Every year for the holidays, we go all-out in our Gift Shop to bring you fabulous finds for everyone on your list. Whether you're shopping for a green thumb gardener or a houseplant lover, a home cook or a dine-out dynamo, an outdoorsy adventurer or a lover of the great indoors, we've got you covered! See if you recognize anyone on your list among the descriptions below, then keep reading to see a few of our recommendations for what to give them.
For the Gardener Who Has Everything...
Chances are that if you're reading this list, you either are this person or you know someone who is. They love to garden, but they seem to have it all. Short of bending space and time to expand the bounds of their garden or give them more hours to spend there, it can be hard to know what to give a gardener this time of year, but we have a few tried and true gift ideas to help you out.
Invest in Their Garden
You might be thinking to yourself that a dormant perennial in a pot isn't exactly the most impressive looking gift to wrap and put under the tree — and you would probably be right — but there are plenty of plants that make a fantastic showing for the holidays. Every garden could use more winter-interest, and plants that are evergreen, bloom in the winter, or boast colorful bark and stems solve the issue of handing someone an "empty" pot this time of year.
Garden accents like rain chains or coir mats are also great gifts that you don't have to keep alive until gifting day. And if you know a gardener particularly interested in supporting local wildlife, bird houses, hummingbird feeders, and bee hotels offer food and protection for our most frequent garden visitors while beautifying our gardens.
Save Them Time & Effort
Gardening is full of joy, but there are some garden to-dos that aren't exactly what most people would call fun. Having the right tools for the job can make these tasks easier and faster so that gardeners can get back to the parts of gardening that fulfill them most. Not too long ago, our staff put together a list of their favorite tools from the multi-functional Hori Hori knife to our favorite water wand, but there are plenty of great options for gifting: A Dandelion Weeder is a gardener's best friend when it comes to pulling out those tough-to-pull weeds with breakable taproots, and there's no better broom than the functional-yet-beautiful Better Broom for getting those pesky remaining fall leaves off of your patio or porch. (It even works on snow!) A garden kneeler is another great idea to save a formerly spritely gardener's knees when working close to the ground.
Inspire Them
Sometimes gardeners — like painters — have looked at their own canvas for too long and need a set of fresh eyes to help them envision what could be. Other times, new homeowners could use a bit of assistance wrapping their heads around their new landscape. We have the perfect gift for all of the above! A gift certificate for a 90-minute Garden Coaching Session is a great way to help the gardener on your list breathe new life into their landscape with the help of a professional to bounce ideas off of and problem solve alongside. Our landscape contractor and designer Bill Clodfelter enhances and transforms landscapes on a daily basis, and is full of great ideas to help home gardeners get the most out of their space. And our lead kitchen gardener, Cynthia DuVal, brings a lifetime of garden experience and an educational background in art and design to her kitchen garden-specific sessions — a new addition for 2023! She is perfectly poised to help out early-stage kitchen gardeners with planning and to offer advice on topics like soil amendments and winter pruning in advance of planting, watering, maintaining, and harvesting the fruits of their labor in the year to come.
Treat Them to a Shopping Spree
New for 2023! If you'd rather let the home gardener in your life pick out something for themselves, why not treat them to the ultimate day at the Farm with our new Cornell Farm VIP Experience? As our guests of honor, they will start the day with a reservation at the Cafe for a delicious brunch in our family’s Farmhouse, followed up by a stroll around the Nursery with a dedicated personal shopper who will happily assist them in finding and selecting the best plants for their garden — all paid for ahead of time.
The base package includes a $100 Cafe gift card, a brunch reservation for up to four guests, a $300 Nursery gift card, and one hour of personal shopping time, but we’d be more than happy to put together a custom package for that special someone. Simply inquire about a custom package using the scheduling form on the product detail page in our online shop.
For the Houseplant Parent...
Not all heroes wear capes, and not all plant lovers have backyards. For those that don't, there's the big wide world of houseplants! If you're shopping for someone who does more gardening indoors than out, a visit to our greenhouse just might be in order this holiday season.
Expand Their Collection
Houseplant parents are collectors at heart, which is why the interiors of many of our homes could easily be mistaken for some far-off jungle. But no matter how full our collections may seem, there's always room to squeeze in just one more plant. If you're not sure where to start, our staff are always happy to help you pick out the perfect houseplant, whether you're shopping for someone who likes flower power, needs to keep things pet-friendly, or who only has space to make room for something truly rare and unusual. And for those who are truly strapped for space, consider a decorative terrarium with easy-care air plants that could easily sit on a coffee table! (Alternately, we have all the supplies you need to put together a truly awe-inspiring terrarium kit for them to exercise their creative muscles and create their very own miniature world.)
Help Out Their Hobby
If you know someone whose houseplant collection has expanded well past their windowsill and away from natural light, you can help them conquer even more territory for growing plants — or lend a lifeline to the ones that are already there — with indoor grow-light solutions. Or shine some metaphorical light on their expanding hobby with a book on houseplant care or a journal for keeping notes on their collection. If your houseplant lover has a penchant for over- or under- watering their plants, a moisture meter is another handy tool to help them know just when to water their prized plants. Pair it with a "plant lover" pin or pair of begonia-inspired leaf earrings to help them show off their houseplant hobby wherever they go!
For the Creature of Comfort...
We don't blame anyone for wanting to stay home in the winter, especially when venturing out means contending with our cold and rainy weather here in the Pacific Northwest. For those that would rather not brave the elements, there's nothing like a few simple creature comforts to help cultivate their own private oasis at home.
