high-gloss containers always match.

Your mailbox is probably sagging from the weight of all the catalogs arriving daily as December nears. Don't limit yourself to those with plants on the cover when searching out a gift for your favorite gardener. Many of the home and design catalogs also feature things that bring a sense of nature indoors to nurture the soul of the winter-weary gardener.

The chartreuse, shaggy floor pouf and pillow from Chiásso evoke springtime while providing cozy winter comfort. Made of cotton chenille pile, the pouf ($98) resembles a puffed up grass island, while anyone resting on the fluffy throw pillow ($38) will surely dream of a green, green spring. And while you're leafing through this classy catalog, check out the beaded green-grass votive ($58). The candle sits in a square metal tray, surrounded by waves of sparkly glass beads that give off lushly organic vibes, although they look perhaps more like seaweed than grass.

If you have a flower arranger on your list, Chiásso offers vases from slickly modern to warm wood. The oh! vase is a silvery doughnut to show off bunches of foliage or berries ($42), the slender arbor vases are all polished-wood elegance ($58 for a set of three), and the glass noodle of a macaroni vase (small $15; large $25) lends humor as well as height to a display of orchids or greens.

The best gifts are always those you can't quite bring yourself to buy no matter how much you need them, and for the practical gardener these are probably sharp, shiny new tools. Territorial Seed Co. offers a Micro Blade Pruner ($11.95) with stainless-steel blades for deadheading and harvesting. The All Purpose EZ Digger ($17.95) is a hand-forged curve of a tool with a comfortable handle. For the aspiring gardener, how about a set of kid-sized tools ($24.95) that includes a shovel, rake and hoe with 36-inch wooden handles?

I'll save you digging through pages of faux topiary and lighted Santas in the Frontgate catalog to find what I want for Christmas. On page 68 is a bronze-colored, free-standing outdoor heater as handsome as an English lamp post. It has hidden wheels to move it easily, stands 90 inches tall and puddles out warmth in a 15-foot radius ($395). This is one product sure to be used as often on Seattle summer evenings as in December.

Browse on your own


Chiásso, www.chiasso.com; 877-244-2776

Territorial Seed Company, www.territorialseed.com; 800-626-0866

Frontgate, www.frontgate.com; 800-626-6488

Raintree Nursery, www.raintreenursery.com; 360-496-6400

Tacoma Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock St., Tacoma, WA; www.museumofglass.org; 253-396-1768

Raintree Nursery solves the problem of dirty, weary knees without the ignominy of hauling around a kneeling pad. The catalog says it best: "Whether you're herding cows or rhubarb, these rugged chaps with built-in knee pads keep you clean and dry." The Green Jeans Garden Chaps have plenty of pockets and are made from the same stuff as backpacks ($48).

Now this last gift suggestion, while not mail order, is still energy-efficient because you can multi-task by picking it up when you visit Tacoma's Museum of Glass. Revel in the exotic orchids and bamboo forms of Debora Moore's Natural Reflections exhibit (through Jan. 15), but be sure to stop in the gift shop to pick up an ittala glass bird from Finnish designer Oiva Toikka. Gardeners will appreciate the beauty of these luminous, hand-blown birds, ranging in size from hummers to eagles, and in price from $85 to $550. The Pacific Water Fowl has a gem-like blue glow, and is a limited-edition introduction that premiered at the museum in October.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net.