Some area museums offer special hours and events during the between-holidays week of Dec. 25 through Jan. 1.
• SEE Science Center, 200 Bedford St. in Manchester, see-sciencecenter.org, will be closed the Thursdays of Christmas and New Year’s Day but open Monday, Dec. 29, as well as its usual Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission costs $14 per person ages 3 and up, the website said.
• The Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St. in Manchester, currier.org, will hold its fourth annual December Days on Friday, Dec. 26, and Saturday, Dec. 27, with family-friendly activities running from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. included with admission (kids 12 and under get in for free). The museum’s regular hours are Wednesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the website. Admission costs $20 for adults, $15 for 65+ and students with ID cards, and $5 for ages 13 to 17, the website said.
• The Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, aviationmuseumofnh.org, is currently featuring the exhibit “Holiday Festival of Toy Planes and Model Aircraft,” which will be on display through Sunday, Jan. 4, according to a press release. The museum is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. (closed Christmas Eve and Christmas and New Year’s Day). The museum will be open extra days — Monday, Dec. 29, and Tuesday, Dec. 30. Admission costs $10 for ages 13 and up, and $5 for ages 6 to 12, 65+, veterans and active military; kids age 5 and under get in free.
• The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, 2 Institute Drive in Concord, starhop.com, is closed on Christmas and Christmas Eve and on New Year’s Day but will be open daily, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, Dec. 26, through Wednesday, Dec. 31, and then Friday, Jan. 2, through Sunday, Jan. 4, according to the website. Admission costs $14 for adults, $13 for students and seniors, $11 for children ages 3 to 12 and free for ages 2 and under, the website said. Planetarium shows cost an additional $7 per person (free for children under 3) and run at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., the website said.
• Charmingfare Farm, 774 High St. in Candia, continues its Santa’s Christmas with times Friday, Dec. 19, through Sunday, Dec. 21, as well as on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 24, according to visitthefarm.com. This event will feature a visit to Charmingfare’s North Pole, including an opportunity to see Santa Claus, get cookies from Mrs. Claus, see Santa’s reindeer and more as well as visits with farm animals, camp fires, and more, the website said. See visitthefarm.com for entry times for and ticket options (some include a horse-drawn ride through a Christmas Trail) and to purchase admissions.
Still some Nutcracker
• The Nutcracker 2025 will be presented by Ballet Misha at the Dana Center at Saint Anselm College, Manchester, on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 1 and 6 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 21, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., according to tickets.anselm.edu.
• The Nutcracker will be presented by the Safe Haven Ballet on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m. at Stockbridge Theatre, 44 N. Main St. in Derry. Tickets are for sale at pinkertonacademy.org/stockbridge-theatre.
• The NH School of Ballet will present The Nutcracker on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium, 2 Prince St. in Concord, according to theaudi.org/events.
• The Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker will screen on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 3 p.m. and Monday, Dec. 22, at 3 and 7 p.m at the O’Neil Cinemas in Londonderry (16 Orchard View) and Epping (Brickyard Square, 24 Calef Highway) via Fathom Entertainment; see fathomentertainment.com, where you can find times and locations. Get a look at the filmed production at rbo.org.uk/ballet-essentials-the-nutcracker.
Still some Pops
• The New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra will present Holiday Pops with singalong and a Special Jolly Guest on Saturday, Dec. 20, and Sunday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. at Seifert Performing Arts Center, 44 Germonty Drive in Salem, according to nhphil.org.
• The Milford Recreation Department will hold a Breakfast with Santa featuring pancakes and sausage on Saturday, Dec. 13, from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at the Town Hall Auditorium, according to milfordnh.recdesk.com, where you can register and pay for limited seating.
• Santa Live 2025 at the Londonderry Access TV studio, 281 Mammoth Road in Londonderry, will be held on Saturday, Dec. 13, from 1 to 3 p.m., according to the station’s Facebook page. Kids can meet with Santa and Mrs. Claus on TV while parents take photos, the post said. RSVP to Erin at 432-1147 or email erowe@londonderrynh.gov.
