Ideas - really cheap present extras?

[Iliketulips]

It's my DM's birthday soon and she wants me to take her to garden centre as her present and buy her some pots or plants. I won't be able to do that on the day and no one else buys for her, so trying to think of some cheap ideas present wise, so she has a little something to open. I've done toiletries to death, so will exclude those. Planning on also buying her some flowers.

Any ideas please? She'll be 84. Doesn't really have any hobbies other than gardening, local short walks, reading.

Lipstick/nail varnishes, mine always asks for new tights, nice chocolates or biscuits and tea bags, face creams or bubble bath, pillow sprays, silk pillow case, a new mug or tea pot, delivery of cupcakes.

Don't make it over complicated. A book, nice biscuits and an envelope with a voucher for the promised trip.

Have you tried making jam or chutney? It's easy, cheap, and delicious. Or buy her a pot of really nice jam, chutney, or something along those lines if you don't fancy making it.

I recently got my gran (similar age) a painting by numbers which she loved and she has asked for another one for Christmas.

Or how about some packets of seeds for her to sow when she gets her new pots?

Chocolates / biscuits.

Seeds, a herb growing kit, nice plant labels or a little of parcel of gardening bits. Monty Don's gardening book Down to Earth: Gardening Wisdom is lovely too.

Gardening gloves, seeds, hand cream, tea/coffee, biscuits, chocolates, cream tea in a box delivery.

Nice walking socks?

Get the kids to paint and varnish some terracotta pots.
Bookmark
Coffee shop voucher
Candle or reed diffuser
Bird house or feeder
Kneeling mat
Gardening gloves
Seeds
B&m had some nice garden ornaments and lights for £5ish each.

Voucher for the garden centre, garden kneeling pad, new garden gloves? Chocolates, new book , posh boxed tea or coffee

An RHS book and a voucher for the planned trip.

Not many of the above ideas seem very cheap to me.

A nice card with a packet of seeds inside and a little card promising the trip to the garden centre and cafe

I don't think it's strictly necessary as I'm sure she's very much looking forward to the garden centre outing but I think I'd add in some little gardening bits; new gloves or useful but nice looking tools, a nice book, some gardeners hand cream, those kinds of things. A lovely card with gift vouchers for the garden centre and the promise of a nice lunch when you go there.

It depends where you are getting things from really.
Aldi do some nice candles at a couple of quid.
B&m have gardening gloves with pretty patterns at £1.50
A kneeling mat is about £2 in wilco
You can often get wildflower seeds free online to encourage pollinators
Lip balms and hand creams vary from £1 up to very expensive.
The garden centre voucher could be home made and put into a card so that she knows that you have remembered and thought about it.
I paid £3 each and 3 for 2 on some terracotta pots last week.
Chocolates don't need to be posh, my mum would be thrilled with a box of ferrero roche.
A cream tea for 1 could probably be out together for about £5, especially with the offers for the coronation.

charity shops always have loads of gardening books so could be worth a look.

Hi OP, not sure how much time you have but can you plants up some seeds for her so that she has some little ones ready to be potted up? Still time to grow some sweetpeas on your windowsill in toilet tubes which she can then plant out? If she struggles with bending you can get some dwarf varieties that she can plant in a hanging basket at eye level. Then if you have kids get them to decorate a few jam jars with ribbon etc so that she can pick the sweetpeas when they're flowering.

Also something thoughtful like a bag of compost but measured out into smaller more manageable sizes so that she doesn't have to lift the heavy bag and a scoop?

I am going to msg you @mewkins next time I am struggling to find a gift for someone , you have some great ideas ! 😃

Haha, if only I could come up with such things for my own family 😅

This - write a thoughtful and loving message in the card.

Don't spend your limited funds on something other than that she's specifically asked for.

This☝ Perhaps forget-me-not seeds with a note saying you won't forget the planned garden centre visit. (I threw some in my raspberry patch last year and they are all flowering underneath the canes, looks really pretty).

Bar of chocolate. If you can get a voucher for garden centre before that'd be good and also sets a limit of how much you can afford. If not, you could make a fun paper voucher and that'll give her something to open.

Does she drink wine? Mine does, but doesn't like too much, so buys the 187cl bottles.