Someone had a real bleak sense of humor when they dubbed the start of the holiday shopping season Black Friday.  We’re well into the tunnel of winter and only about a month away from the Solstice and the darkest day of the year, so maybe they were onto something.  Fortunately, many of us are too well-sated with pie, turkey sandwiches, and Aunt Martha’s weird cranberry relish to sally forth into the shopping frenzy the day after Thanksgiving.  Take your time and relax while you ponder this year’s gifts for the gardeners in your life.

Why not make a classy gift basket for the gardener on your list?  Frugal gardeners can start with a thrift store basket or a large pot from the shed and paint it a cheerful holiday color. Wire an ornamental bird from the craft store into a big blowsy poof of green garden twine for a bow and you’re ready to fill it with fun and useful stuff for the gardener to enjoy now as well as next spring.  

Even though it’s dark and cold outside, you can still find plenty of tools, books, salves and other gardening paraphernalia at small, local gift shops, the department stores, feed and greenhouse supply outfits, and a few hardy nurseries that are open year round.  You still have time to order off the Internet if you don’t dally and you’ll find lots of bargains for those unique items you might not find in town.  If you shop for most of your stuff locally, we won’t needle you for buying that one weird item you just had to order from a catalog. Start off with a few basics – pop in a garden journal, a current issue of a garden magazine, some colorful garden gloves, and a good hand cream befitting the character of the gardener in mind.

I generally get a can of hardworking men’s salve from the hardware store, but aside from the name, it’s good for any gardener’s hands.  If you want to make your own hand cream and customize your scents and ingredients to match your gardener, check out this recipe from Dave’s Garden, http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1692. 

For the literary gardener you might add the intriguing new book by garden writer Ken Druse.  “Planthropology: The Myths, Mysteries, and Miracles of My Garden Favorites” (Nov. 8, 2008) is filled with gorgeous full-color photos and interesting vignettes about how bumblebees can get flowers to release pollens with sonic vibrations, the often harrowing adventures of plant hunters, and letting us in on other secrets of the plant kingdom.  This book will keep your gardener satisfied.

Herb gardeners will enjoy mystery writer Susan Wittig Albert’s Texan sleuth, herbalist China Bayles, whose exploits will warm up a cold winter night.

For the history buff, Ellis Peters’ 13th century herbalist Brother Cadfael mysteries paint an accurate view of the times and the importance of herbs in daily life.  For flower buffs, Sujata Massey’s “The Flower Master,” takes the reader on an exotic trip through the world of Japanese flower arranging customs through the eyes of Japanese-American sleuth Rei Shimura. 

Does your gardener forget about their houseplants in winter?  A moisture meter or plant waterer that waters plants on demand would be perfect.  Plantwatcher.com has an interesting gizmo that comes in several sizes adjusted to your pot size and automatically waters your plants when the soil is dry and the roots need it.  

Gardenopoly is a new board game that replaces the old Monopoly properties like Boardwalk with orchids and other plants and garden implements so you can ‘grow’ gardens instead of condos.  Clay pots and greenhouses replace the houses and hotels and cool garden-themed game pieces will have players fighting over which one gets the garden clog token.  I found this game online at Amazon, but check out the local bookstores and toy stores first.

I love the bubble within a bubble rooting vase from Gardener’s Supply, www.gardeners.com. 

It looks like a glass window ornament, but the colored blue or green center holds a cutting from your favorite plant.  I could give several cuttings to cheer up a winter window.  

Let the frenzy begin. Oh, wait ... that’s what we’re supposed to say in the spring.  Relax and have fun with this project.  Add your own homemade surprises into the mix – strawberry jam, seeds saved from favorite plants, a suet ball for the bird feeder, an exotic ice sculpture in the middle of the garden.  Remember, the days will start getting longer right after you pick up that last scrap of gift wrapping.

Brooke Heppinstall, artist and gardener, is the owner of Wool Wood Studio & Gardens, an art studio and nursery specializing in Alaska-grown perennials and shrubs. Visit online at Woolwood.blogspot.com.