If your list includes a gardening enthusiast, you are fortunate. Gardeners love to grow, so you can choose from plants, bulbs, seeds, tools, gardening accessories and decorations, as well as books.

Stocking stuffers can include nifty new seeds, small tools, gloves and enticing catalogs with a gift certificate included. Some of my favorite seed sources are Renee’s Garden Seeds, W. Atlee Burpee & Co. and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. If bulbs bring bright smiles to that special gardener on your list, consider a gift certificate for Brent and Becky’s Bulbs. Located in Virginia, this respected company offers many varieties of spring, summer and fall blooming bulbs especially suited for this warm region.

Or you might want to gift your gardener with a pretty pot already planted with bulbs ready to grow and flower. For fragrance, Paperwhites produce clusters of pure white, star-shaped flowers with robust aroma for a touch of spring indoors. Longfield Gardens is one source offering a wide variety of eye-catching containers and top quality bulbs. Amaryllis also make colorful gifts, with flamboyant flowers that brighten the home. An added benefit is that after flowering, bulbs can be planted in the garden for future flowering. In our climate, they will revert to their normal bloom time in summer, providing showy flowers during those hot months. Jackson and Perkins is another source for amaryllis gift containers. I especially like a variety named Papillio, with pin-striped, orchid-shaped blooms that stand 18-inches high and reach at least 6-inches across.

Looking for gardening accessories? Gardeners Supply Company offer a variety of seed starting supplies and nifty gadgets sure to enthrall serious gardeners, as well as a large variety of gardening accessories, pots, clothing, decorative accessories and much more.

Gardening books are always welcome. Some are written especially for Mississippi gardeners, such as “Month-by-Month Gardening Deep South,” by Nellie Neal, aka “GardenMama,” who lives and gardens in Jackson. Easy to follow instructions help even beginning gardeners experience the happiness that gardening can bring to oneself and others.

Growing your garden while growing your faith is the purpose in the newly published NIV

“God’s Word for Gardeners Bible.” Edited by Shelley Cramm, who lives and gardens in Texas, this Bible combines sacred scripture with essays, devotional readings and prayers that explore the rewards of gardening, the role of the gardener and landscape-themed pages highlighting the main gardens and regions in which the events in the Bible took place.

Another gift idea will unlock the hidden Master Gardener in your recipient with a series of lessons offers in Adams County by Mississippi State University. Adams County Master Gardeners conduct these classes which include how to grow ornamentals, understanding and improving soil, botany, insect and disease control, lawn care and more. Course is $95, including materials, and begins Feb. 12. For details, contact Adams County MSU Extension Office, 601-445-8201.

For this month’s garden calendar, see page 3C.

 

Karen Dardick is a Master Gardener who lives and gardens in Natchez.