Christmas gifts for gardeners

When it is too cold and dreary to work outside, but you want to go out anyway for the fresh air, go with a pair of clippers and collect material for a wreath. Cut unobtrusive branches from pine, spruce, arborvitae, juniper, yew and other conifers in your yard. If you have juniper, try to get branches with the blue "berries," if you have arborvitae — there are delicate cones near the tips of branches. Pick up large cones on the ground from pine and spruce. Craft stores sell wire wreath forms, or you can bend an old coat hanger into a circle, or make a grape vine wreath by weaving grape vines into a wreath. Grape and Virginia creeper vines can be recognized, even without leaves, by their coiled tendrils along the stem. I figure I am doing young trees a favor by removing the vines. You do not want poison ivy vines which will not have tendrils and which must be pulled from the tree trucks to which they are firmly attached. Attach conifer stems thickly to the wreath form using wire, monofilament, string, etc. Now comes the fun. Insert other plant material into the wreath by just jamming it into the branches, using a glue gun, or fine wire. Cones are attractive, also sweet gum and sycamore balls. If using fresh plant stems, insert them so they hang down as they will droop. For example, I like a silver theme and use branches of sage, lavender and dusty miller (dusty miller looks like snowflakes now, just beautiful) all of which still have gray-silver leaves. Perennial herbs can be used as a theme, there are still leaves on the sage, lavender, thyme, mint, winter savory and others. Or look at seed heads, cone flower and black eyed susans, seed pods, even milkweed (spray pods to seal them and prevent an explosion). You can add color with a bow, or if you have winterberry or know where some bittersweet grows, you can add sprigs of those. Gifts for gardeners, we always appreciate gloves. I wear through a couple pair each year and set some aside for specific jobs like poison ivy battles. There are all kinds of gloves now, leather, nitrile, plastic, fabric, etc, ask or notice what your gardener likes. Tools vary from small trowels, through watering cans and buckets, to wheelbarrows and tillers. I am always looking for the right watering can. I prefer one where the perforated piece can be unscrewed from the body and the handle goes over the top (not along a side) with enough space that a hose can be inserted. Gift certificates for catalogues, garden stores or nurseries will all be appreciated. Gardeners wear hats, we like wide brims that shade our faces and the backs of our necks. Many stores now have amaryllis bulbs and poinsettia plants for sale, both can be nursed though the winter after flowers have faded and revived next year. Enjoy the wreath making, once you start, you'll probably make a couple. It's fun to try different greens with different additions. Dr. Carty is a local guest columnist.