12 Most-Wanted Holiday Gifts: Gardening Know How's Staff Picks For 2024

Browse gift ideas recommended by the Gardening Know How team – from tried-and-tested gems to products we're coveting for our own wish lists.

Welcome to the Gardening Know How staff picks gift guide! Our team of experts has handpicked this curated selection of gardening gifts, each bringing their passion for plants and years of gardening experience to the table.

From thoughtful tools to inspire seasoned gardeners to growing kits perfect for beginners, our favorite gifts for gardeners are rooted in practicality, beauty, and a love for all things green.

Our staff has chosen items from their own wish lists – as well as products they already use and love. Let these ideas guide you to find special gifts for the green thumbs on your list.

Whether you're buying for a seasoned grower, wildlife lover, houseplant enthusiast, or first-time gardener, you'll find ideas here that celebrate the joy of nurturing nature.

If you're ready to start shopping, head over to the Gardening Know How Shop where you'll find all these gift ideas and more.

1. Bee Cups

Bee drinking from pastel bee cups

(Image credit: Bee Cups)
Recommended by
Amy Draiss
Recommended by
Amy Draiss

I absolutely love adding Bee Cups to my garden! Not only are these mini watering stations adorable, but they’re also incredibly functional.

As a gardener with a small but mighty raised bed vegetable garden and a passion for supporting local pollinators, I believe these ceramic cups are the perfect way to give back to the bees and other beneficial insects that help my garden thrive.

I’ve placed them in my flower pollinator garden, right next to the veggies, and it’s amazing to see how they attract and support these hardworking little helpers. Such a simple yet meaningful addition to any garden!

2. Self-Watering Planter

Ridge planters next to benches in garden

(Image credit: Crescent Garden)
Recommended by
Laura Walters
Recommended by
Laura Walters

I spend a lot of time away during the summer, but I still like my house to look its best, and porch pots are an easy way to boost curb appeal.

My plant options are usually quite limited, though, because I have to choose drought-tolerant varieties that can withstand several weeks without watering during the hottest part of the year. So these pots from Crescent Garden are just what I need!

The Ridge Indoor​/​Outdoor Planter in Brick gives you that classic terracotta look, but with the modern convenience of an optional TruDrop Flex Self-Watering Insert. I'm adding this pot and the self-watering insert to my Christmas wish list today!

3. Champion Hellebore

Gold Collection Champion Helleborus

(Image credit: Green Promise Farms)
Recommended by
Tonya Barnett
Recommended by
Tonya Barnett

When it comes to plants that offer early-season color, the beauty and resilience of hellebore plants is unmatched.

Belonging to the Gold Collection of hybrids, Green Promise Farms' 'Champion' Helleborus is particularly stunning. Clear white-green flowers are sure to please growers, demonstrating both hardiness and resistance to disease.

The plants' evergreen nature and dependability only further secure their value in perennial beds and borders.

4. Raised Bed Kit

Woman waters raised bed

(Image credit: Vego Garden)
Recommended by
Liz Baessler
Recommended by
Liz Baessler

When I moved into my house, I knew I wanted a vegetable garden. Then I started digging in the soil and found lots (I mean lots!) of buried trash. Broken glass, concrete blocks, wires, you name it. Not ideal for a veggie patch.

Vego's raised garden beds saved the day – and this was before we started selling them in the shop! I just thought they were neat.

I put in five of the 17” modular beds, which gave me plenty of space to grow high above the ground. They’ve seen me through two growing seasons so far, and they’re as solid and colorful as ever. (I went for the Olive Green).

I have nothing but good things to say about my Vego beds, and the same goes for my neighbors.

5. White Knight Philodendron

White Knight philodendron in White Milan Wick and Grow Pot

(Image credit: Costa Farms)
Recommended by
Mary Ellen Ellis
Recommended by
Mary Ellen Ellis

This White Knight Philodendron from Costa Farms is my favorite houseplant. Not only is it easy to care for, it’s stunning. The large leaves with white variegation are truly unique.

I like to keep mine in a large terrarium, where it almost never needs watering. But if I didn’t have a terrarium, this self-watering pot would be ideal.

6. Milkweed Seeds

Bee on common milkweed flower

(Image credit: Park Seed)
Recommended by
Bonnie Grant
Recommended by
Bonnie Grant

Milkweed is one of those low-maintenance plants perfect for almost any site in the garden. It is hardy to United States Department of Agriculture zones 3-9 and tolerates any soil.

Park Seed's Common Milkweed Seeds make a great stocking stuffer – or slip a pack into a greeting card and share the joy of growing from seed.

The lovely, lightly scented blooms brighten up the perennial bed with the added bonus of attracting Monarch butterflies. These insects are under threat due to diminished habitat and food supplies. Planting milkweed will provide them with a food source and location for their cocoons, while giving you seasons of visual enjoyment.

I haven’t had a garden without milkweed for decades and enjoy the plant’s forgiving nature and the delightful butterflies it brings into my outdoor spaces.

