Dear Santa

Oregonian garden columnist Kym Pokorny just posted her Christmas list in her blog, and she gave me some great ideas. I'll post my list here; maybe it'll inspire someone else or help someone's hapless spouse (like, oh, I dunno, *my husband*) figure out what to get his/her garden-obsessed better half ("Are you paying attention, dear?").

In no particular order:

• Gift certificates! This is the perfect no-brainer present for any gardener in your life. The best? Gift certificates for nurseries that have unusual or expensive stuff that we gardeners often won't buy for ourselves. If you're in the Portland area, try Portland Nursery, Cornell Farm, Buffalo Gardens, Hughes Water Gardens, Cistus Nursery, Al's Garden Center, or one of the many small specialty places around town.
  
• A cymbidium orchid. We grew them outside when I was growing up in California, and they got *huge*. I can't leave them out in Portland year-round, but they're really hardy, surviving nearly-freezing temperatures and blooming a couple times per year despite my benign neglect. The downside? They're *expensive*. I fell in love with a huge purple-y one at Al's last week, but it was $99! Hubby asked me a couple times how to spell "cymbidium" after that, so I'm hopeful that one will show up under the Christmas tree this year.
  
• A truckload of manure. Other women like to get jewelry for Christmas; I prefer horse poop. It's more useful. Ever try to fertilize your vegetable garden with diamonds? Doesn't work too well, and it costs a fortune (even more than those fancy schmancy bagged organic fertilizers, a/k/a the most expensive poop on earth). So the way to my heart is through a horse's (or chicken's or cow's) intestinal tract.
  
• Interesting garden art. My garden has lots of plants (technically known as "weeds") but not much art. I'd especially like an old-fashioned sundial. It would look lovely nestled between the bindweed and horsetail in my front garden.
  
• A support system for my tomatoes. The big, rangy indeterminate tomatoes I grow tip tomato cages over by about mid-July. I'd love a sturdy, well-built support system to keep them off the ground and easy to harvest.
  
• An obelisk to house one of the many clematis I've been coveting these last few years.
  
• Have a tree service remove the ginormous poplar that is shading my greenhouse and two of my vegetable beds. Two years ago I could grow morning glories on the trellis by my greenhouse. Now it's too shady. I like trees, but I'd prefer that they stayed out of the ionosphere.
  
• A day of garden help. I could really use some extra hands and a strong back out there.
  

I could probably think of a dozen more things I want, but that'll do for now. I wonder if Santa can haul manure on his sleigh...