Gifts for gardeners can be tricky. Try these satisfying options.

It is Christmastime and you want me to suggest a few gardening gifts that you can give those on your list? Hmmm. I do this every year with a warning: I don’t know your gardener. Only you can know what is needed or will be appreciated.

And, I have to include the warning that gardeners can be very picky. Nonetheless, there are a few things that do come to mind this year by way of gifting. Of course, it may be late to receive things in time, so you may have to resort to a note that it will arrive before the gardening season!

Let’s start with one of those kits to make your own pots in which to start seeds and grow seedlings. This is a perfect gift in keeping with getting plastic out of gardening. Just Google “newspaper pot maker” and you will get plenty of sources. Obviously, this gift works only with gardeners who start most of their own plants from seeds.

Next up, what about a mushroom kit? What a great thing for a gardener frustrated because it is winter and growing things is difficult. Again just use the internet. You will discover these kits are all the rage and for good reason: They work. You can get any number of varieties to grow using an equal number of different systems ranging from indoors to outdoors. Find the right one for your gardener.

I am ashamed to admit but underneath the collared shirt I am currently wearing is a brown T-shirt that screams “Garden Muscle.” You may know someone who would wear such a shirt or a similar one, only outdoors in the summer. When I was a kid there were two kinds of T-shirts: sleeved and not sleeved. They were always white, but now you can buy T-shirts in all colors and with all manner of garden-related slogans. Just Google around under “funny garden T-shirts.” I have to admit, there are some clever ones out there.

Listen to the “Teaming with Microbes” podcast with Jeff Lowenfels and Jonathan White

On a more serious level, meaning moneywise, is a raised garden bed, and I don’t mean a garden with soil raised up on it. I mean one of those waist-high benches that hold soil. Look for “elevated garden beds” on the internet. There are some great ones, including some that also act like cold-frame greenhouses. If you are handy with tools you might even see one you could make yourself. Now, that would be quite a gift.

Of course, seed packets make great stocking stuffers. You can’t go wrong with sweet peas, cosmos or snap peas, but you probably know better what would be appreciated. Order yours and then print a picture unless your order arrives in time. Of course, a gift certificate to a favorite catalog or website would work even better. Consider Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds at www.rareseeds.com. Their print catalog, by the way, is always an impressive keeper and makes a separate gift.

Then there is membership to the Alaska Botanical Garden, a gift a whole family can use, though there are individual memberships as well. We have a world class institution in The Garden and supporting it will delight any gardener on your list. Besides, the benefits that come with a membership in The Alaska Botanical Garden are many, ranging from discounts at its nursery and others around town. Check it out at www.alaskabg.org.

Finally, and I know you are expecting me to hawk my own wonderful, award-winning science garden books, the one gift all gardeners will appreciate more than anything else you could give is still a few hours of help in the yard and gardens. An extra hand or two is always something a gardener can use.

Jeff’s Alaska Garden Calendar:

Alaska Botanical Garden: So much going on that I can’t list it all. From a fantastic light display to classes, go to www.alaskabg.org. It really is worth joining, folks!

Poinsettias: No drafts, slightly moist and good light.

Amaryllis: Buy them while the supply lasts.