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Art in the garden can function in many ways. One way is by creating a focal point or dominance. The Henry Moore’s at the New York Botanical Garden were an incredible example of this. Besides how a piece will function it’s also important to remember the proper scale of art to be effective in a space. The scale of these pieces were perfect with the vast scale of the gardens. (photo) See more about art in the garden in my book The Well-Designed Mixed Garden.

I was moved to tears when long time friend and fellow gardener/artist, Janet George-Ward, surprised me with her hand crafted star garden ornament whose colors reflect the colors used in my garden and home. The card that accompanied the carefully packed box reads “When I was doing this new simple design, I thought of you—oh, dear! Not the simple aspect but my visualization of where this design would hang. I see it in a garden, hanging from a tree so that it swings with the breeze. As it swings and turns, the iridescent side shows shimmers of color and the mirror side reflects the garden. This is not a Christmas gift but rather a gift of friendship that happens to be sent during this holy season”. Her visualization comes to life, as shared here, with the star hanging outside my kitchen window in a large Japanese maple. May your spirit be touched by the simple gifts of friendship this season. (Janet George Ward is an outstanding artist who works in a variety of media for both garden and home—this image is of a stained glass window she made for our kitchen. She can be reached at [email protected])

Some of you asked what else I enjoyed at NYBG during my visit and I have to say one of my favorite areas is the Ladies Border. Both the Perennial Garden and the Ladies Border have been designed and overseen by the talented garden designer Lynden Miller since 1987. It seems anything Lynden touches I adore including the Conservatory Garden in Central Park and Bryant Park. A particularly striking combination in the Ladies Border was between golden Mexican-orange blossom (Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’) and David viburnum (Viburnum davidii). (photo) Important to note is that the Ladies Border is south facing and protected, and features half-hardy plants not normally grown outdoors in New York. The garden is hardiness zone 6a and 6b. The Choisya is zones 8-10 and the Viburnum is zones 7b to 9. It appears zone-denial is working in this case.

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the New York Botanical Garden with close friend and fellow author, Denise Adams. It was a blustery day but my spirits were lifted when I saw numerous plants,  that I feature in my new book 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants. They were shining through the cold and stealing the show particularly in the perennial garden. With frozen fingers, down on my knees, I wrestled with my camera to get just the right angle on a combination featuring ‘Color Guard’ yucca (Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’)(photo). I hope you will enjoy the visual—of the yucca that is! Also creating a focal point in another border was the beautiful native, rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) (photo).  Other high-impact, low-care plants such as various sedges (Carex sp.) and hellebores were also looking very fine. We decided to forgo the lines at the Christmas train exhibit and headed around the gardens to enjoy the Henry Moore’s.  Along the way we oohed and aahed  the breathtaking  bark of  massive tanyosho pines (Pinus densiflora ‘Umbraculifera’) as well as yet another high impact plant, paperbark maple (Acer griseum)(photo). What a great day! Be sure to get out and enjoy the peace, and joy, of the winter garden.

It’s happened to me! People have given my garden design/consulting services as a present. Of course I’m partial but what a great and unique idea!! (Click here to send me an email)  Besides hiring the services of a designer, you could hire a maintenance company for so many hours to help a friend get their garden into shape in 2009. Other upscale gift ideas include commissioning an artist to do a one-of-a-kind piece of art for the garden. What about in copper or glass? Two very talented artists I’ve worked with for pieces for my gardens and clients gardens are Renate Burgyan Fackler (Bronze Sculpture) www.chrysalissculpturestudio.com and Jacob Stout (Glass) www.jacobstout.com. Jacob does some amazing pieces that gardeners would appreciate for their homes as well (see photos ).