Santa airborne
• On Saturday, Dec. 13, at 11 a.m. the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, will receive a visit from Santa Claus via helicopter, according to aviationmuseumofnh.org. Families wanting to watch Santa land should be at the museum by 10:45 a.m., the website said. Kids can meet with Santa at this free event until he departs at 1 p.m., the website said.
• It’s Astronaut Santa Day at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord on Sunday, Dec. 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., when kids can visit with Astronaut Santa and explore the museum, according to starhop. com, where you can purchase admission for the museum only or for the museum and a planetarium show.
Holiday concerts
• The Manchester Community Music School, 2291 Elm St. in Manchester, will hold its Holiday Pops 2025 concert on Friday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m., according to mcmusicschool.org.
• Kimball Jenkins, 266 N. Main St. in Concord, will host a Mr. Aaron Concert on Friday, Dec. 12, at 5 p.m. in the Carriage House, according to kimballjenkins.com.
• Catch Symphony NH’s Holiday Pops concert on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Keefe Center for the Arts, 117 Elm St. in Nashua, according to symphonynh.org.
Holiday fun
• The YMCA of Greater Londonderry, 206 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, will host The Great Candy Cane Hunt on Friday, Dec. 12, from 6 to 8 p.m., according to graniteymca.org, where you can register and pay for the event. The YMCA’s Teen Leaders will hide candy canes all around the facility, and kids, in groups divided by age, will search for them with candy cane bags they decorate, the website said.
• Pembroke City Limits, 134 Main St. in Pembroke, pembrokecitylimits.com, will hold a Kids Show on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m. featuring a reading of The Polar Express, hot cocoa and candy canes and a “visit from the North Pole,” according to the website.
Holidays on screen
• Cinemark Rockingham Park, at The Mall at Rockingham Park, 15 Mall Road in Salem, cinemark.com, will wrap up its special screenings as part of Holiday Movie Clubhouse with screenings onElf(PG, 2003) on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 9:40 a.m. and 10 a.m. and Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 6:30 p.m.
• The Park Theatre (19 Main St., Jaffrey, theparktheatre.org) will present one of the best cinematic A Christmas Carol adaptations, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 4:30 p.m.
New England skies in winter are often cloudy and dark, accompanied by sleet, slush, rain or snow. The sun sleeps late and goes to bed early. Gardeners sometimes give up and go to Florida. Not me, but there is much I do to make the holidays cheerful.
I put up blue holiday lights outdoors on trees and shrubs. And I think about gifts for my loved ones — most of whom are gardeners. Let’s see what I am helping Santa with this year.
First, there are books. Always good for long nights or cold days. A book I have enjoyed this year was written by a friend of mine, Jill Nooney. She wrote a wonderful book called Bedrock: The Making of a Public Garden (Peter E. Randall Publisher, 2025, $50). Jill is a plant collector, a garden designer and a sculptor. Her book is not only the story of making a public garden; it is also full of design insights and an introduction to many unusual plants suitable for our zone. She writes well, and tells good stories, too.
Then there is entomologist Doug Tallamy’s 2025 book, How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard. The book is in the form of questions — 499 of them — and answers in a simple, readable form. It’s like sitting down with your favorite and wise uncle, but one who knows the science behind complex questions about what we can do to help save our environment. Hardback, $30.
I believe in supporting local garden centers and avoiding internet purchases. We need our local purveyors of plants, seeds and fertilizers. But an unusual tool might not be found locally: the Nut Wizard. This is a long-handled tool with a rolling wire device the size and shape of a football that picks up apples or nuts. When the device is full, spread the wires over a bucket or wheelbarrow and it empties. This is fun to use — kids love it, so Tom Sawyer will be proud of you for “letting” them use it. I got one long ago and I see that now there are several brands, not just the Nut Wizard, and several sizes.
