Now that Halloween is over the holiday shopping season has officially begun.

If you’re like me you’re hard pressed for gift ideas for friends and family and you might, like me, have a hard time answering the question, “What do you want for Christmas?”

Fortunately I got a head start on this last summer when Robyn Martin of our ShopWQED department asked me to select nature-related books and gifts for the ShopWQED website.  She gave me a catalog to select from and urged me to suggest additional items that she could offer as well.

I circled my favorites, many of which I already own — I highly recommend Great Natural Areas of Western Pennsylvania and How Birds Migrate — and I added one of my favorite wildflower books.

Wildflowers of Pennsylvania by Mary Joy Haywood and Phyllis Testal Monk, is an illustrated guide to the wildflowers of the entire state.  Published in Pittsburgh in 2001, every flower is illustrated by a photograph contributed by members of the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania.   Those of you who know Esther Allen will find many of her photos inside.

I use Wildflowers of Pennsylvania as a resource when I blog about flowers and in the winter I browse through the photos and think about spring.  I’m glad we could offer this book online to a wider audience.

Take a look at the ShopWQED Nature section.  Maybe you’ll find some gift ideas.

p.s.  Click on the shopping bag above to see the entire website including Rick Sebak’s DVDs and Chris Fennimore’s cookbooks.

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