It’s not too late to get something, to quote Cousin Eddie from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “real nice” for the gardener on your holiday gift list this year.
Even if that gardener is you. After everything that has happened in 2020, you deserve an extra special gift, even if it wouldn’t be much of a surprise on Christmas morning.
Given the extraordinary nature of this pandemic-dominated year, which we can all agree can’t end soon enough, we’re putting some parameters on our gardening gift suggestions. Specifically, the items — with one obvious exception — are available at Portland area businesses and can be ordered online (or via phone) for curbside pickup or contact-free home delivery.
After all, the best gift someone can give is being careful and considerate enough that they and their loved ones are around to celebrate the next holiday season, too.
A note: While we mention only a handful of businesses, we encourage you to check out your favorite local nursery’s offerings online as well.
A note, part deux: In these keep-away-from-others times, there’s also the option of buying a gift certificate from a local business, or providing a post-pandemic IOU (as in, I owe you a trip to the nursery to pick out a shrubbery, not so much I owe you $10 cash).
And if you’re already done with your shopping — congratulations, by the way — Marcia and I (minus the “I” part) have come up with a simple holiday centerpiece you can make to brighten up even the smallest gatherings — which is what we’re all having, right? — over the next several weeks.
Marcia:
The following is a letter our 7-year-old granddaughter Noelle wrote, misspellings and all, to Santa:
“To: Santa — I want Plinko but the thing I really want for Christmas is for the virus to be over. So I want that to come true — From: Noelle.”
When I read her note to Santa, it broke my heart. Such a basic wish, and yet not that easy to do.
I just lost an uncle on my mom’s side to the virus. It’s not a peaceful way to pass. He was fortunate to live a long life and mercifully his battle at the end was swift.
Fortunately, I think we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. For me, a vaccine is the best present I can imagine.
More than ever in this holiday season of COVID-19, we are trying to make everything as memorable and special as possible.
There will be no family gatherings in our house this year, and none of the usual parties or celebrations. We will, though, along with our daughter and Noelle, who live with us, make new celebrations.
We plan to cook and eat way too much, make a giant gingerbread house (follow us on our Facebook group “The Pecks” to see how it turns out) and go overboard on decorations. We even bought that darn Elf on the Shelf, which we said we’d never do, to hide around the house.
I’m looking forward to 2021, but having said that, I really enjoyed slowing down this year and being conscious and appreciative of the blessings I do have.
Centerpiece made with string lights and eucalyptus.Marcia Westcott Peck
And on that note, if you have done all your shopping or don’t want to expose yourself to the virus, consider making these simple projects. For one, I gathered eucalyptus, rose hips and moss from our garden and placed them in a bowl with candles and battery-operated string lights to make a centerpiece.
For the other, I placed a candle in each of three glass votive holders and filled them with sand. I then gathered native moss from our beds, dug up a small fern and added tiny glass ornaments. Just use whatever is at hand in your garden and on your shelves (Dennis: Let’s hope there’s no elf.).
These are easy centerpieces and welcome you to sit down at the holiday table.
Centerpiece made from moss and ferns collected from our garden beds.Marcia Westcott Peck
Houseplants
Dennis: Especially with it being winter and all, houseplants make a great gift for the stuck-indoors gardener. Nurseries like Cornell Farm have wonderful selections, and the trio behind Potted Elephant in Northwest Portland grow some of the most beautiful and exotic plants you’ll find anywhere.
Marcia: As I sit in our great room writing this, there are a dozen houseplants and a bunch of air plants surrounding me. Just make sure your gift recipient has the right spot in their home to take care of the plant’s cultural requirements. You can’t go wrong; houseplants are really popular right now.
House plants at Cornell Farm.Marcia Westcott Peck
Pots for houseplants
Dennis: If you’re going to buy houseplants, you need something to put them in, right? Cornell Farm and Garden Fever! have nice selections of pots. The wall pots (pots that hang from walls, not ceilings) at Cornell Farm are especially unusual and unique. One of our favorite column subjects, Claire Bandfield of Camas, Wash., creates some of the most striking pots we’ve ever seen, many which can be found on her website, apotspot.com. And Garden Fever! carries her pieces as well.
