Plant persons are straightforward to purchase for — and arduous too — as a result of the actually die-hard gardeners normally need nothing greater than their favourite battered clippers and an outdated desk knife for weeding.
The reality is, lots of these cutesy have-to-have backyard items look fairly on the retailer however serve little goal in the actual world. The opposite reality is that gardeners get pleasure from extra than simply planting and pulling weeds — they like visiting different gardens for inspiration (and pleasure!). They love artwork that reminds them of nature’s extraordinary magnificence, workshops that assist them be taught and, after all, helpful instruments that make their work simpler.
The recommendations under have all been examined by an actual gardener (yours actually), and I can vouch for the delight-ability of each one. I attempted to search out helpful and/or stunning objects that received’t break the financial institution. And for bonus factors: Nearly all of these things come from artists or firms primarily based in Southern California so it doesn’t matter what you select, you’ll be supporting our native economic system.
For those who make a purchase order utilizing a few of our hyperlinks, the L.A. Occasions could also be compensated.
(Los Angeles Occasions photograph illustration; images from Sally Jacobs; Getty Photographs)
Sally Jacobs’ botanical artwork
L.A. botanical artist Sally Jacobs does exacting, beautiful renderings of all issues botanical, from attractive flowers to the gnarly particulars of a celery root to the wealthy Renaissance-style particulars of a turban squash (above). She does her personal printing in her Mid-Wilshire studio, utilizing archival ink on acid-free fine-art paper, and indicators each print. She additionally thoughtfully chooses sizes (8 by 10 inches or 11 by 14 inches) that simply match into customary frames, so you may really afford to current your recipient a whole reward. For those who can’t determine on a print, purchase one in every of Jacobs’ card units ($18) and body just a few of the unique watercolor artwork playing cards. And look ahead to her subsequent present on the Artists Gallery subsequent spring.
$25 to $35 at Sally Jacobs Studio
Hand pruners are to gardeners what sneakers are to fashionistas — you may by no means have too many — however I’ve come to appreciate that almost all days once I’m roaming the backyard, all I actually need is a small hand pruner to maintain issues tidy. The issue is, my sturdy 1-inch pruners are cumbersome in my pocket and tiring to make use of. Corona Instruments, a Corona, Calif., enterprise for practically 100 years, launched its pocket pruner final yr. The machine — small and lightweight sufficient to slide simply into my pocket, however robust sufficient to chop via branches as much as a ½-inch diameter — has grow to be my favourite for backyard chores. You possibly can order it from the Corona web site, however the delivery will double your value until you’re ordering $100 price of products. You may as well take a look at your native ironmongery shop for Corona Instruments’ BP13630, a.okay.a. the Yard Necessities pocket pruner.
$15 at Lowe’s
Bear in mind what I mentioned above about gardeners by no means having sufficient pruners? Nicely, there’s a unique situation for houseplant mother and father who should wander their indoor jungles with watering cans, misters, fertilizers and pruners after which discover a place to retailer them. I had my doubts about Corona-based Corona Instruments’ new Useless Header Snips, however the minute I attempted them I used to be hooked. They’re light-weight, connect to your forefinger and match comfortably in your palm, so you may carry different objects and practically neglect they’re there till you want them. I used mine to chop a bouquet outdoors, deftly harvest some inexperienced beans, lemons and eggplants, and even minimize finger-sized branches with ease. I’ve nothing however raves about these small however sturdy clippers. They’re an indispensable, easy-to-store instrument for tending potted vegetation in addition to harvesting flowers and veggies from the backyard.
$16 at Lowe’s
Chaparral Studio ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ California poppies pin
L.A. artist and panorama designer Bianca D’Amico’s intelligent enamel pin completely captures Southern California’s love for our native wildflowers together with our concern about not destroying these flowers with an excessive amount of love. Enamel pins are generally too heavy to make use of on garments, however this cheerful design that includes the state flower — the California poppy — and the phrases, “Don’t Tread on Me,” is giant sufficient (1.5 inches-by-1 inch) to get its message throughout with out overwhelming a lapel. Think about this a small-but-thoughtful reward for wildflower lovers or any plant aficionados who need to make an announcement stylishly on a jacket, hat or bag. Closing promoting level: You don’t even must wrap this reward, as a result of it comes so fantastically embellished, full with sprigs of pressed however nonetheless aromatic blooms of Cleveland sage, which, just like the golden poppies, are California native vegetation.
