"An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life." -Unknown

It’s December and time for the annual Gifts for Gardeners column. I love doing the research for this month’s column!

We gardeners got an early gift. The fall weather offered great gardening well into November before it got too windy and cold. The essential chores always get done but this year there was time for some non-essential ones as well and the weather to do some outside puttering late into the fall.

Two nurseries are open locally through the winter, Crossroads on the Pullman Highway, and Fiddler’s Ridge in Potlatch. I visited both recently to do this story and came away grateful that they both remain open through the winter and I encourage you to patronize them so we will continue to have that option in the off-season.

Crossroads has quite an elegant holiday display (all inside and dry and warm!) with many ideas for holiday decorating. Gift ideas are plant stakes, tools, gloves, pots, statuary, hats, wind chimes, and seed packets, useful for stocking stuffers.

Fiddler’s Ridge, on the highway going into Potlatch from Moscow, has many items that gardeners will love. Theresa has potted up paperwhite and amaryllis bulbs that are always a delight to see in bloom, which they will be around the holidays. They have beautiful heirloom tools: pruners, shovels, and weeders, hangers to put the tools on, and sharpening stones and lubricants to keep them in top operating condition.

The garden décor includes fiberglass sundials and birdbaths. These look like stone but unlike stone, they will not crack from our cold winters. There are also birdbath de-icers to keep the water thawed for the thirsty birds. Gardeners will be interested in coaxing birds to the garden with Fiddler’s Ridge many nice feeders. Fiddler’s Ridge has nice botanical creams and a soap they make, Espresso Bar soap, for cleaning up after the gardening day. Other ideas are watering cans, gardening gloves, plant markers and flowerpots.

Both of these nurseries offer gift certificates to tuck into a stocking or a flowerpot so your favorite gardener can make their own choice of a gift later in the season.

Shop the Co-op for gardening gifts as well. On a recent trip I found some things I’d like to receive for Christmas. I love the product line, Potting Shed Creations, of Troy, Idaho. They produce the Garden in a Pail that has several herbs to plant, as does Garden in a Bag, and there are also mini-gardens of tomatoes and/or herbs in a bag. There is an entire Container Garden Kit full of herbs in an attractive container. Any of their items would be well received by gardeners and the fact that they are produced locally makes them a gift choice that is in line with my buy local philosophy.

A nice gift to put together is a flowerpot stuffed with gloves and/or hand tools (lovely heirloom ones are available at Fiddler’s Ridge), a few packets of flower, lettuce or herb seeds, perhaps some plant markers, and lotion for gardeners rough hands. Call the nurseries before you visit as they have special winter and holiday schedules.