Because it's never too early to start, here is a nifty gift idea from Leah. She received one of these as a housewarming gift, and loves it. I think it falls neatly under the category of Something to Give Someone Who Has Everything, right? Or under the category of I Have No Idea What to Give to My Boss This Year, or whatever tricky gift-giving category you have. If you're not into Money Trees, this site also has some fun bamboo, tea, and bonsai stuff.
Isn't that fun?
The more I thought about it, the more I loved this idea. Giving plants seems fresh and fun, especially since they are so cheerful and green, and winter is not. It makes me think about branching out from "normal" Christmas gifts. Summery things, which can be found online or on clearance now, would be happy gifts to remind the receiver of the return of spring, yes? (See? I wanted to post this while it still might be possible to find stuff on clearance in garden departments/stores near you. ) I thought about flower pots, wind chimes, gardening tools/gloves, bird feeders, planters.
What do you think? Thoughts about summery Christmas gifts? Ideas? Love it? Hate it? Share!
6 comments:
I really like the idea of giving plants. Especially to bosses or people you might not know as well on a personal level. Seems like a lovely gift that most anyone would enjoy.
I love giving plants- we used to do that for weddings and birthdays. And I would love- LOVE- to get, say, a clipping from my grandma's rose bush for Christmas, instead of some random sweatshirt she picked up at Target or whatever. In fact, I even told my OTHER (worse gift-choosing) grandma that all I ever want for Christmas from her was a jar of her homemade pickles.
So canned/homemade goods = also great gifts!
I feel shy saying so, but I don't like the idea. Because! Giving a plant is giving someone something they have to take care of. And I generally don't like to do that to someone. Also, I got three plants as gifts after my first baby was born, and it seemed like ONE MORE THING ON MY PLATE, you know? I was really grateful for the thought, but I had to find a place for them, and water them, and then the cats knocked one over and there was wet dirt all over the carpet and I was sobbing.
My point is that this memory lingers! And affects the way I feel about giving plants as gifts. Also, a lot of people in our area give teachers plants as gifts, and I start thinking, "What are the teachers going to do with all these incoming plants, year after year?"
Swistle! Do not feel shy! I can see your point! Wet dirt on carpet=terrible. Perhaps giving a cactus (the non-painful kind) would be a little less care-intensive. Or maybe people who receive plants as gifts who have no use/room for a plant, should go ahead and fib and say the plant got "the strangest disease!" and not feel bad about slipping it into the compost heap. Because then, um, everybody benefits. Including mother earth!
I love the idea of plants, especially if they are on the small-scale. I have two in my kitchen and they don't seem difficult to care for. However, I did receive a birthday gift one year and it was this ginormous plant...what a pain! I love plants but I hated this plant and was secretly glad when it died. I love the idea of homemade jams or pickles or anything like that...but, I love homemade-simple gift giving and hate that we have gone so commercialized in our ideas these days!
I like the idea of giving a plant to someone I know well enough to know they would appreciate it. I would hate receiving one. I'm with swistle. Plus I cannot keep them alive and then I have horrible guilt when they die. And most people who have met me more than once know this, so if I did get a plant, I would have to think the person didn't put much thought into it.
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