For those of you on a shoestring budget, let me suggest a few no-cost/low suggestions, too. If you’ve saved seeds from your heirloom tomatoes or flowers, these are good gifts. If you have none, the seed companies have their 2026 seeds available well before Christmas. I called Johnny’s Selected Seeds and High Mowing Organic Seeds, two of my favorites, and they both confirmed next year’s seeds are ready to ship. So if you had good luck with a tomato or zinnia variety, give some seeds.
Maybe I am from a different era than you (or a different planet), but I like keeping a journal. I started at age 8, but I confess that these past 20 years my computer has become my record keeper. Perhaps you use your cell phone (I don’t have one). This year I am going back to keeping a handwritten gardening journal.
There are many available for sale, some just blank books, others designed for use by gardeners. Lee Valley Tools has a 10-year gardening journal, one big page for each day of the year, and 10 sections per page. I’ve had one, and if I were diligent in its upkeep I’d have some great data. But it’s a bit big and clunky, and I didn’t keep it in a handy place.
This year I found The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Journal for sale at my local bookstore. I bought one — I like that its pages are not dated. It has some nice art prints of plants and some nice quotes about gardening here and there. It only cost me $15.95, and it will last me more than a year.
Every year I recommend the CobraHead Weeder because it is the best darn weeding tool ever made. It’s a rugged single-tine hand tool shaped like a cobra up and ready to strike. It is neither right- nor left-handed. I use mine to loosen the soil to plant, to tease out long roots of grasses and weeds, or to get in tight places. At $39 from the website (www.cobrahead.com) it is a bargain. It’s a family-run business, the tools made in America. It has a hole for a bright colored string to help you find it if buried in the compost pile. Also available from good garden centers and seed companies.
This amaryllis needs no water or soil, and looks great even before blooming. Photo by Henry Homeyer.
Lastly, a friend recently sent us an amaryllis bulb that had been dipped in shiny red wax. It’s gorgeous, and for non-gardening friends it is excellent, too: no soil needed, no watering needed. Just put it on the table and watch it grow, blooming in four to six weeks. It sits nicely on its flat base of wax. I can’t wait to see it bloom!
So start your holiday shopping now. Give gardening gifts, and hope someone gives you something off this list, too.
Henry lives and gardens in Cornish, N.H. This column appears just once a month now, in his semi-retirement. Reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.
Featured photo: Nut Wizard. Photo by Henry Homeyer.
Between mistletoe, holly, poinsettias and Christmas trees, the holidays already have a certain botanical flavor to them. But are there any practical suggestions for houseplant-related gifts? Here are a few suggestions for plant-ish gifts that will be received with a smile.
• 6-inch transparent pots, four-pack ($8 at Penumbra Plants and Gifts, 10 N. State St., Concord, 731-9469, penumbra.shop) There is a growing trend in growing plants in clear plastic pots. Especially when using a soil-less medium like perlite, a transparent pot provides a clear view of a plant’s roots as they develop and spread throughout the pot. Think of it as an ant farm without the ants. Also, a clear pot lets you see when it’s time to move to a bigger pot, before Vincent Van Grow gets root-bound.
• Beethoven, Shakespeare, or baby pots($30-35 at House By the Side of the Road, 70 Gibbons Highway, Wilton, 654-9888, housebyshop.com) We’ve seen plant pots shaped like the Buddha’s head, various cartoon or Disney characters, Greek goddesses, or even Danny Devito, but what about something for the ironic college student on your list? That’s when you fall back on the classics: composers, scientists, or William Shakespeare. (“How is a screaming baby head a classic?” you might ask. Oh, trust me; it’s a classic.)
• Chinese Money Plant (Pilea peperomiodes) in a 4-inch pot ($13 at Lushes Leaves by Lulu, 55 Lake St., Nashua, 300-8533, lushesleavesbylulu.com)If you are giving a houseplant as a gift, there’s a pretty good chance you’re giving it to someone without a huge amount of plant-growing experience. (While die-hard plant-heads will always find room in their hearts, if not on their window sills, for another green friend, they’ve probably already reached Peak Houseplant.)
