What to buy for the gardener with a black thumb? (We are using the term “gardener” loosely here, to describe the sort who, if not for a predilection for killing houseplants, would live happily in an indoor jungle.)
This holiday season, help a would-be gardener along. Remember: it is not kind to give anything you know a black thumb will end up killing (step away from the ferns). Instead, spread seasonal cheer with a tough-as-nails houseplant and simple tools and tips to keep it alive.
We’ve rounded up a few holiday gifts guaranteed to turn a black thumb green:
Can’t-Kill Houseplants
![A ZZ Plant & August Planter (which comes in six colors including the handsome black one shown here) is \$5\1 from The Sill.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/zz-plant-the-sill-houseplants-733x949.jpg)
Haworthia Zebra is a hard-to-hurt succulent ($29.50 in a pot, choice of six colors), and Pothos Jade is another plant with a strong survival instinct survivor ($44, including square Olmstead planter in choice of six colors).
Watering Can
![A Black Iron Watering Can made of solid iron is £35 from Botany UK. (For US shoppers, House Doctor\2\17;s Plant Watering Can is available for \$48 from Scandinavian Design Center.)](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/black-metal-watering-can-house-doctor-botany-uk-733x489.jpg)
Plant Misters
![A black Plant Mister has a faceted glass bottle and a brass sprayer; \$\1\2.40 at Amazon.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/plant-mister-black-amazon-733x469.png)
How Not to Kill Your Plants
![Friendly, accessible, and non-guilt-provoking, How Not To Kill Your Plants \2\20;is about taking the hocus-pocus out of plants and flowers and enabling you to understand a plant\2\17;s needs in order to know where to place and how to style them,\2\2\1; says author Nik Southern, founder of the London-based florist Grace & Thorn. It is \$\16.99 on Amazon.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/book-cover-how-not-to-kill-your-plants-733x448.png)
Glasshouse Terrariums
![A peaked Glasshouse Terrarium (available in silver or copper) is £\17 apiece from Alfie\2\17;s Studio.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/glasshouse-terrarium-alfies-studio-733x481.png)
A tiny glasshouse will showcase a low-maintenance tillandsia or two. How hard can it be to keep an air plant alive? (See: plant mister, above).
Air Plants
![A tiny Tillandsia Ionantha air plant is 98 cents apiece at Air Plant Greenhouse via Etsy.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tillandsia-air-plant-ionantha-etsy-733x550.jpg)
At these prices, I would say: stock up on air plants. Buy your black-thumb friend a few backups…
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