Terrariums
Dennis: If it seems like terrariums — think of them as aquariums for plants, but without the fish — have been around a long time, it’s because they have, if you consider 1842 a long time ago. And if it seems like their popularity is growing in the year of the pandemic, that’s because it has. You can find everything you need to get started at Cornell Farm or Garden Fever!, which also has one of the most unusual and stunning items for a terrarium we’ve come across since, well, 1842: Marimo moss balls, which must be seen (online, of course) to be appreciated.
Marcia: These are great for apartment and condo dwellers or people who want a miniature garden indoors, especially during the winter months. Buy all the components separately to create your own unique fantasy garden in a teeny, tiny little glass container!
Air plants at Cornell Farm.Marcia Westcott Peck
Air plants
Dennis: We’ve written about air plants in the past and how much fun they are inside a home and how relatively easy they are to care for, even if they do occasionally take more than just air to live. Cornell Farm has a delightful selection, as do many other local nurseries.
Marcia: We have a hanging wall of these easy-to-care-for plants. If you dip them in water once a week and make sure they get moderate light, they will last for years.
Outdoor plants and pots
Dennis: Even if it is winter, you can never, ever, ever go wrong buying a gardener a plant for their garden. Never. Even if every square inch appears filled, they’ll give any newcomer a good home. Garden Corner, Cornell Farm and Garden Fever! all have extensive offerings, especially for this time of year. And while you’re buying them a plant, it couldn’t hurt to consider buying a pot to put it in, too.
Marcia: Plants are always welcome in our garden, but if your recipient has limited space, you might want to ask them what they’d like or support a local nursery by buying a gift certificate so your loved one can choose something at a later time.
Hanging baskets
Dennis: The hanging baskets at Garden Corner are truly inspiring works, even if you don’t want to create the world’s largest hanging basket, complete with Big Foot and the old carpeting from Portland International Airport. You can buy baskets ready to hang, or purchase the components and create your own work of art and maybe even throw in a gnome or two.
Marcia: Seasonal outdoor hanging baskets are a great gift, especially if the recipient gets an IOU from you to install it in their garden.
Find what you would need to start seeds indoors at many Portland area nurseries.Marcia Westcott Peck
Seeds and growing your own
Dennis: We mean vegetables and tomatoes, of course. Many local nurseries offer everything — and then some — that anyone would need to start seeds indoors before planting them outdoors in the spring, including seeds and grow lights and heating mats and trays.
Marcia: Our daughter Madeline and I grew vegetable starts last winter in our dining room. Madeline did most of the work, and as a result we had a bumper crop harvest, which we will be enjoying from our freezer into next year. Buy an assortment of seeds, soil, trays, grow lights and heating mats for your aspiring urban farmer.
Books
Dennis: There’s probably no better time to catch up on your garden-related reading, whether it’s books about the latest trends in just about every aspect of horticulture or a more visual escape to a stunningly gorgeous garden.
Marcia: Most nurseries or bookstores have all kinds of gardening and wildlife books and pocket guides. That includes everything from garden know-how to pruning to local birding to butterfly and wildlife identification and even local hiking guides. And there are books for kids, too. I was really impressed by the book selections at the nurseries and the focus on local interest.
Garden puzzles are widely available. These are at sold at Cornell Farm.Marcia Westcott Peck
Puzzles
Dennis: When you’ve done all the garden-related reading you can for the day, nature-related puzzles can help exercise another part of your brain. Both Cornell Farm and Garden Fever! have a full selection, from ones to assemble with your children/grandchildren (if they live with you, of course, or post-pandemic) to much, much more complex undertakings.
Marcia: Our family, like many others, has found a renewed interest in putting together puzzles as a way to relax and come together while staying at home.
Tools
Dennis: Sure, you have a shovel and a hose and some clippers — or your generous neighbor does. But there’s a huge difference between “a” shovel and a high-quality shovel. Seriously, there is. Maybe it’s time to start a gift-giving tradition of one quality tool each year. At least, that’s what Marcia keeps hinting at. And if you’re springing for a new hose, don’t forget a really nice nozzle and a new timer while you’re at it. And a new set of clippers — or a new saw — calls for a quality tool sharpener as well.
