Practical Christmas gifts for the gardener in your life

It's that time of year again when we are thinking of gifts for the gardener in our life. I always appreciate my gardening friends buying me a gardening diary, which is both useful and practical, so several of the diaries published for 2008 by Frances Lincoln Ltd (Publishers) took my eye.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) diary is always a firm favourite and the 2008 diary will be no exception. Illustrated with colour prints from great nineteenth century multi-volume anthologies of rare and unusual plants, the diary features a full-page colour illustration for each week and importantly includes dates of all RHS Flower Shows, as well as national and religious holidays. The RHS Diary for 2008 is available in desk size at £11.99 and pocket size (A6) at £5.99.

Also in the RHS range is a compact and very 'giftable' Address Book also containing colour plates from the anthologies and priced at £5.99.

The RHS Fruit & Veg Notebook is a pocket-sized gem, in which gardeners can make notes about the varieties of fruit and vegetables being planted as well as cultivation and fertilization specifics and the yield at harvest. This excellent aide-memoire for gardeners contains beautiful botanical drawings from the RHA's Lindley Library. Priced at £5.99, the RHS Fruit & Veg Notebook really is a practical and useful gift.

Also in pocket book size are The RHS Address book and the RHS Birthday Book - both at £5.99. The Birthday book is ideal for storing birthdays and anniversaries in one place and is illustrated with exquisite botanical drawings of medicinal plants taken from books by two physicians: William Woodville's Medical Botany and Ferdinand Vietz's Icones Plantarum.

The Chatsworth Garden Diary 2008 is filled with wonderful images of the glorious landscape and garden of Chatsworth in Derbyshire, including parterres and vistas, water, rockeries, trees and productive kitchen garden. The photographs are by Gary Rogers and each photograph is captioned by the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire's lively and informative text. The Dower Duchess probably knows Chatsworth better than anyone else and is herself author of several books including the successful 'The Garden at Chatsworth.'

Another excellent diary is The Daily Telegraph Gardening Diary 2008. Spiral bound, the diary features an at-a-glance review of reminders to do in the garden each month, recipes for all seasons, a handy Garden to Visit section and is packed with practical information and beautiful illustrations. Priced at £11.99 the diary really does make an excellent gift.

Whether buying for someone else or simply treating yourself, the Frances Lincoln range has something for everyone.

RHS publications can be bought on-line from their website at www.rhs.org.uk or you can purchase online at Amazon.co.uk. Please see below for a selection of RHS publications & additional gardening book gift ideas from Amazon.co.uk.