By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
A variety of garden-theme gifts, in a range of prices,
can be found at Vagabond House.
Time is running out, the elves are on overtime, the reindeer are carbo-loading and if you hear one more fa-la-la, you'll scream. Here are few more last minute ideas for Christmas gifts for the gardener. Gifts to delight
gardenersBooks are easy to wrap, can usually be returned, the staff at the big bookstores are remarkably amiable and knowledgeable, and they're short on the fa-la-las because they don't play Christmas music.
"Orchid Growing in the Tropics" by R. E. Fulton, published by the Southeast Asia Orchid Society, is $32.95. This is a particularly good book for local orchid growers because it is written for a climate much like ours. There is no mention of heating your greenhouse or what to do at the first frost, and it also lists orchids that won't grow here. The book has gorgeous photographs and complete, easily understood explanations and descriptions for growing bench, terrestrial and hanging orchids. This is a book for the serious collector, however, and not for Aunt Minnie who had one orchid, but the cat ate it.
"Your Garden Pond" by K. H. Weisner and Dr. P.V. Loiselle, at $14.95, starts with how to dig and line the pond and carries on with the kinds of lilies and lotus that will grow there. It maybe makes it sound easier that it will actually be, but it could be a great family project and a valuable addition to your garden.
"Gardens of the Wine Country" by Molly Chappellet, $40, is probably this year's ultimate coffee table book for the gardener or the wine lover. It takes you through the spectacular private gardens of wine growers in the Napa and Sonoma valleys, including those of Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola, the Mondavi estate and the stunning English-Chinese garden of Peter and Su Hua Newton. At the end of the book, 40 of the growers whose gardens are pictured each offer a few sentences of pithy advice to readers on gardening.
"The Gap in the Hedge" by Charles Elliott, $25, is a collection of funny and unpredictable essays from England, which Elliott calls "the heartland of horticultural fanaticism." There are accounts of great plant hunters including the eccentric Joseph Rock who was the first Botanical Collector for the Hawaiian Division of Forestry and who carried a folding bathtub from Abercrombie and Fitch on all of his expeditions. It is an entertaining book that would appeal to anyone interested in gardening.
"The Tool Book" published by Smith and Hawken, $40, is a very large book on the tools of the serious gardener. If you think a trowel, a hoe and weeder will get you through all of your garden chores, then you don't know about a dibble or a mattock or a scuffle. It should be mentioned that Smith and Hawken have a vested interest in your decision to acquire some of this stuff because it's what they sell. It would be a useful book for someone with a large garden and very little yard help.
Two local shops that offer unusual gifts for the gardener are Pat's Island Delights at Waiau Shopping Center and Vagabond House at Ward Centre.
Pat's sells a native plant seed kit for $5.95 that comes in a woven lauhala box worth at least that much. The kit holds seeds for either mao, which is Hawaiian cotton; kookoolau or beach vitex, or koa for those who think big. The pot, the potting soil and simple but complete instructions are also included. This would be good for a child in the upper elementary school years.
The shop also carries a variety of jams, jellies, chutneys and honeys produced in the islands, as well as crafts by local artisans.
Pat's Island Delights is at 98-450 Kamehameha Highway next to Genki Sushi.
Vagabond House, near Borders Books, offers a variety of "treats and conveniences" of a tropical nature.
Narcissus, hyacinth and amaryllis bulbs are ready to bloom. Simply place a bulb in one of the shop's containers, and water and wait. The bulbs are around $2, and the containers are under $20. The bulbs are only good once, but the glass containers will have many uses when the flowers have faded.
A trowel with a heavy rubber-covered handle costs $9.95 and would be a great help to the older gardener. Plant labels are 75 cents each and a grease pencil to write on them is $1.50.
Of a more lavish nature are the square metal lanterns in moss green or charcoal that each hold a fat candle to light a lanai. These are in two heights and cost either $124 or $93. It will take a true Christmas spirit to give them away.
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
Send queries along with name and phone number to:
Evergreen by Lois Taylor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Or send e-mail to features@starbulletin.com.
Please be sure to include a phone number.
Evergreen by Lois Taylor is a regular Friday feature of the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin. © 1998 All rights reserved.