Marcia: I can’t emphasize enough how nice it is to have good garden tools. They make the job so much easier. The difference between a good shovel and a bad shovel is amazing, and it’s true of clippers and hoses and nozzles and most any other garden tool as well. They cost more but last longer and work better. For the gardener in your life, buy a five-gallon bucket and fill it with Felco pruners and a blade sharpener, root saw, folding pruning saw, weeder, soil scoop or trowel, mattock, garden tape, scissors and pliable garden gloves. I have a little apron with pockets that fits around our five-gallon bucket, and the apron is great for holding smaller tools. Or buy a gift certificate so your recipient can pick out their own tools later.
Art
Dennis: Art can enliven any garden and it ranges from masterful metal sculptures that would seem at home in a museum to the most whimsical of garden gnomes, which most certainly would not.
Marcia: This one can be tricky. After all, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a well-known saying for a reason. What you may love, your loved one may not. If you know what they would like, then by all means, go for it. If not, perhaps an IOU for an outing to let them make their own choice works better. There is an amazing selection of beautiful art at many local nurseries and artist studios. The nice thing is, every time your recipient sees the art in their garden, they will think of you.
Gnomes, etc.
Marcia: Something I saw at all the nurseries we visited were little concrete gnomes, elves and meditating frogs. They were charming and silly and would be cute in most any garden, or even in a bookcase.
Outdoor succulent pillows at Cornell Farm.Marcia Westcott Peck
Pillows
Dennis: Yes, pillows. But not just any pillows. The Plantillo succulent pillows (pillow + plant = Plantillo, get it? Marcia: Apparently Dennis doesn’t; it’s plant + pillow), which look amazingly like large succulents while doubling as a conversation piece or just a very unique place to rest your weary head, are simply spell-binding. Cornell Farm carries a selection of them. You can call to order and then do curbside pickup, because they’re not part of their online offerings.
Marcia: These are definitely cool!
Birds
Dennis: We’re stuck at home and hungry for visitors. Why not welcome some of the winged variety into your garden? Cornell Farm and Garden Fever! have a wide variety of bird-related offerings (the felt birdhouses at Cornell Farm are delightfully whimsical), including bird seed and suet to attract outdoor guests the entire year, with no masks required.
Marcia: We get a huge kick out of watching the antics as birds eat out of our suet feeder that hangs in a tree right outside the kitchen nook window. We keep a laminated bird identification guide from when our kids were little under a nearby sofa cushion for easy access. Try Backyard Bird Shop (backyardbirdshop.com, and it has curbside pickup) for even more options.
One for the non-gardening gardener
Dennis: Do you have a friend/relative/partner who says they’re into gardening but has never watered a plant, let alone pulled a weed? The Gardyn could be just what they need, even if they don’t know it. It’s a system for growing veggies and fruits indoors that’s overseen by a “personal growing assistant” on your cellphone that monitors the light and water and even tells you when a plant is ready to eat. You can grow 30 plants in two square feet of floor space, so it doesn’t take up a lot of room. Oh, and it should be a very good friend/relative/partner that you give this to, since the initial price tag exceeds $1,200. Mygardyn.com
Store details
The Garden Corner, Tualatin: thegardencorner.com, 971-512-2688
Cornell Farm, Southwest Portland: cornellfarms.com. If you can’t find an item on its website, you can call (503-292-9895) to order it for delivery or pickup.
Garden Fever!, Northeast Portland: gardenfever.com, 503-287-3200
Potted Elephant, Northwest Portland: pottedelephant.com, etsy.com/shop/PottedElephant, 360-581-9020
Claire Bandfield, Camas, Wash.: apotspot.com
— Marcia Westcott Peck is a landscape designer (mwplandscape.com or find her on Instagram at @pecklandscape or on Facebook by searching for “The Pecks”), and Dennis Peck is a former senior editor at The Oregonian/OregonLive.
