New seed catalogs come while I am busiest with the
activities of Christmas, and I always look forward to post-Christmas peace and
time to sit before the fire and read them.
It is easy to let my gardening dreams grow out of proportion to the real
limits of my time and space as I peruse the beautiful photographs and eloquent
descriptions of perfect vegetables.
My favorite catalogs remain the same year after year. I usually order seeds from Johnny’s Selected
Seeds, at
www.johnnyseeds.com or
877.564.6697. They give cultural
information and sell many disease-resistant tomato seeds. Heavenly Seed LLC (
www.heavenlyseed.net or 864.209.8283),
based in Anderson, provides the least glamorous catalog but the most generous
amounts of seed for the money; I buy most of my seeds from Heavenly Seed.
I may order from Territorial Seed Company,
www.TerritorialSeed.com or
800.626.0866 this year; they have some heirloom tomato varieties that are grafted
onto disease-resistant rootstock. The
rootstock is supposed to resist many of the diseases that plague my garden,
while the heirloom tomato variety grafted onto the rootstock will give me great
tomatoes.
Three years ago, I
ordered some fruit trees and bushes from Stark Bro’s (
www.starkbros.com or 1.800.325.4180) and I
am pleased with their products and service.
Last fall, I ordered, for spring delivery, some grape vines from Ison’s
Nursery (
www.isons.com or 800.733.0324) in
Georgia.
I do not think I have room to cram in any more perennials
now, but perennials from Bluestone Perennials, (
www.bluestoneperennials.com or
1.800.852.5243) fill my garden. The catalog gives cultural information on
nearly any perennial commonly grown in the US.
Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply (
www.GrowOrganic.com or 1.888.784.1722), is
a California company with nearly every gardening/farming item imaginable. Peaceful Valley’s catalog is good for information,
obscure organic pest control products, and season-extension products.
I sometimes order seeds from Seed Savers Exchange, (
www.seedsaversexchange.org or (562)
382.5990), a nonprofit organization from Iowa which sells exclusively heirloom
seeds and John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds (
www.kitchengardenseeds.com or
(860) 567.6086), a catalog that is a work of art and provides detailed planting
and culinary information. I may also
order from Renee’s Garden (www.reneesgarden.com or 888.880.7728).
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, (417.924.8917 or
www.rareseeds.com, has one of the largest
collections of heirloom seeds around. Pinetree
Garden Seeds (207.926.3400 or
www.superseeds.com)
sells small, inexpensive packets of seeds that are useful for small gardens or
for trying out many varieties of seeds.
Visit these websites and request catalogs, or peruse the catalogs
online, and you will be able to imagine and to plan the garden of your dreams,
unmolested by insects, disease, heat, or drought.