I love doing gift baskets for friends and for the holidays – get a bunch of small items and put them in a great basket. How about putting together an orchid gift basket with all those little things that every orchid grower needs? Be sure to use a natural grape or wood basket that can double as a growing base for orchids or a display for them in your house. Use natural raffia as the filling since it can be reused as a tying material for inflorescences. Your friend or loved one will surely appreciate the gift! Here are some ideas of items to put in the basket, pick and choose the ones you can find or those that fit your budget.

Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruning Shears, my favorites for working with orchids can be found at a number of sites on the web. The best price I found was $11.50 at one of our recommended orchid vendors Quarter Acre Orchids.

Orchid ties to tie up those long inflorescences. These are available at local nurseries or almost any orchid supply store.

Plant stakes, there are some lovely Phalaenopsis stakes perfect for gifts. These are generally a wire stake coiled so that the inflorescence can be held gently and then a decorative tip is added.

Colorful plant clips, these come in butterflies, bees, dragonflies and sunflower varieties. Also available at Quarter Acre Orchids.

Bag of sphagnum moss, get the premium long fiber New Zealand kind.

Notebook for the greenhouse (waterproof cover) with a permanent marker pen, or The Orchid Journal.

Orchid wheel with culture advice and pest information from Odom’s Orchids.

Colorful plant tags, available at many nurseries.

Eyedropper for measuring small amounts of fertilizer or pesticides. These can be purchased from any drug store.

SuperThrive™, can be found at most garden stores or nurseries.

Shot glass measuring cup with milliliter, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements for liquids.

Tiny clay miniature orchid Woodland Creek Orchids. These are really adorable little items.

The Orchid Journal Survival Guide. is a laminated guide with information on the ten most common orchids.

Orchid switch plates are sold on eBay, just do a search on “Orchid Switchplate”.

Ceramic orchid tiles for added color and interest are found at Orchid Art Tiles I love these tiles and highly recommend them.

I mentioned this idea to Stef at Quarter Acre Orchids Holiday Gift Basket and she indicated that it was something she’d thought of several times, but never had offered. This year she has two different baskets available at reasonable prices if you don’t have the time to put one together yourself. Please be sure to tell her that you saw the idea at BellaOnline!