A gardener's gift guide, part 1

Books

I really think there’s no present I’d rather receive than a perfectly chosen book. When my family ask what I want for birthday or Christmas, I just send them my ‘to be read’ list. The idea is that come Boxing Day, you’ll find me curled up in a corner with the dog and a stack of books, and if necessary a Do Not Disturb sign. (If you get my Sunday newsletter, you’ll know that I always include what I’m reading right now.) So the place to start a festive gift guide definitely seemed to be with books.

I’ve got two categories here - general gardening, and cut flower growing in particular. Some span both, making them extra useful. I’m also throwing in a category of beautiful non-gardening books that I would highly recommend as gifts, as I guess there’s still a few poor souls out there who don’t care for gardening. If you know your recipient well enough, please consider buying good quality second-hand books; the world’s got enough new stuff being produced out there.

Let’s get stuck in…