Grow Your Own Liquorice Plant Kit (£7)
Part of a ‘Grow Your Own…' series that also features the likes of green tea, venus fly trap and wisteria bonzai, this quirky kit is a comparatively cheap stocking filler or secret Santa gift. It comes in a ‘presentation box’ complete with a plant tray and fibre growing pellet. The method is easy – just add water!
However, for anybody who seriously wants to grow liquorice or any of the mildly exotic plants covered in this range, may I suggest that a quick internet browse will save you a few quid and likely produce a much greater yield.
Garden Tool Stool (£20)
Setting off across the garden for a particular tool only to be distracted en route is one of the pleasures of pottering.
The danger with this ostensibly great gift is that everything you need – secateurs, trowel, seeds, knife, string, is close at hand – it also doubles as a stool – therefore you may never have venture too far ever again and in the process be deprived of those great moments of spontaneity and adventure.
Echinacea hook (around £6 each)
Gardeners love to hang things, be they baskets, tools or their outdoor clothes. This stylish hook, fashioned in the shape of the popular echinacea flower and finished in antique bronze, will work in the hallway, in the shed and even outside.
Set of Three Victorian Glass Bell Jar Cloches (Around £80)
If you want to bring class to your vegetable garden herein lies the answer. These are hand-blown, faithful reproductions of the original Victorian glass bell jar. These glass cloches are ornamental and practical, so can be used to protect plants from harsh weather, or simply to show your friends you’re a bit sophisticated. This set of three comes in small, medium and large.
Gardener's Hand Therapy (£16)
This is perhaps a little indulgent but then a gardener’s hands are special – especially those green fingers. After all that digging and weeding, this top-selling cream from Crabtree and Evelyn will help sooth and protect. Made of rich shea butter and fragranced with clover, lavender, sage rosemary and thyme, it sounds good enough to eat. There's a hand scrub and hand wash available too if you want to complete the set.
Havaiana Wellies (Prices start at around £45).
Havaiana flip-flops are apparently a ‘thing’ – though not in December I imagine. Those who dig the Brazilian company’s footwear may be interested in their wellies – or as they like to call them as they stick a fiver to the price, rain boots. They come in all sorts of firework brights or classic winter shades, ranging from black to super pink, in full length or mid-calf.
