It is very easy to choose Christmas gifts for those gardeners on your holiday shopping list for Christmas 2023.

Now, there is a natural alternative to DEET. Proven effective for both kids and adults. TICKS-N-All natural tick repellent repels not only ticks but many other kinds of other pests.

For those gardeners with pollinator gardens, a new Proven Winners perennial, called Midnight Velvet Sedum is a perfect choice. This perennial is hardy in zones 3 through 9. The lovely purple foliage brings color throughout the growing season. During late summer, the beautiful pink blooms open, later deepening to dark red. Late in the season, the red seed heads provide additional color.

For gardeners with edible landscapes, I highly recommend the new Flavorette line of edible roses from Proven Winners. The newest addition to the series is Flavorette Pear’ D. This lovely rose is named for the edible blooms, which taste like a ripe pear. It does best in zones 4 through 8.

The Dramm rain wand makes watering a snap. Gardeners can adjust the water flow with their thumb and water their plants gently and thoroughly.

The C7735 Ladies Performance Gloves are made totally of recycled materials. These are especially designed to fit women’s hands.

Sun Day Greetings has appealing lines of greeting cards that will be of interest to gardeners. Made in America from recycled materials, these are sure to brighten the recipient’s day.

The Korissa Seagrass Bird House is created by fair trade artisans from sustainable materials, including sea grass.

For gardeners who start their own seeds indoors, there is the Orta Kitchen garden. This is a special terra cotta container with space for each individual seedling. The special terra cotta wicks the correct amount of water to the seed mix and keeps it evenly moist. This product has plastic-free packaging.

Garden books are an excellent choice for gardeners on your shopping list. For those gardeners in drought prone areas, consider “Dry Climate Gardening” by Noelle Johnson, released in February 2023. With much of the world facing water shortages, this book could be very helpful.


“Baer’s 2024 Agricultural Almanac and Gardener’s Guide” is an excellent choice for gardeners. Edited by Linda L. Weidman, this is published by John Baer’s Sons. They have published the almanac since 1825. Both single copies of the almanac and a five year subscription are available from Baers with the price including postage and handling. See their website for more details.

The almanac is beautifully illustrated with historic drawings and photos. This contains many articles of interest on a wide range of subjects besides gardening. It has almost a hundred pages and makes for very interesting reading. My favorite article is the one on the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824-25 visit to the U.S.

One key feature of the almanac is the long range weather predictions for each region throughout the year beginning in the late fall of 2023 and for each month of 2024. This section also provides a host of astronomical information on the phases of the moon, the zodiac signs, garden signs, and the various eclipses that will occur in 2024.

Gardeners will find many interesting articles on gardening along with some regular features, such as plant and garden lore for each month. There are very handy tables showing the best time for starting various kinds of seeds and plants for the different regions.

Other topics that readers will find in the almanac are lots of details and anniversaries in American history along with good humor, poetry, and delicious recipes. The almanac also has some handy tables of interest, such as a table of measures and weights, a mileage chart, a fishing calendar, and a table for foretelling the weather.