Last Minute Gifts for Northern Gardeners

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. The countdown to Christmas is approaching fast, and if you still need to buy a gift for your favorite northern gardener, don’t worry. We’ve got several easy, fun ideas for last minute gifts for the gardeners in your life.

gardening children
A gift membership in MSHS is also a gift to gardening programs we support, such as Garden in a Box and Minnesota Green.

An MSHS membership! Some folks like experiences rather than things, and for those gardeners a membership in MSHS is perfect and we’re offing $5 off memberships until Dec. 31. Memberships include tickets to the St. Paul and Minneapolis home shows, discounts on MSHS classes (our Make and Take classes are super fun and held at interesting venues around the Twin Cities), free webinars on a variety of garden topics, and discounts at more than 100 nurseries and garden centers in the Upper Midwest. Of course, a membership also includes a subscription to Northern Gardener, our award-winning, homegrown gardening magazine. Here’s the best deal about membership: You also support all of our gardening programs that introduce children to gardening, help low-income people grow gardens and spread the love of gardening in Minnesota.

Books! Several of our Northern Gardener writers are also authors, so you can find books from them both online and in your local bookstore. Our writers have books on native plants, garden design, pollinator gardening, perennials for cold climates and a guide for gardening in the North.  Most of these books have a focus on northern gardens and recommend only plants that grow well here.

blooming bulb garden
Bulb garden kits, like this one, are great last minute gifts for northern gardeners.

A really good trowel. Good tools make all the difference. So treat your favorite gardener to a really good trowel or, if you want to go all out, a high-end hand pruner. Having one of these beautiful tools makes digging and pruning a joy. The good news for givers of last minute gifts: You can probably find them at a hardware store.

A blooming plant. Winter can be long here, and for many gardeners something that blooms is a long-lasting gift. We like amaryllis bulbs, but any houseplant or bulb that blooms is a good choice. Check local garden centers for options for last minute gifts. This late in the season, you may even find some blooming plants on sale.

That’s one benefit of being a last minute gift giver!