Favorite gardening Christmas gift

What was your favorite gardening gift? Even if you gave it to yourself, or if it's more than one thing, please share the joy.

It's still coming, but my gift from DH for the year (starting with Christmas and probably thru my b'day, Mother's day and beyond) is my rose garden. I have a gated arbor in a box in the garage that I got on sale last spring. There are 2 obelisks in the sun room decorated for Christmas that will be out in the yard with roses growing on them by May. I have already ordered almost 50 roses. Will be making an appointment in January with my landscaper to see if he can do what I want. If not, I will call someone else. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. :0)

pirl, you didn't say what your favorite was?

Grampapa: That sounds so exciting! 50 roses! How about a before picture to compare with later?

Yes, we want before and after photos from several angles!

Two tools for arthritic hands - though I don't have it yet, but my mom did. Also, a pole pruner for things like climbing roses. I'd guess my favorite will be the propane torch to kill weeds but it hasn't arrived yet.

Here's the one that makes me smile the most and, hopefully, I can use it when I get to sit (instead of weed) on the terrace this summer.

gotta get a pic of you blasting weeds Arlene.

No real gardening gifts here this year, although my mp3 player I'll listen to when gardening. I bought plants for myself - does that count ;)

Yes, it counts, Al. Anything to do with gardening counts.

I also received, but haven't looked at (due to weeding, Al) "Gardens Through Time", from my daughter and SIL.

A few el cheapo gardening books from Amazon finally arrived, too, but one dealer cancelled out on a two cent book I wanted!

This is perhaps a BIT of a stretch. . . but my favorite gardening gift this year was from my SIL. It's a "bat tower," where these flying mammals can raise their young and rest during the day. I'm thrilled to have an excuse to learn more about these insectivores who consume millions of mosquitoes (and gnats, flies, etc.) as they skim over ponds, rivers, marshes, etc. I figure anything that gets rid of those pesky biting insects improves my gardening experience.

This message was edited Jan 1, 2007 5:36 PM

I got a gift certificate for gardening classes! The woman from my favorite local nursery gives them.

The "bat tower" looks very cool - I hope you have a great bat family living there! You can install a "bat cam" to watch them too :)
I received two pairs of my beloved Foxgloves, & a Bonsai tool box. It has two heavy duty Bonsai shears, a little broom, & even a little mud-man fisherman, all in a wooden box. Gardener nirvana!
Julie

Hey Julie! Happy new year!
Does the extremely decorated house on your street keep you up nights? Or are you far enough south of it?

It grows each year! We just have a simple lighted wreath - I feel so inadequate!

So much less to take down and I'd bet your electric bills won't keep you awake at night.

Wait a minute....I didn't get any gardening gifts LOL I guess no one thinks about it around in the winter.

Even the Totes and battery operated foot warmers, paint pens, weed cloth, barrel with pruners, labels, etc. were all for gardening. Aha! The Godiva, a box from each of my kids! That was for my DG time.

Maybe I should add my new coffee maker then Pirl.

If it keeps you planting dahlias, of course! What kind of coffee pot? Thermal?

It's a Hamilton Beach, one of the ones that you fill right into the cup with no caraffe. I don't mind it, I'm getting used to the coffee being held in plastic instead of glass.

As long as it's hot it doesn't matter to me if it's plastic or glass or a thermal jug. I never liked that heater gizmo keeping it hot. To me it tasted dreadful an hour later for the last cup.

Only Pirl can count winter accessories (scarf, gloves, etc.) as garden tools. The rest of us are inside letting our weeds rest.

You bet!

weeds? what are weeds? Do you know of any sellers.

Weeds are the right plant in the wrong spot! Sellers? Many places sell Aegopodium, Houttuynia, ivy and the newly dreaded Celandine.

Those things :) I have this customer that moved here from a warmer zone and brought their english ivy and was upset that it wasn't growing well here - I said "you're lucky"

This message was edited Jan 1, 2007 9:29 PM

sounds like everyone has had a great Christmas! pirlie, that pic is too funny!

ok, you asked for it. here's a before on the rose garden...first pic is looking at the back of the house. the garden will be in the center right in front of the pool fence. It's all grass now. 2nd pic is looking out from inside the pool fence. 3rd pic is from the side. the bottom one is a rendering from my garden design software (it's overhead looking toward the back) of the rose garden design.

gram - I'm speechless! I know, Al, you're finding it hard to believe.

