Seed Catalogs Have Arrived

It's January and the seed and plant catalogs are arriving daily.  I have a stack of them to go through and its torture!   Most days I don't receive enough mail to keep the US Postal Service bothering to deliver to my door, but the last week of December and the first week of January makes their existence all worthwhile.  Here's my review of what I've received so far. I get no money or anything at all from listing these companies. Just sharing 30 some years of experience.

It started last week with "R. H. Shumway's Illustrated Garden Guide".  This is a tabloid sized catalog printed with old 19th century style illustrations of the vegetables and flowers. They also have a great variety of old and new seeds.  I've ordered from them in the past and liked their seeds. Their shipping price is minimum $6.00 up to $35 order.

Next came The Cooks Garden catalog. This is my favorite source for lettuce. They used to be a small company with a really neat little illustrated catalog - very homey - but then Burpee bought them. Now they are slick and fancy with lots of color pictures. The lettuce seeds are still the best however, so apparently Burpee has left that part of their business alone. I like to get their lettuce mixes - Spring, Summer and Fall. I always do very well with them. Minimum shipping is $4.95 on a $10.00 order.

Arriving at the same time as Cooks Garden was the  Burpee "Special Edition" catalog. The first nine pages are dedicated to showcasing their new items, almost all of them vegetables this year, although they do feature a new true yellow geranium plant. They also have a pull out card announcing the "Triscuit Home Farming Movement, a community of like-minded vegetable growers...." etc at www.homefarming.com. Shipping is same as Cook's Garden.

Gurneys has good seed and so does Henry Fields. They arrived with front covers announcing $25 coupons good for $25 worth of product when you order an additional $25.00. I've ordered from both these companies before and they have good seed. Shipping is minimum $6.95 on orders up to $20.00 for both companies so I'd bet you they are owned by the same company.

The last to arrive (so far) is Jung Seeds & Plants. I've ordered from these folks in the past with good success.  The President of the company has a little message written on the inside front cover. He offers free shipping on orders of $75 or more. This offer is also displayed on the front cover. Otherwise the minimum shipping is $5.95 on orders up to $35.00. What caught my attention most is the "Biltmore for Your Home" offering.  This includes " certified organic herb plants inspired by the herbs grown in the famous Biltmore historic house gardens and used by Biltmore chefs in recipes served in the estate restaurants",  Jungs offers all kinds of garden plants as well as seeds. These include tree and shrubs. Their lettuce offering is impressive as is their herbs.  I am particularly coveting the Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea offered on the back cover.

Arriving the same day as Jung's is David Austin's "Handbook of Roses 2012".  If you want to be inspired this is the catalog.  Picture after picture, full color, of the most beautiful roses you will see anywhere. This is a catalog that I keep all year just to look at the pictures. You can easily see what I mean by visiting their website at www.davidaustinroses.com. My family has grown David Austin roses for years and we love them. I have an Abraham Darby and a Gertrude Jekyll growing on the fences along the driveway and a Dark Lady in my border. I've had  a formal rose garden all planned for some time - maybe this is the year!

Well, that's about it.  It's time to get our the vegetable garden plan and start mapping out what seeds will go where. I'm adding a bed this year because I need to rotate tomatoes and don't have space for them in any of the sunny beds. The trees on the east border of the garden keep growing and shading my eastern beds.  That frees up an entire 16 foot by 4 foot section!