PURCHASE a poinsettia for family, friends, or yourself, because a gardener's Christmas is not complete without traditional poinsettias, or beautifully perfumed Christmas lilies.
Poinsettias are really easy to care for and can be planted into the garden in a frost-free location, once they outgrow their pots.
Pop into your local nursery, garden centre or hardware store as they will have great ideas for gift giving for all gardeners - be they a beginner or have many years' experience.
Garden tools are always popular including secateurs, hedge shears, loppers, hoes, spades and garden forks.
A compost bin or worm farm is a great idea. A bench seat or a couple of fold up chairs, which allow people to relax in the garden, are also a practical solution.
Packets of seeds, liquid fertilisers, a rain gauge, cutting powder, seed raising kits, solar garden lights, pots and decorative containers and garden ornaments will all be much appreciated on Christmas Day.
For something larger, look at garden statues, garden arches and obelisks, or practical power tools such as hedge trimmers, line trimmers, blower vacuums and lawn edgers.
Ho, ho, hibiscus
HIBISCUS are starting to bloom in gardens now and these subtropical plants just love a warm, sunny location, but must have a well-drained soil.
Many of the smaller growing varieties can be grown in containers, while taller ones are effective for screening and hedging.
Hibiscus come in a rainbow of colours from white, cream, lemon, yellow, gold, bronze, orange, pink, crimson, red, mauve and grey colours, many with large single flowers and overlapping petals and other full frilly double flowers.
Some of the most unusual are the lavender grey flowers such as Isobel beard, in dark lavender with a red eye. It is a prolific flowerer and at 1-2m high is a great tub specimen.
Lady Adele is also an unusual colour, in a mauve grey with a pink edge to the petals and again is suitable for growing in containers.
Individual hibiscus flowers usually only last for one day, but once the bush is established they are covered in blooms for much of summer and autumn.
Where possible, choose a site away from strong winds, otherwise staking is often necessary as the hibiscus root system is a fibrous one that is not really vigorous.
Hibiscus need regular feeding over the warmer months with a complete fertiliser that contains trace elements. Always apply at the recommended rate around the drip line to a moist soil and water-in well to avoid burning.