In response to my blogs on gardener’s gifts I was asked about suggestions for gifts for inside the home that gardeners would love. Some of my favorite garden/ “natural world” inspired things are works by artists Robert Held www.robertheld.com Check out his California poppy series—one of these vases adds amazing energy to a lit cabinet in our kitchen. On my wish list this Christmas is a BOBtanical by Bob and Laurie Kliss—these “drop-dead” gorgeous and quirky glass pieces are a must for every garden-lover www.klissglass.com . I’ve been admiring them for several years. Also something I eventually want for our home is one of the autumn or winter nature paintings by Laura R. Joseph www.ljosephart.com . Her work is full of emotion and passion for nature—something shared by gardeners.

There are so many fun and creative holiday gifts you can give to the gardener in your life. Of course we gardeners love plants but then there are also all the tools we use, the beautiful containers we adore, the books we read, the lotions we need for our working hands and ailing nails, and what about art supplies—that’s right—art supplies to keep our creative juices flowing over the long winter months. Here are some gift ideas from the “Queen of Deadheading” that are sure to please your favorite gardener. (Note fellow gardeners: Feel free to forward this information to your family and friends to avoid those unwanted non-gardening gifts!)

Plants: Buy gift certificates to local garden centers or go on-line to mail order from specialty nurseries. Wonderful and often unusual plants can be found at Klehm’s Song Sparrow Nursery  www.songsparrow.com , Heronswood Nursery  www.heronswood.com , and  Wayside Gardens www.waysidegardens.com

Tools: Stainless Steel Red Handled Trowels are fantastic and relatively obscure so probably a safe gift for the gardener who has everything. www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com B & B also carry another favorite of mine: Garden Knife with Sheath.(see photo in my blog on Pruning for Winter)

Supplies: Looking for all things ORGANIC? Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply is where I turn for safe pest control but they carry a bit of everything including organic seed. They are offering beautiful gift cards with hand written messages-cool! www.GrowOrganic.com

Garden Accessories: Birdbaths, birdfeeders and bobbles…Oh my! Bobbles add color and charm to any scene (photo) check out great bobbles, gardening tree ornaments, and accessories at www.gardenartisans.com and www.SmithandHawken.com .  Or how about a beautiful accent light fixture made out of copper that looks like a wildflower? See photo on page 131 from my book The Well-Designed Mixed Garden. Visit www.escortlighting.com

Books: I hope you will consider a gift certificate for my upcoming new book: 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants, Tough But Beautiful Plants That Anyone Can Grow. (January release) If they don’t already have Well-Tended Perennial Garden & Well-Designed Mixed Garden perhaps they deserve all three! Other titles I love are Plant Driven Design: Ogden/Springer-Ogden, Restoring American Gardens: Denise Adams, and Grasses for Livable Landscapes: Rick Darke.   Thanks to popular blog “Lilacs and Roses” for recommending one of my books as a favorite gift. Read it here.

Clothing: Look for fun and colorful garden/rain boots at most shoe stores.

Beauty Aids: My favorite for years now is Gardeners Hand Therapy Cream, by Crabtree & Evelyn.

Professional Memberships: Consider giving the gift of membership into groups such as The Perennial Plant Association www.perennialplant.org ,The American Horticultural Society www.ahs.org , or The Royal Horticultural Society in the UK www.rhs.org.uk Informative magazines accompany membership!

Art Supplies: Gardeners are artists. Help inspire their creativity and use of color by giving them a set of watercolors, colored pencils, fine-tip ink markers, or pastels. Include a book such as The Tao of Watercolor: Jeanne Carbonetti or Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor: Claudia Nice (both have nature/plant inspired examples)

Games: Garden-opoly

For Kids: Consider giving the gift of gardening to a child rather than a video game. Tool sets, Window Sill Seed Starters or Mushroom Gardens foster family interaction and an appreciation for nature and the environment. www.parkseed.com

Thanks, Smith & Hawken! Thanks to all the wonderful staff at Smith & Hawken, Easton Town Center, Columbus Ohio who loaned me the beautiful and functional gifts for my “Gifts for the Gardener You Dig” segment on NBC 41’s Daytime Columbus with Gail Hogan. I hope lots of gardeners are lucky enough to find one or two of these great gifts under the tree Christmas morning.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!