$12 at Chaparral Studio
Ambrosia linen produce baggage
Jan Rem of Ojai is a gardener who felt uneasy about storing her produce in plastic baggage. She grew up wrapping damp greens in linen tea towels to maintain them crisp however was annoyed when her salad makings fell out of the towels. Then she added a zipper to one in every of her linen towels, and Ambrosia Produce Luggage was born. These useful, reusable linen baggage are designed to maintain veggies and leafy greens crisp for longer and to stop them from dissolving into brownish-green smears of goo in a plastic bag. Rem makes use of a heavier-weight linen to maintain berries agency and mushrooms from turning to slime. One tip: Wash your greens and veggies and retailer them moist of their baggage within the crisper drawer; maintain your mushrooms and berries unwashed and dry of their baggage till you utilize them. Softer berries like raspberries and blackberries ought to keep within the backside of their clamshell containers (recycle the tops) if you put them within the bag, until you need a tie-dyed bag, Rem mentioned. An efficient, easy-to-use technique to scale back plastics within the dwelling, the luggage are sized for his or her meant objects, color-coded and clearly labeled, so you may see at a look which one holds the lettuce.
$26-$30; $110 for all 4 at Ambrosia Produce Luggage
Fig Earth Provide’s hashish gardening bundle
You probably have a hashish person in your checklist (and who doesn’t today?), Fig Earth Provide is providing an awesome bundle for individuals who need to cease worrying concerning the attainable pesticides of their product. The Mount Washington–primarily based nursery is providing two lessons for starting gardeners beginning in February — one explaining develop hashish at dwelling and the opposite harvest it; each are taught by educator Emily Gogol, chief govt of Develop It From Residence, an Oregon-based firm that sells mail-order hashish seeds and vegetation the identical method different nurseries promote veggie begins. Gogol’s lessons bought out rapidly in Los Angeles this yr so go forward and e-book early to offer your reward recipient a head begin on rising their very own in 2025. The bundle contains the 2 lessons together with a bundle of six hashish seeds and a replica of the e-book “The Cannabis Gardener” by San Francisco Bay-area hashish educator Penny Barthel.
$100 at Fig Earth Provide
Farmers Protection safety sleeves
After a day within the backyard, my arms normally are crisscrossed with scratches, sunburn, just a few punctures from thorns and most of the time, a low-grade rash. Then I attempted a pair of Farmers Protection safety sleeves: Suppose lengthy, fingerless gloves that stretch to simply below the armpits, in a silky-feeling “eco-dynamic” material referred to as Repreve, produced from recycled plastic bottles and recycled materials. To my shock, they really stayed up and stored my arms protected as I whacked scratchy shrubs for a number of hours. In the course of the course of, they didn’t even really feel scorching; afterward, the sleeves appeared untouched. In the event that they do get soiled, they’re mechanically cleanable, they usually are available myriad colours and designs, from camo to monarch butterflies. This can be a helpful and considerate reward for gardeners bored with sporting itchy scars after a day within the yard.
$27 at Farmers Protection
(Theodore Payne Basis)
Theodore Payne Basis reward playing cards
Native plant gardens are a brand new mind-set about landscaping in Southern California, however the Theodore Payne Basis has a wealth of information on the topic, having been targeted on California native vegetation for 64 years. The muse gives an array of conservation and teaching programs in addition to its standard Native Plant Backyard Tour, which takes place April 5-6, 2025. An incredible reward, then, is a present card, which might let its recipient buy a ticket to the 2025 Native Plant Backyard Tour (it was $55 this yr) or take a category to be taught extra about landscaping with California’s indigenous vegetation. Feeling extra-generous? A $100 reward card would allow them to do each and in addition assist create extra habitats for our threatened pollinators and wildlife.
$100 at Theodore Payne Basis Retailer
Tree of Life Nursery wildflower seed mixes
Native wildflowers are one in every of California’s superpowers. Even when their blooms are middling, they impress, and once they’re nice — as in superblooms that cowl total hillsides like colourful quilts — they bring about us to our knees. No surprise folks attempt to re-create a bit of that magic of their yards. The Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano has been promoting native vegetation and seeds for practically 50 years. (Its wildflower seeds are collected solely by S & S Seeds in Carpinteria for Southern California gardens.) Select from 10 totally different seed mixes, which embrace directions on the easiest way to plant them for max blooms. Three ounces of seed will cowl 400 sq. ft, a pleasant begin to a starting habitat backyard. And the fantastic thing about this reward is that when they bloom, these wildflowers will reseed to create new blooms yr after yr.
$4 to $8.50 an oz. at Tree of Life Nursery
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Occasions)
Bauer Pottery orange swirl pot
Bauer Pottery is sort of a sweet store of ceramics, with pots and dishes in so many sensible colours that buying on the retailer appears like a celebration. John Andrew Bauer started making brown-glazed pottery in Paducah, Ky., in 1885 and moved his enterprise and household to Los Angeles in 1910. By 1930, Bauer Pottery was creating pottery and tableware in lots of daring colours. The corporate closed in 1962, however was resurrected in 2000 by collector Janek Boniecki, who purchased the rights to Bauer in 1998 and re-created Bauer pots in shapes and colours from the Nineteen Thirties and Nineteen Forties. Right now you will get a good-looking 9-inch swirl pot, as an example, in 9 colours (from Bauer orange to Federalist blue), with the distinctive Bauer Pottery stamp. These specific pots don’t have drain holes (though Bauer will drill holes free of charge on request), which makes them good for indoor vegetation. Simply slip a potted houseplant — nonetheless in its authentic plastic container — into the pot; take away the plant from the Bauer pot simply for watering with out worrying about leaks. It’s a present as sensible as it’s modern. Proven right here, it’s paired with an 8-inch Dieffenbachia ‘Tropic Snow’ plant from Creature’s Crops & Espresso.
