Eco-friendly Christmas gift ideas: give plants for the garden!

A few tips for finding the most suitable plant

Giving a giant Sequoia tree to your brother who only has a tiny urban garden is certainly not a good idea. Indeed, a plant can be a wonderful gift that ticks all the boxes for ethics, eco-responsibility and sustainability… Provided you choose a plant suited to the constraints of the person you’re giving it to.

To begin with, you need to take into account the space where the plant will be grown. Logically, in a small garden, on a balcony or a terrace, opt for plants with a small footprint, whose height and spread stay within reasonable mature dimensions. Thus, at Promesse de fleurs, the mature height and spread are listed for every perennial, bush or tree.

If the recipient of an outdoor plant only has a balcony or terrace, only choose plants that can adapt to container culture. Some, due to their taproot or very deep root system, won’t be very comfortable in a constrained space.

Also try to find out about the nature of the soil, which can be important for some plants. For example, plants that prefer acidic soils will need a supply of heather soil to grow well.

Finally, climatic conditions are a key factor to consider. You won’t offer the same plants to your godfather who lives on the Mediterranean coast and to your godmother in Lille! It is therefore essential to take into account the hardiness of the plants offered, noting that the most frost-tender can be grown in pots and overwintered, provided you have a non-heated conservatory or a winter garden (or, failing that, a bright and cool room).

At Promesse de fleurs, we offer selections based on precise themes: for example, shrubs by soil type or by climate type, shrubs for small gardens, the shrubs for pots, the exotic shrubs, the Mediterranean shrubs, but also the Mediterranean perennials, the perennials for pots…

Giving a tree or a shrub for Christmas—a symbolic gesture

There are a thousand and one reasons for giving a tree or bush to a loved one. It is, indeed, a living and highly symbolic gift that endures over time. We give a tree or bush to someone who will see it grow, flower, bear fruit, change colour, shed its leaves… but it is also offered to future generations. Thus, an olive tree, an oak, a chestnut tree, a cedar or a sequoia can live for hundreds, even thousands of years.

Giving a Paulownia, a chestnut tree, an olive tree or a cedar, is to inscribe a gift in time</caption]

A tree or bush is also a symbol of the passage of time, of seasons that follow one another. A tree is a spatio-temporal landmark, at once a continual renewal and a look to the future.

A tree is a key feature in a garden, around which people can gather and share, under which one can rest in the shade, and whose colourful flowering and nourishing fruiting will become a focal point in the garden.

Finally, a tree is above all an essential element for the preservation of the environment, for the fight against climate change and against soil erosion. In this regard, the magnificent Paulownia is exemplary. Beyond the beauty of its foliage and its pink-to-mauve flowering, it is an asset for our planet. I invite you to read our two articles on this extraordinary tree: “The Paulownia: tree of the future and an asset for permaculture?” and “Discover the Paulownia, the champion CO2 storage tree”.

An oak is, therefore, a symbol of life, capable of sheltering and feeding wildlife as useful as garden birds, insects, and a few mammals…

Further reading:

• 10 good reasons to plant a tree
• Planting trees and bushes: what does the law say?
• Trees for all seasons

Growing Christmas treats

To delight a loved one who enjoys the culinary delights of the table alongside those of nature, it may be wise to offer a fruit tree or simply a bush bearing small fruits. And, depending on the region where your loved one lives, there is a wide choice. One can thus choose a citrus (lemon tree, orange tree, mandarin tree, kumquat, bergamot tree, finger lime…) always highly valued for its fragrant flowering and its tangy fruits.

The gift of an original and exotic fruit tree allows for gustatory discoveries. Thus, the Goji berry bush (Lycium barbarum) which produces goji berries, the honeyberry bush or edible honeysuckle (Lonicera kamtschatica) which bears delicious May berries, the kiwifruit (kiwifruit) with small fruits that can be eaten with the skin, or the pawpaw tree (Asimina) whose fruits have a flavour that ranges between banana and mango.

For an eco-friendly and tasty Christmas, offer a fruit tree such as the Goji berry bush, the kumquat, the kiwifruit, the honeyberry bush or the pawpaw tree

Others will prefer a more traditional fruit tree, and in particular an old or local variety, a hallmark of productivity and robustness, or small-fruit bushes, always highly productive such as raspberries or brambles.

Lovely colourful plants to brighten your garden in winter

In winter, a garden, balcony or terrace can look rather sad, especially in comparison with the interior which overflows during the festive season with light, warmth, laughter, wide-eyed little ones in front of the tree, and presents… Thus, to stay in the festive mood and brighten the outdoors, you can offer a bush or a perennial that will bring colour through its flowers, foliage or berries.

Among perennials, hellebores are essential, especially since they will bloom for many years around Christmas. This is why they are nicknamed the Christmas roses. There are a multitude of varieties with flowers in white, pink, mauve, purple, sometimes variegated or bi-coloured. The winter heathers (Erica) are not to be outdone, just as the Cyclamen coum.

The charming hellebores flower in winter

Côté arbustes, certains offrent aussi de magnifiques floraisons au cœur de l’hiver : la viorne d’hiver (Viburnum bodnantense), le daphné odorant (Daphne odora), le laurier-tin (Viburnum tinus), le mahonia, l’arbousier (Arbutus), le cognassier du Japon (Chaenomeles)… not forgetting the wonderful and so refined camellias.

Berry bushes such as Callicarpa, Cotoneaster or Symphoricarpos are also interesting gift options for a colourful Christmas.

Cacti and succulents for budding gardeners

Some people love nature, but don’t necessarily have the knowledge, the time or the ability to look after plants. Others are so forgetful that they forget to water, others admit they don’t have a green thumb (even if one might doubt that “fault”!), while others prefer to spend their free time on more cultural or sporting pursuits. In short, if you want to offer a plant that is easy to look after, that resists drought as well as cold, and that requires almost no maintenance, choose from succulent plants, drought-tolerant perennials or Mediterranean perennials. These are ideal for forgetful people, beginner gardeners, those who don’t know how to go about it, or those who enjoy watching a plant thrive with little effort!

The perennial ice plants (Delosperma) burst with a thousand colours, agaves and mangaves lend an exotic note to any garden, the sedums (Sedum) and sempervivums (Sempervivum) prove hardy in all climates…

Succulent plants are the perfect Christmas gifts for budding gardeners

Seeds and bulbs for the coming months

Less attractive at first glance, but still a promise of (beautiful) flowers or delicious vegetables or herbs, bulbs and seeds are also nice gifts to give at Christmas. They are also particularly suited to small budgets!

Don’t hesitate to multiply varieties of summer bulbs, which will be planted in spring, or the spring bulbs, (which will be planted in autumn and therefore kept in a dry, dark, cool but frost-free room), to create colourful borders.

To gift bulbs, go for cute little handmade packages, using, for example, kraft paper and coloured twine. And for vegetable seeds, herb seeds or flower seeds, don’t hesitate to invest in small vials or fabric or tulle pouches.