Picnic baskets, step baskets, Shaker reproduction baskets, Nantucket lightship baskets, and every other conceivable form of wicker carrying apparatus can be found at the somewhat overblown Basketville (8 Bellows Falls Rd., Putney, 802/387-5509, www.basketville.com, 9 a.m.–8 p.m. daily) in “downtown” Putney. What started here as a family business more than 100 years ago has grown into a giant emporium, usually crowded with tourists.

Less known but no less impressive, Vermont Botantical (1126 South Valley Rd., Putney, 802/387-2474, www.vermontbotanical.com) is a labor of love of artist Maggie Lake, who takes Vermont wildflowers, Jack-in-the-pulpits, and fiddlehead ferns and presses them in frames of bird’s-eye maple.

Also taking Vermont’s natural rhythms as its inspiration, Grafton Seasons (217 Main St., Grafton, 802/843-2499, www.graftonseasons.com, 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., daily) fills its shelves with gifts and keepsakes that nod to each time of year. That means hand-blown glass candleholders by Simon Pearce sit next to Irish pottery, lots of clothing and toys, and of course, maple syrup.