$99 at Bauer Pottery
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Occasions)
Annual membership to a botanic backyard
Southern California is blessed with an abundance of sensible climate for gardening together with a plethora of botanic gardens to assist us determine what to develop — or to assuage our souls once we want some plant time open air. Annual memberships are the reward that retains on giving all year long, with free entry into the gardens, plus reductions on particular occasions and lessons and even free passes for buddies! Most twin memberships for 2 named adults value $100 or much less (though the famend Huntington Library, Artwork Museum, and Botanical Gardens will run you $175 for 2 adults in the identical family). Seek for gardens near your recipient’s dwelling to allow them to make frequent use of your beneficiant reward. A couple of recommendations: California Botanic Backyard and Santa Barbara Botanic Backyard (for native plant lovers), Descanso Gardens, Los Angeles County Arboretum, South Coast Botanic Backyard, San Diego Botanic Backyard and Ventura Botanical Gardens.
Costs differ; take a look at 16 choices right here.
CoolJob bamboo touchscreen gardening gloves
I’ve tried plenty of gardening gloves, however all of them had the identical downside: I needed to peel them off to make use of my smartphone, which isn’t straightforward once they’re moist or crusted with dust. Then I found Ontario-based CoolJob’s touchscreen gardening gloves, which shield my fingers whereas conserving them cool and permitting me to work my telephone. These gloves are available six sizes and are produced from a bamboo-nylon fiber with a foamed nitrile overlaying on the thumb, fingers and palm, making them powerful sufficient to resist a yr’s price of heavy use (the common lifespan of my backyard gloves), earlier than I’ve to interchange them. Better of all is the fee: simply $9 for 2 pairs. At that value, you may fill the vacation stocking of each gardener in your checklist, or add a pair to a present basket for a starting gardener. Simply suppose: Your gardening friends will have the ability to reply if you name!
$11.99 at CoolJob
‘Medicinal Herbs of California’ subject information by Lanny Kaufer
Lanny Kaufer relies in Ojai, however he’s been conducting Herb Walks via the wilds of Southern California for practically 5 a long time, mentioning the names and plenty of makes use of of the area’s native and invasive vegetation. It’s a enjoyable and informative technique to get some historical past concerning the makes use of of those vegetation, from culinary and medicinal to creating musical devices or weaving baskets. His e-book, “Medicinal Herbs of California: A Field Guide to Common Healing Plants,” dives deep into that historical past as properly, with images to assist with plant identification. I took one in every of Kaufer’s Herb Walks in Ventura and got here away enlightened on a number of factors. For example, alcohol is an efficient technique to wash off poison oak for those who apply it inside half-hour, he mentioned; in any other case, use juice from the ground-up native mugwort plant to deal with the soon-to-follow blistering rash. Attention-grabbing facet observe: Mugwort tends to develop subsequent to poison oak. The e-book and reward certificates for Herb Walks ($25-$45) are all out there on Kaufer’s web site; make sure you embrace a hyperlink along with your reward so your recipients can decide their walks.
$27 at Herb Walks With Lanny Kaufer
Hardy Californian LA Crops Mother & Dad Hat
Parker Davis of Hardy Californians is a panorama designer and native plant fanatic, however he additionally has a aptitude for style. Simply take a look at the terrific L.A. Crops cap he designed in Dodgers blue, which fades to a pleasant sky blue over time. Each time I put on this snug, washable cap, somebody stops to ask me the place they’ll purchase one. It’s form of like being a celeb! These well-made hats are available a number of colours; the pale classic blue (proven above) is a current providing as a result of, Davis mentioned, so many individuals tried to purchase his pale royal blue cap off his head. For those who go for the royal blue, one other observe is that it’s going to fade naturally after many washes and publicity to the solar (for all you purists on the market).
$35 at Hardy Californians
(The Plant Good Seed Co.)
The Plant Good Seed Co.’s Culinary Basil seed assortment
The Plant Good Seed Co. relies in Ojai, with growers up and down the West Coast (together with a number of round this small Ventura County metropolis), and even within the japanese United States. The seeds, hand-packaged in Ojai, are neither genetically modified nor chemically handled, and most are licensed natural. What I actually respect is the good selection out there on-line and at many native retailers, particularly with its seed collections — just like the Culinary Basil choice, which gives six varieties of basil for gardeners who like to cook dinner. Different collections run the gamut, from a mixture of poppies to culinary herbs, or easy-to-grow vegetable seeds for the start gardener. There’s one thing comforting about figuring out there’s an organization in Southern California offering such a wide array of seeds for rising meals and flowering vegetation.
$24 on the Plant Good Seed Co.
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