Poinsettias or amaryllis plants often come to mind as holiday gifts for our gardener friends, but what about something more interesting or practical?

Independently owned, local nurseries are a great resource for unique garden treasures. There are several outstanding garden centers in town that carry gift items to delight the gardener. Here are some ideas sure to grow a smile.

– Seeds. Cards That Grow greeting cards are impregnated with perennial wildflowers. Or stuff stockings with packs of wildflowers. Both offer the promise of beauty and color for next summer.

– Garden art is more popular than ever: Did you love seeing Chihuly glass art at Denver Botanic Gardens? Then how about ColoriScape solar glass art? Another favorite is a birdhouse made from gourds by a local artist. These items can be found locally.

– Live plants. Local nurseries have a beautiful selection of healthy house plants and bonsai. I found a fetching “wall garden” of succulents based on a metal bicycle sculpture. A Fairy Garden will delight folks of all ages, with miniature plants in a self-contained bowl.

– Ornaments: Look for nature-inspired ornaments – birds and wildlife might be good picks if the gardener is also a birder.

– Tools: Big box stores still carry some gift-worthy products in the off-season. On a recent visit to one of these stores, I was able to find attractive Bracken Creek knee pads, the handy Garden Treasures kneeling bench, a Corona extendible tree pruner and a variety of outdoor clocks, thermostats and rain gauges. Don’t forget to check out the local hardware stores for garden tools and gadgets. If you shop online, this gardener’s favorite tool is the Gardena weeding trowel, found at Gardena.com.

– Bird feeders. Garden Treasures offers a handsome cedar “ranch house” and a metal Squirrel Be Gone feeder that shuts the feeder door when a heavier animal rests on the access bar.

– Books. The gardener in your life will enjoy curling up in a chair to read about their favorite subject. The Colorado State University Extension office, 17 N. Spruce St. (520-7690), sells a number of worthy books, including:

“Hardy Succulents,” by Denver author Gwen Moore Kelaidis, has clear and accurate information on succulent plants and cacti hardy enough for our area. The photography will make even the armchair gardener plan for a garden featuring the plants in these families.

“The Edible Front Yard,” by Ivette Soler, combines the loveliest and tastiest edibles and ornamentals in a garden that is a year-round feast for the eyes, worthy of your front yard.

– Gardening classes. If you have someone on your list who is an avid gardener or would like to be a gardening professional, consider the ultimate gift of garden classes from the experts. Colorado State University Extension is now accepting registrations for the 2015 Colorado Gardener Certificate (CGC) training program. This is a 10-week training program that covers a broad range of diagnostic, identification and basic horticulture science topics. Classes are taught by Colorado State University faculty, horticulture extension agents, and green industry professionals. If you’d like more information, visit http://elpasoco.colostate.edu or call Diana at 520-7688.

We wish you all a wonderful holiday season. The Year-Round Gardening column is taking a break until January. If you have questions, Colorado State University Extension has research-based answers. Visit https://ask.extension.org. You can peruse previously asked questions and leave a question for a local volunteer to answer.

See you next year.

Fredricka Bogardus

Fredricka Bogardus