So there are some fairly rigid restrictions on a houseplant gift. It should be modestly sized — no potted palms, for instance. You’re looking for something in a pot between 4 and 6 inches wide. Also, it probably needs to be extremely tough. If it ends up on a desk at work or on top of a guest room bureau, it might struggle to get enough light or be watered regularly. And, not for nothin’, it should look cool.
A good choice is a Chinese money plant. It’s a beautiful plant. It has leaves that are almost perfectly round, at the end of long stems. Over time, as it grows, it will drape over one side of its pot, and eventually cascade down it. It likes regular watering, but won’t make a scene if you forget about it from time to time. It likes indirect light, meaning it doesn’t have to go right in front of a window. And once it gets big, cuttings will root easily and impressively in a glass of water.
• Instant Sun Grow Lamp by We The Wild Plant Care ($24 at Fortin Gage Flowers and Plants, 86 W. Pearl St., Nashua, 882-3371, fortingage.com) But what if your niece lives in a basement apartment? How will Orlando Bloom find the will to live? (Actually, there are several popular, almost unkillable houseplants that do perfectly well under fluorescent lighting). That’s where grow lights come in. It is easy enough to put a full-spectrum light bulb in a gooseneck lamp, but even better is a dedicated light designed specifically for plants. This particular one doesn’t have any complicated controls to figure out and sits atop an adjustable step to provide a given plant with more or less intense levels of light depending on its particular preference.
• What Is My Plant Telling Me? by Emily L. Hay Hinsdale (hardcover $18.99, also at Fortin Gage) In Iceland, it is a tradition for friends and families to exchange gifts of books with each other on Christmas Eve, then spend the rest of the evening lounging around in pajamas, reading together. There are hundreds of plant books written for houseplant enthusiasts of all ages and every level, and this one comes highly recommended. The writing style is light and approachable. The illustrations are cheerful. It explains plant care in simple terms, without actually coming out with it and calling you a dummy. You could reasonably expect to finish it in an evening.
Especially in Iceland, where a December evening might last 18 hours.
Featured photo: Beethoven, Baby, Shakespeare pots. Photo by John Fladd.
• New Boston will hold its annual S’mores with Santa event on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 4 to 6 p.m. (rain date is Sunday, Dec. 7) at the Town Common & Gazebo, 5 Meetinghouse Road in New Boston. The event will feature “caroling by the New Boston Community Church, and New Boston Recreation and Recreation Commission will be providing hot cocoa, s’mores supplies, fires to roast,” and kids can visit with Santa, according to New Boston Recreation. See newbostonnh.gov/recreation for updates.
• The Friends of Griffin Free Library in Auburn will present a Santa Breakfast on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Auburn Village School Cafeteria, 11 Eaton Hill Road in Auburn, according to an event organizer. Santa will arrive by fire truck by 8:45 a.m. and the morning will include a breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, home fries, doughnuts and beverages; photo opportunities with Santa; holiday music; raffles and more, the email said. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for kids up to grade 8 and free for kids under age 3, with cash, check and credit card accepted, according to the email.
Party time
• Mr. Aaron’s Holiday Bash will come to the BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St. in Concord, on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 11 a.m., according to ccanh.com.
• The Millyard Museum, 200 Bedford St. in Manchester, will hold A Feast for the Holidays American Girl Tea Party on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with foods and crafts from American Girl Dolls, according to manchesterhistoric.org/event/christmas-tea-2025, where you can purchase tickets.
Storytime
• Author David Elliot will read his latest book,Boar and Hedgehog, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin, at MainStreet BookEnds, 16 E. Main St. in Warner, on Saturday, Dec. 6, from noon to 1 p.m., when he will also sign books, according to mainstreetbookends.com. Warner’s downtown will be celebrating Warner’s Hometown Holiday on Saturday, featuring local artists, a storytime at the library and more, the website said.