Help Them Get Cozy
It just takes a few warmly scented candles to totally transform the ambience of a room and create a more inviting escape. Whether you're shopping for someone who prefers to smell more like flowers or a forest, we offer candles and environmental fragrance diffusers in a range of scents, as well as lotions and soaps to keep those comforting fragrances close at hand — literally! And if you're playing the role of Secret Santa for someone who could use a bit of extra help unwinding, a bath bomb is another great way to help them ease into relaxation mode before settling in with a good book or a beautiful jigsaw puzzle.
Make Their House a Home
A home should be a reflection of the person that lives there. If you're shopping for someone just getting settled in a new space, why not help them personalize it with crystals to clear the energy or a unique botanical tea towel printed with a beautiful design they're sure to love? No matter how long they've lived in a space or how many beloved trinkets they keep on their shelves, a hand-painted glass ornament has all the makings of a new heirloom that's sure to remind them of you whenever they go to pull down the boxes of holiday decorations from the attic next year.
For the Foodie...
Maybe it's just us, but if you also have a person in your life that has a habit of making plans for their next meal before they've cleaned the plate they're working on, we have plenty of gifts to help them in their pursuit of the ultimate culinary experience.
Delight Their Palette
A trip to our Cafe's espresso bar is all it takes to get hooked on our locally-sourced, organic coffee beans from our friends at Sleepy Monk Roasters of Cannon Beach. But don't worry, we offer individual bags of some of our most popular roasts that you can take home to the coffee connoisseur in your life — including decaf — as well as lovely mugs for them to put their delicious new brew into.
This year, we're also excited to offer many other locally-sourced treats for the foodie in your life, including Wildwood Chocolates and infused olive oils and vinegars from Durant Vineyard and Olive Mill.
Give Them a Taste of Home
You can't get more local than your own backyard, and as gardeners, we're firm believers that nothing beats the taste of home-grown. We have a wonderful selection of vegetable gardening books to help the chef in your life produce a bountiful harvest of fresh produce to use in their cooking. Plus, look for cookbooks to help them transform those ingredients into a meal to remember. Or, if your home cook is more into crafting their own recipes than following along with someone else's, why not give a repository for a few of the recipes they dream up in the form of a beautifully-bound journal?
For the Outdoor Adventurer...
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we're fortunate to enjoy more than our fair share of natural splendor, and a bounty that comes straight from our forests! If you're shopping for someone who loves where they live as much as we do, we have some great ways to help them tap into the great outdoors all around us.
Help Them Forage
There's always something new to be discovered in your own backyard. Help foster a sense of adventure at home with a guide to foraging in the Pacific Northwest, whether they're in search of edible berries, medicinal roots, or mushrooms harvested from the forest floor. (For the avid mushroom hunter, we also have plenty of fun, fungi-inspired decorative touches they're sure to love, including adorable felt creations.) Even if this person on your list isn't into eating what they find, you can still help them connect with the wildlife and wildflowers they encounter with a handy field guide specific to our region.
Encourage Their Exploration
If the outdoorsy person on your list is into hiking and camping, you can help them get the most out of their next expedition with a cozy blanket to wrap around their shoulders around the campfire. And because any trek through nature can get a bit dirty, the gift of a handcrafted soap is just the thing to help them clean up after their camping trip.
For the Curious Young Mind...
If you're shopping for someone on the younger end of the age spectrum this holiday season, you'll definitely want to check out our "Kids' Corner" for an assortment of gifts sure to offer hours of delight, and perhaps even inspire the next generation of gardeners.
Engage Their Brain
Our selection of garden- and plant-themed kids' books and puzzles provide families with the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time together while learning and problem solving. And for more hands-on experience, we not only offer the ever-popular slime, but art materials like colored pencils and sketchbooks to help budding horticulturalists create their first botanical illustrations.
Let Them Play
Kids' brains benefit from unstructured play time, too! We have a wide selection of super-cute felt animals they will love playing with. And because a little dirt never hurt, why not offer your aspiring botanist a selection of gardening tools made for little hands? If you're looking to plant seeds with the little one on your list, look for options that grow quickly and easily — like nasturtiums, radishes, and sprouts — so they can watch the progress more easily.
For Almost Anyone...
We know the pressure of picking out the perfect gift can be a lot, but sometimes the best gift is simply letting someone pick something out for themselves.
Let Them Treat Themselves
A Nursery gift card is a convenient way to let the gardener in your life pick out exactly what they want, when they want it. And it's not just plants! Anything on this list — and plenty of things that aren't — can be purchased with a gift card, including our wide selection of gifts, pottery, garden supplies, and decor, as well as our planting and delivery services. The options are endless.
And although Nursery and Cafe gift cards aren't interchangeable, you can always bundle a Cafe gift card with one for the Nursery to allow that special someone on your list to enjoy a sit-down brunch — or series of latte-and-pastry pick-me-ups — in our Family's farmhouse. And any leftover funds can go towards a take-home bag of Sleepy Monk organic coffee beans to enjoy at a later date.
Plus, we have a lovely variety of thoughtful cards and stationary that you can use to pen a message that will make your gift all the more heartfelt.
No matter who you're shopping for, we hope you've found some useful inspiration in this year's holiday gift guide. Our staff are always happy to assist you in tracking down any of the items mentioned on this list or making your final selections. Many of the seasonal items mentioned in this guide aren't available online, so we invite you to come look around in person to see what speaks to you!
