Holiday gifts for gardeners brighten dark days

HOW CAN it already be time to think about gifts again? At least it's fun to buy for the gardener on your list — and possibly for yourself this holiday season. From air plants to olive wood, the trend toward nature-inspired items is sure to delight anyone thirsting for the out-of-doors during the dark season.

You can feather a friend's nest at Three Birds Home and Gifts, a stylish new shop on Queen Anne Hill. Big, comfy pillows from Design Legacy are boldly printed with a single raven, owl or flowers in watercolor shades ($161.50). The bird-and-botanical theme continues on square, hand-painted lacquer trays by Rockflowerpaper ($77), as pretty and useful for setting an outdoor table next summer as for indoor use this winter.

The Victorian terrarium craze is newly resurrected, and these artfully contained little worlds come in all sizes and shapes at Ravenna Gardens. "We're loving glass at Ravenna these days," says owner Gillian Mathews. Hanging glass ornaments ($9.95) filled with air plants, moss and twigs convert to tiny tabletop terrariums after the holidays by simply removing the top. The larger terrariums ($28 to $200, depending on size) contain a mix of soil, gravel, rocks, stone, ferns and moss. Mathews says terrariums are a huge hit with the younger generation, perhaps because they're so easy to care for. Place terrariums in bright, indirect light, mist once a week, water rarely, and enjoy this fresh take on houseplants.

Consider the Shrew from Pro Gardener Tools for the practical gardener on your list. Designed by Bill Schlicht, co-founder of Chocolate Flower Farm on Whidbey Island, the Shrew ($60) is a brawny, long-handled, back-saving weeder. Its handle is made of sturdy American ash, and the swivel head is sharpened, beveled and serrated to cut, slash and rake.

Organic and natural is the look of the moment at the hip furniture and housewares emporium West Elm, which recently opened its first Washington store in the South Lake Union neighborhood. A shiny metal jewelry tree ($29) is a downsized, dresser-top version of Roxy Paine's elegant stainless-steel tree at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Or how about a bristling twig mirror for $169? Hanging glass bubbles ($9 to $24) each hold a living sculpture of an air plant. Log vases ($9 to $29) lend a rustic, tactile touch to interiors. Glossy olive-wood items — from cutting boards to salad servers ($19 to $49) — are especially covetable.

The perfect gift is something so sumptuous you'd never buy it for yourself, and two new books fit the bill. "Monet at Giverny" by Caroline Holmes (Antique Collectors Club, $39.95) captures in his own words and work Monet's 43-year worship of his watery French garden. As austerely stunning as the Monet book is richly romantic, "The Universe in the Landscape" (Frances Lincoln Ltd., $65) is the book for the modernist on your list. Author and designer Charles Jencks is a lover of metaphor, undulating landforms and cosmic philosophies. These grand, mostly European landscapes are mind-blowing in their reinvention of garden theories and forms.

Closer to home, keep your gardener up to date with a subscription to "Pacific Horticulture" ($28). Published four times a year in San Francisco, this venerable journal covers the art and science of gardening along the West Coast while keeping us informed about regional tours, talks and events.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "The New Low-Maintenance Garden." Check out her blog at www.valeaston.com.