Gardening Gifts And Caring Tips

If you're looking for the perfect gift to give the gardener in your life, British gardener Charlie Dimmock has some suggestions. Among them: a handful of traditional plants that are given as gifts at Christmas time.

She showed how to care for these plants on The Saturday Early Show.

Gifts That Grow

• Mini greenhouse: Grow some green inside during the dreary winter, great for starting seedlings that you then plant outside.
• Topiary set: A star-shaped topiary frame, two ivy plants and a nice pair of shears.
• Cyclamen: This is a fairly reliable flowering houseplant. It's a traditional holiday flower and makes a great gift. If you receive one, be sure not to let it dry out or it will stop flowering. Also, place it in a cool spot.
• Christmas Cherry: Another holiday plant you will recognize. This is a houseplant that's easy to grow. The beautiful red berries are toxic so it's probably not a great choice for people with kids or pets. (They won't kill you, just make your tummy upset.) The berries only flourish in the winter. During the summer, the plant is simply green with a few small, white flowers.

Gifts For Kids
There are a lot of adorable gifts out there for the child gardener. The great thing about these items is that adults can use them, too!

• Small tool set: These sturdy tools are easy for a child to grasp. If you can sneak them away from your young gardener, the tools come in handy when caring for houseplants.
• Pottery art: This kit comes with everything your child needs to decorate a pot and grow a small plant. Adults with a creative streak will also enjoy it.
• Mini plants: Add some water and watch these plants grow! They're available in almost any gift store and feature wacky plants that will appeal to kids. They are small enough for adults to keep on a desk.

A lot of these items - like tree braces - seem really boring to the average person, but a gardener is going to love them.

"They are the kind of things that I would really like to have, but would never buy for myself," Dimmock says.

• Glass mister: Many houseplants need the humidity that an occasional misting with water provides. Replace your gardener's ugly plastic, utilitarian mister with this pretty glass one.
• Holster: No more laying down your pruners in the grass and losing them. This handy carrier snaps onto a belt or pants to hold garden shears.
• Thermal mug: In an attempt to stay hydrated - or stay awake - gardeners often take water or coffee into the garden with them. However, they tend to get distracted by their plants and their favorite beverage goes hot or cold.
• Odds 'n Ends: Tree braces, twine, gloves, padded kneeler - a collection of items that gardeners would never buy for themselves because "this old one is just fine." But if these items show up under the tree, you better believe they will bring a smile, Dimmock says.

Amarylis and Paperwhites
These are both plants that bloom around Christmas time from bulbs. Many people receive them as gifts and don't know how to care for them. Although they both have beautiful flowers and both come from bulbs, the similarities end there.

When you receive a paperwhite as a gift, you need to realize that it doesn't naturally bloom in December. Instead, it's been forced to bloom early. For this reason, it won't flower again. Once spring comes, you can replant the paperwhite in your garden; they will be green and have a few blooms, but the plant will never be as pretty as it was during the holiday season.

Amarylis are a different story. You can nurture these plants and they will bloom again in a year. Once the flowers die, pinch them off. You will be left with a tall stem. DO NOT cut this stem back. Wait for it to whither on its own before you cut it back. Then, you need to continue to water the plant and feed it about every three weeks. When new leaves begin shooting out, you know that the amarylis has begun a new cycle of growth. Once spring arrives, plant the flower - still in its terra cotta pot - in a shade area of the garden. The leaves will yellow at summer's end. That's okay. Just bring the plant inside, continue to water it, and come Christmas, you will once again have beautiful blooms.

Goofy Gifts

• Watering can purse: Green leather.
  
• Blowup Owls - Place in your garden to scare away pests or play in the bath.