Don't buy things just because they are new. Maybe a perennial you thought you couldn't fit in now comes in a compact cultivar.Ģ. But it's a waste of all that boundless catalog variety if you don't mix in one new kind of tomato every year. "Gardeners learn their garden, they learn what does well there and they learn what they like," says Ball.
Want to try indoor seed-starting? Order an inexpensive small kit and use it to start a dozen or so tomato and pepper plants on your sunniest windowsill or under a close-hanging fluorescent light.ġ. Direct-sow something: Jennings suggests sunflowers or zinnias from the Profusion series, or radishes, carrots or peas (but make sure you have a strong support for the pea vines to clamber - another thing a catalog may not tell you).Ħ. But they aren't standard, so find and understand the legend before you buy.Ĥ. The icons are trying to tell you the plant's needs. Figure out a catalog's system of symbols. If perennial, does seed need a cold period called stratification before plantingģ. What you need to know about a plant before you order: For example, a catalog may assume you know that peas are normally sown right in the ground, but tomatoes have to be started inside as much as two months ahead of time and transplanted outdoors in late May or June.Ģ. You can't count on the catalogs to define essential terms or explain gardening basics. Start with a good general garden book or an authoritative Web site to get background on plants you think you'd like to grow. Here are three good questions to ask yourself before you put pen to order form or start dialing that toll-free number:ġ. "You aren't losing much if it doesn't work." and Wayside Gardens in Greenwood, S.C., two other big catalogs. "Seeds are cheap, so go ahead and try it," says Karen Park Jennings, president of Park Seed Co. You can afford to experiment with new or borderline plants you'd hesitate to pay $10 for. And even a novice can do it - with the right plants. in Warminster, Pa., one of the nation's oldest and largest catalog companies. "There's no other flavor like a home garden vegetable," says George Ball, president of W. Nurturing food or flowers from seed is uniquely satisfying. Getting on a few mailing lists or building up a favorites file of Web sites expands your gardening world immeasurably. The only way to get many varieties of seeds, as well as of plants such roses, lilies, herbs, spring bulbs and perennials, is by catalog. Starting plants from seeds is less expensive than buying them in nurseries or even home-improvement stores, and the selection is far wider. There are many good reasons to garden by mail-order. Apply a little methodical thought to the situation and you can bring that catalog fever down.īut don't be immune. Take a look at where you'll be doing the actual growing, bare though it may now be. Step out back for a breath of bracing fresh air. Or they are plants that are fabulously photogenic but have little chance of setting much fruit or flowers in the little sun we have.So pause before you order. Or we didn't realize we had to start the seeds indoors before transplanting them outside. Or they all will need harvesting the week we're going on summer vacation. It can easily heat us up to a kind of delirium, in which we order 25 times as many varieties as we have space for. New! Double! Disease-resistant! Heirloom! Chartreuse! For more experienced gardeners, it doesn't even take pictures: adjectives are enough. The colors of the garden catalogs that billow through the mail slot in January can warm the bones and lift the soul.
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