Gardening is a hobby best shared with friends. Not to say that there’s no benefit to being alone in the garden—I think most gardeners would confess to loving the solitude that time in the garden can offer. But in the end, what would gardening be without a friend to visit with while you cut dahlia bouquets, an acquaintance on whose porch you anonymously leave a pile of zucchini (August 8 is National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day, in case you’re wondering!), or a neighbor to commiserate with over the slug infestation that keeps eating your ripe strawberries? If shopping for a fellow gardener is on your Christmas list this month, here are a few suggestions of gardening gifts to share with a friend.

First, just because we’re getting into the gray time of year doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy color outside. More than other years, this winter isn’t shaping up to be very green, since many of the lawns that normally green up in fall went right from warm, dry weather in October to cold winter conditions in November. If you want to bring some outdoor color to a friend, hellebores are perfect winter bloomers for a shady or partial sunny spot in the garden. Different varieties bloom at different times of the season, starting as early as December and lasting into late April.

Hellebores come in a variety of colors, mainly shades of red, pink, and white. One of my favorites is ‘Ice N’ Roses Red,’ with large, deep red flowers to brighten up gray winter days. ‘Pink Frost’ is another reliable variety with dusky-pink blooms. Since hellebores are also evergreen, the plants look nice in the garden year-round, which can’t be said for a lot of other shade plants like hostas or astilbe. At Vander Giessen’s, we carry our widest selection of hellebores this time of year, so stop in to browse our selection.

Second, the work of gardening is made more enjoyable with the right tools, so the gardener in your life might appreciate a new tool to add to their arsenal for aiding with planting, pruning, or other maintenance around the yard. Consider in particular those new gardeners who have joined the hobby in the last few years—a good hand pruner, comfortable yet durable pair of nitrile gloves, or even a kneeling pad may be just the thing they need to have more fun in the garden.

Although I always have a pair of Felco pruners on my hip when I’m working around the garden center or in my own yard, one tool I’ve found to be indispensable when working with clipping spent flowers off annuals is a pair of Deadheads, a small snips that fits in your palm and makes quick work of doing its namesake: deadheading. Inexpensive but incredibly useful, Deadheads make a great stocking stuffer–check out the various colors we have in stock year-round for a perfect gift!

And if you’re looking for a tool that does a little bit of everything around the garden, check out a hori-hori knife, brought to American gardens from Japan. ‘Hori’ means ‘to dig’ in Japanese, and a hori-hori knife is designed to do just that—and more. With a slightly cupped, highly sharpened blade that has deep serrations on one side, a hori-hori knife can be used to dig, saw through roots, cut garden twine, and divide perennials. Some models even have measuring marks on the blade for planting bulbs. Truly, hori-hori knives are a tool that can do a little bit of everything.

Finally, why not put together a gift package of a few of your favorite garden fertilizers or insect- or disease-control products for a fellow gardener? Admittedly, a tub of fertilizer seems like the new-socks-and-underwear gift of the gardening world, but just as we all would grudgingly admit as kids that new socks did feel nice, a package of your go-to gardening products might be just what a fellow gardener needs to experience the kind of success you enjoy around the yard.

Soon, we’ll be looking ahead to a new season in the garden, but before we flip the calendar, may you have a blessed Christmas spent with family and friends.