I thought he was kidding when he called and asked, "If you were going to wear overalls, what size would they be?"

It was my brother-in-law, Ken, who is Santa himself during the holiday season, which starts in September for him.

I thought it was one of those questions such as, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?"

But sure enough, on Christmas morning I opened a pair of gardening overalls. Green, of course. With knee pad inserts and lots of pockets. They also have zippers so they can become overall shorts.

I suppose you expect to see a picture of me in them to accompany this blog post.

Not a chance.

Like most useful clothing items, they are not necessarily attractive.

It appears that my gift came from the Duluth Trading Co. and are called Rosie's Work Overalls -- for those of you who consider me a fashion trendsetter who must be followed.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden gifts
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Robert Hamilton

This is the kind of gardening paperwork I can get my head around!

And it is not the kind with graph paper and square-foot-to-square-inch conversions. Not a catalog order or a plant list.

Botanical Paperworks makes plantable paper products embedded with North American wildflower seeds. Everything from note cards and calendars to wine bottle gift tags; invitations and business cards.

In addition, no trees were sacrificed to make this paper. It is all recycled fiber.

To order, and for instructions on how to make your paper bloom, visit botanicalpaperworks.com

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden gifts
        

Nobody was happier than I was to open my Christmas presents last year and find a soil knife and a pair of Felco pruners.

And they say gardeners are hard to buy for....

It is that time of year again when we offer our suggestions for what to purchase the gardener in your life.

This year, we turn to our friends at Garden Rant, where contributing blogger Susan Harris has done her retail homework and is making a list and checking it twice.

Among her suggestions? Hand tools (such as soil knives and pruners) are always a hit, as are hats, birdfeeders and weather instruments, compost bins, rain barrels and rain gauges.

Continue reading "A gardener's Christmas list" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Garden gifts
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Amy Davis

Mother's Day is almost upon us and in the past my Mother's Day gift was always the same: 6 tomato plants and the time away from my young children to plant them.

The tomato plants. Not the children.

The children are grown now, and so is the tree that hovered over my vegetable garden. My tomato crop -- heck, my whole vegetable crop -- now consists of two plants in two deck containers.

So what do I want for Mother's Day this year?

A new wheelbarrow.

Pretty sexy gift list, huh?

Continue reading "Mother's Day: Hint, hint!" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden gifts
        

Happy Valentine's Day to all the gardeners buried in snow!

With the help of my blogging friends, I will try to make this day "rosey" for your.

A big Valentine's Day kiss to Debra Lee Baldwin at Gardening Gone Wild, who managed to find hearts everywhere in the garden.

Rosemary Beck, at Content in a Cottage, found hearts everywhere she looked, too.

And my heart beats for Teresa O'Connor at Seasonal Wisdom, who does such a wonderful job of tracing the folklore of our holidays.

And to my new BBF (best blogging friend) Kerry Michaels, who writes about container gardening, for her beautiful "virtual" bouquet.

Photo courtesy of Flickr/macropoulos

Continue reading "Happy Valentine's Day" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Garden gifts