Anyhow, it's wonderful. Your home is lovely and so is the great grass but that rendering from your garden software is more than incredible. Do you have all the roses selected yet? What material will you use for the paths?

It's fantastic, gram!

Do they let you play on the playscape?

Seriously, the plans look great. Quite the software package too.

swings and roses - new rock band. har har!
I got a heated bird bath for the deck railing so my birdies can drink and splash all winter long. The first day the chickadees just walked right in and started drinking.

You're sure to love it all winter long and when winter (if that's what this is at 51 degrees at 7 AM on Long Island, NY) is over the birds will still come to drink.

My daughter gave me a gardening book about Emily Dickenson's garden out in Amherst. You can still tour her homestead today and see the garden in the summer time. It combines gardening essays and plant id's with Emily's poetry, history and historical gardening about what she planted during her lifetime. It is autographed by the author and i am really enjoying it. It is called "Emily Dickenson's Gardens" by Marta McDowell. It is a great book for an English major/gardener such as myself. My daughter goes to college out at UMass-Amherst and she and her friends did the Dickenson home tour last fall.
Also, my husband renews my subscription to the BBC Gardening magazine every year as part of my present. Love those pictures.
Martha

What lovely gifts and the fact that you, too, can go on the tour is even nicer.

Martha, sounds like a wonderful book. Never seen the BBC gardening magazine, but I understand a lot of the British gardening mags are very nice.

aly, I've been thinking about heating the birdbath...next year for sure.

pirl, the pathways in the rose garden are going to be flagstone. I'll probably plant some creeping thyme or Irish moss between the stones. It's on a slope (down towards the lake), so there's a step in the arbor, and a low stone wall on the lake side. I have about 50 roses already ordered. I'm a very visual person and I love having the software to build my gardens long before I ever buy a plant. here's the whole back of my lot...drawn to scale and orientation (NS). I also built my house in the computer before we actually had it built so I could be sure about room sizes and stuff. Designed the kitchen myself. Told you guys I was a computer geek ;0)

You've done very well with the house and the gardens!

I planted some creeping thyme, a golden variety, next to the driveway's stone wall. I did this years ago. It is practically an evergreen. It grows really freely during the summer and then only dies back some in the winter. If you go out after the snowstorm, you can find fresh thyme on the plant even in midwinter. I prune out the dead branches in the spring, but that's all I have to do to it. It has been the most rewarding herb I have ever planted and it tastes good too!
Martha

Mine, too. The smell, alone, makes having the plant worth it.

Just found this thread.....
Gram.... you wonderful comupter geek! That is a beautiful rose garden!! Want to come to my house???
I got some very nice gardening gifts for Christmas:

A $50 gift cert. to Bluestone Perennials
A $50 gift cert. to Blossoming Gardens (a lady I but DL from)
A book called " The Daylily" A Giude for Gardeners by John P. Peat and Ted L. Petit
Another book "Lilies" by Pamela McGeorge
and "The Complete Book of Bulbs & Bulb Gardening" by Kathy Brown

I haven't had time to really "read" them yet, been waiting for winter to begin! LOL
I figured we are due for at least one good snow storm so I'll have time to read then.
Gram, Nancy, ect...you've already had your "good snow storm" so your in the clear. (I hope)
In 46 years I don't ever remember the ground NOT being frozen in Jan. in Maine. This is just to crazy!!

I'm off to the garden right now to try and finish up and then wait for that longed for blizzard so I can read all the Christmas gift books I received, too.

Well, with the money from my mom, I ordered a garden magazine, and with money from my daughter I became a subscriber to Dave's garden :-)

cheers,
Seandor

Welcome Seandor! You will love it here at DG!!!

Seandor, what magazine did you subscribe to? (there I go with the questions again LOL)

Pixie, I would love to come to your house! how's Tuesday?LOL sounds like Santa was pretty good to you (and knows what you like)

Martha, I have some golden creeping thyme planted under one of my roses. I was just out looking at it and it looks great. I have 9 varieties of creeping thyme and they are all somewhat evergreen. as you said, just prune out any die-back and you're good to go for another season.

thanks, pirl.

Welcome Seandor! We have the best forum on all of DG and the nicest people, too!

Gram - have you ever tried layering some of the longer green strands of thyme? It's worked like a charm for me.