7. Worm Composter

Vego in-ground worm composter

(Image credit: Vego)
Recommended by
Janey Goulding
Recommended by
Janey Goulding

Something designed to generate worm compost might not sound like your traditional gifting choice. But trust me when I tell you Vego's In-Ground Worm Composter will transform your gardening from the ground up!

Just slide the composter into the earth, drop in some garden scraps and a couple of wiggly extras, and let nature take its course. Worms are highly industrious soil specialists, and this system works like a friendly food processor: no extra effort or special know-how required.

Anyone can use this, and anyone can benefit, no matter how small your gardening space. Now, if that isn’t a recipe for gardening goodness, I don’t know what is!

8. Planting Accent Map

Planting map of medium garden bed

(Image credit: Plant By Number)
Recommended by
Portrait headshot image of Allie Kerkhoff
Recommended by
Allie Kerkhoff

I just moved into a new home and I actually have my own garden for the first time in my life, and I have no idea what to do with it. I've been overwhelmed thinking about all of my options and what plants will work best in my space.

Plant by Number's accent maps are perfect because they take the guesswork out of gardening. Just choose your size and they'll send you the layout and a list of optimal plants for both the layout and your zone, which gives you the freedom to choose which plants you want but sets you up for success when planting them.

I can't wait to use one of these maps in my new garden!

9. Hori Hori Knife

Gardener harvests bok choy with hori hori knife

(Image credit: Vego)
Recommended by
Amy Grant
Recommended by
Amy Grant

I’ve long championed the hori hori as my favorite garden tool, frankly thinking it couldn’t get any better. Until now. Vego Garden’s 10 in 1 Hori Hori Knife Kit makes my simple hori hori look like a child’s toy.

This hori hori gives you the tools to do so much more than digging and weeding. It has both a serrated and flat blade with a shovel-like tip, perfect for digging up bulbs or produce but that’s not all. Cleverly designed within the body of the hori hori are wrenches suited for bolts with sizes ranging from 8-4mm. It also has a nail puller and a ruler that covers both Metric and Imperial sizing. No more scrabbling for a tool when your wheelbarrow bolts become loose!

Last but not least, it has a bottle opener. One of the most important tools for a gardener after a hot, sweaty day in the sun. Cheers!

10. Amaryllis

Warmest Welcome Minerva Amaryllis Centerpiece

(Image credit: Jackson & Perkins)
Recommended by
Susan Albert
Recommended by
Susan Albert

My favorite indulgence at Christmas is growing amaryllis bulbs. I simply love Jackson & Perkins' Triple Mixed Amaryllis Flower, just one of the brand's stunning offerings this holiday season.

They come planted and ready, all you have to do is place the container in a warm, sunny spot and water it when it gets dry. In six to eight weeks you will have a gorgeous centerpiece!

The blooms are huge and bright red and white. When the flowers fade, you can keep the plant inside till the weather warms, then move it outside for the summer. Then bring the plant back in at the end of summer, and start the cycle all over again!

11. Mason Jar Herb Growing Kit

Mason jar herb kit

(Image credit: Coco & Seed)
Recommended by
Senior Editor Melanie Griffiths in a Cotswolds garden
Recommended by
Melanie Griffiths

This Christmas, I will treat foodie friends to an indoor herb growing kit, so they can experience the joy of cultivating aromatic herbs on their kitchen windowsill.

Coco & Seed's Mason Jar Herb Garden Soil Kit is such a delightful gift, containing everything needed to start growing, including a mason jar, herb seeds – choose from basil, mint, cilantro, thyme, or sage – potting soil, an engraved bamboo plant label, pebbles, activated carbon, cheesecloth, and instructions.

Growing herbs indoors makes them easily accessible for harvesting – simply snip off the leaves and add to almost any dish. Herbs also add an enticing fragrance to the kitchen, offering inspiration to home cooks.

12. Baltic Blue Pothos

Baltic Blue pothos in self-watering pot

(Image credit: Costa Farms)
Recommended by
Teo Spengler
Recommended by
Teo Spengler

It's no secret: pothos is my very favorite type of houseplant. I have five of them, some climbing, others cascading, and they stay happy, healthy, and vital with minimal effort.

These are hard-to-kill plants, so easy care that I gifted some when my then-teen-age daughter went off to college. A little sunlight, a little water, and bingo!

This holiday season, I've got my eye on Costa Farms' Trending Tropicals Baltic Blue Pothos in a Self-Watering Planter. Its green-blue leaves feature stunning monstera-like cuts in the side.

I have learned that even fancy new pothos cultivars don't require any different treatment than the species variety, so load up on the ones you like best and sit back and enjoy.

More Hand-Picked Gift Guides

This article features products available from third-party vendors on the Gardening Know How Shop.

Melanie Griffiths
Senior Editor

Melanie is an experienced gardener and has worked in homes and gardens media for over 20 years. She previously served as Editor on Period Living magazine, and worked for Homes & Gardens, Gardening Etc, Real Homes, and Homebuilding & Renovating. Melanie has spent the last few years transforming her own garden, which is constantly evolving as a work in progress. She is also a passionate organic home grower, having experimented with almost every type of vegetable at some point. In her home, Melanie tends to an extensive houseplant collection and is particularly fond of orchids.

With contributions from