With Christmas less than two weeks away, Gillian Vine looks at some garden-themed gift ideas.
With kids in mind, buy a berry bucket ($19.99 from Wal's, Mosgiel).
Things they can eat are a good way to introduce youngsters to gardening and the beauty of these strawberries is that the plants are already fruiting, so they should ripen quickly in warm weather.
We recommend covering with lightweight netting to keep off the blackbirds.
Millbank products are made with the company's own lavender, grown on the Taieri.
Prices are from $5 and the range includes soaps, shower gel, talcum powder made with pure talc, and lavender oil. Millbank's Denise Chaplin embroiders face flannels and produces lavender-scented wheat bags and sachets.
She makes gift baskets and boxes to order and runs a shop at 74 Heenan Rd, Maungatua (open daily until Christmas except Thursdays, phone 027 486-1226). Millbank products are also available in Dunedin at Simply Flowers, Musselburgh, and Wilkinsons Pharmacy, the albatross colony shop and Mosgiel's Central Pharmacy.
Apricot Delight is a New Zealand-bred rose which makes an excellent cut flower and is suitable for exhibition.
Its only drawback is a lack of perfume but its other attributes, including a long flowering period, compensate.
Available from Wal's, Mosgiel, $25.99.
Add stylised dove of peace to the Christmas tree.
This Chinese-made beaded baby ($8.50) will last for years if packed carefully when the tree is taken down.
Reminiscent of Christ's stable birthplace are woolly lambs ($11.90) also available from Blueskin Nurseries, Waitati.
A book is always welcome for days when it's too miserable to garden.
Tops this Christmas are The Splendour of the Tree by Noel Kingsbury and All About Roses by Diana Sargeant. Kingsbury's coffee-table book is a superbly illustrated selection of trees from around the world.
Loosely divided into six sections encompassing groups from ancient species to food trees, it is chock-full of information and at $59.99 for a large-format hardback, is excellent value for money.
All About Roses ($34.99) is a soft-cover guide for every rose lover, from the new gardener to those who've been growing them for years.
The author, Australia's ''Rose Lady'', covers everything from the ideal position to grow them to potted roses.
Although written for people who want to grow roses but don't have a clue, it has something for everyone and the suggestions on how grow healthy roses without using chemicals will have wide appeal.
With lots of eye-catching photos, this one is a winner.
Potted phalaenopsis orchids give long-lasting colour, with blooms able to look good for up to two months.
As well as the popular white types, there are more colourful varieties.
Nichol's has a good selection ($44.99 each), some with contrasting veins and white with maroon centres.
Look ahead to winter with a feeder that will attract birds into the garden.
Blueskin Nurseries, Waitati, have simple structures tailor-made for pressed seed cakes, spikes to hold a piece of fruit and classy ceramic feeders that are decorative as well as useful. Prices are from $6.90.
Perfect for a gardener who grows natives, as it would enhance a native corner, is this koru sculpture ($189.90) but make sure to position it where it can be seen and admired.
Available from Blueskin Nurseries, Waitati, which also stocks Geraldine-made Pole People garden sculptures.
Natives of Mexico, poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are popular Northern Hemisphere Christmas plants that are currently in vogue here.
The bright ''petals'' are actually bracts surrounding the insignificant true flower, with red the traditional colour for Christmas.
The leaf pattern is sometimes said to mimic the Star of Bethlehem, which guided the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem, birthplace of the Christ Child.
Potted poinsettias are $22.99 each at Nichol's.
Christmas lilies are traditionally white.
The longiflorums (pictured) are pure white, while Lilium regale is flushed with red on the outside.
Nichol's has pots of regale lilies in bud that should be in flower for Christmas.
At $16.99 per pot of four or more lilies, they are good value and if transplanted into rich, well-drained soil when the foliage dies down, will give pleasure for years to come.
Living trees may be native pohutukawa, rata or beech, holly or a traditional fir. Nichol's range covers all sizes from minis (pictured) to 3m firs.
One with a big name, Picea albertiana glauca conica is a small (1m) fir that can be kept in a pot for several years ($17.99 from Wal's, Mosgiel).
This season's hot new plant is an Australian-bred alstroemeria, Rock and Roll, which has striking variegated foliage and contrasting bright red flowers.
Promoted as being hardy to -10degC, it can be grown in a pot in a sunny or semi-shaded position.
In the garden, it needs fertile, moist, well-drained soil. About $20 from most garden centres.
