House and garden magazines are helpful with their gift suggestions. Most ideas aren’t really what gardeners need or want. Be truthful, how many cherubs or gnomes do you really need?

Readers might interpret the suggestions as stocking stuffers but as a seasoned gardener all suggestions have tremendous value. Gifts should never be valued on a monetary basis but on their value of bringing joy to the receiver or filling a need.

Two or three smaller items could be wrapped separately and placed together in a basket or a bucket. The bucket could be of galvanized-steel, with a handle and used for the cut-flower gardener to put picked flowers in.

A basket filled with gardening accessories: scissors, twine, plastic or metal plant tags, plastic ties, waterproof marker, a journal and pen, maybe a collapsible bag to carry debris.

Garden hand tools i.e., trowel, weeding tool, pruners, all with bright-colored handles.

They would be easier to find when you put them down and then get distracted.

A kneeling pad or if physical limitations need to be considered, look for the style with side handles that help you get up and down. There are days when we all feel we need one.

The well-groomed gardener never has enough washable garden gloves or wide-brimmed sun hats. Sometimes I feel like a dork with my “safari” style garden hat, but, I’m very susceptible to skin cancers. A side note: I grew up in Wisconsin, lived in many areas of the U.S., plus overseas in Singapore and Australia and was never had any indication of a skin cancer. A year after moving to the area, I started on a regular regiment of treatments.

The High Desert climate needs to be respected with regards to skin care. The sun is very intense and many newcomers quickly learn to take time to apply the sunscreens.

Along the same line, gardeners need rich hand lotions, lip balm (not just for winter weather) sunscreens, fragrant soaps and bath oils for the end of a busy day. Plus a little bit of chocolate is never under-appreciated.

Candles have been a part of our family life beginning on the evening that daylight savings ends. A scented candle can be nourishing to the spirit during this transitional time of the year.

A good soil thermometer is a must to give the go-ahead signal for spring planting. For indoor houseplants a moisture meter is important. Just because it’s Tues, or your favorite day, doesn’t mean it is time to give plants a drink. Choose a meter that in addition to the moisture provides readings of light, and pH.

How can we approach the gift giving season and not think of books? Douglas W. Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware in Newark. “Bringing Nature Home” was published in 2007 with subsequent editions updated and expanded in 2009. The copy I have was published in 2015 and is full of detailed insect photos and native plant reference tables for all major geographic areas of the United States. It is a wonderful reference on how you can sustain wildlife with native plants.

Tallamy’s second book “Natures Best Hope” was published in 2019 and by 2021 had reached its eighth printing.

Tallamy encourages homeowners to be more conscientious about turning to a more grass-root approach of landscaping and recreating conservation corridors.

“Homegrown National Park” is a grass-roots-call-to-action to regenerate biodiversity and ecosystems function by planting native plants. It is an idea that Tallamy got when he heard the statistics about how much lawn we have —the estimate is from 2005 NASA estimate from satellite imagery — but it’s 40 million acres. That’s the size of New England dedicated to lawn, which is an ecological deadscape.

It is a project Tallamy hopes many gardeners will become involved in. Read more at homegrownnationalpark.org. You can watch a map light up on the website. You can see the biological corridors fill in. I even found Bend, Prineville, Madras, check it out.

The ultimate gift for a gardener would be enrollment in the Oregon State University Master Gardener Program.

Applications are now available: deadline to apply is Jan. 3, 2023. Classes begin Jan. 17-March 21 hybrid training (both in person and online class combined). Cost is $280 and scholarships are available.

General Information: extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/central/how-join: directly to application: beav.es/5Nj; or call 541-516-0257 (direct line) 541-548-6088 (x79510 main line).