Adorable matchbook style garden seed starter kits make great little gift items for gardeners and non gardeners, too. Look for both herb seeds and wild flower seeds.
In an art museum giftshop of all places I recently stumbled across the little match stick gardens, a cute gift item: herb and wildflower seeds in a packet or starter set designed like a fold-over style book of matches. The head of each match has seeds on it, and the idea is to tear out the individual seed bearing matches and plant the matches headfirst in potting mix.
I couldn't immediately tell what kinds of seeds were in the packets, but according to the company web site, the herb packet includes seeds for basil, chives, parsley and thyme and the wildflower packet contains seeds for"cornflower, shasta daisy, corn marigold and field poppy.
The shelf display was eye catching and clever, very cheerful and upbeat. But I have to wonder how well this will work -- under actual home conditions. The matchstick garden web site does include a FAQ section with some trouble shooting hints, so I guess basic seed starting guidelines would still apply.
You can see the packaging and get more details at the Matchstick Garden web site.
Although not listed on the "find a retailer" page, the matchstick garden seeds were on sale in the gift shop at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, CA . If you go, check out the very kewl multi disciplinary exhibit "Birth of the Cool: California Art Design and Style at Midcentury" with everything from paintings to ceramic planters to jazz recordings to a fun little film by the Eames duo of furniture fame.
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Copyright November 3, 2007 Barbara Martin All Rights Reserved
