Garden Catalogs And Websites - Growers Jewels

For years I had been searching for Valeriana olenea. All the minor lists which reached me from European and Asiatic collectors, dealers and botanic gardens had been carefully read. The small valerian became an obsession. Imagine my joy then when a list from a Soviet botanic garden arrived containing the charmed name. I sent for it immediately, spending many a pleasant moment anticipating receipt of the seed. It finally arrived and was planted. The plants turned out to be not V. olenea but the even more desirable V. supina from the Eastern Alps. It was a disappointment in a way, though a pleasant one.

At another time I had been bothering everyone I knew or heard about in the Southwest for seed or plants of Aster Wrighti, but with no success. It was reputedly a lovely flower, with white to purple blooms 2 inches across, on plants to a foot in height and came from what Texans call the Trans-Pecos Region-the hot, dry sore thumb that sticks out between the Rio Grande and the southern boundary of New Mexico. Having written about another rare Southwestern native in my regular FLOWER GROWER column, I received a letter from a reader who later turned out to be a collector of Southwestern natives. His modest list not only had seed of the aster I so wanted but Aquilegia phoenicantha, a rare native columbine that I had also long sought. These and many other personal experiences in catalog searching have taught me that I am apt to get pleasant surprises from unexpected sources.

The catalogs and websites now available from growers contain a wealth of new items plus many good old ones which you may have overlooked in your eagerness for the new. From experience I urge you to send for your catalogs early. Read them thoroughly, not only for the pleasure of their exciting language, but also for the cultural information many of them contain. Make out your orders for seed and plants as soon as possible. This will give you an early start in planning your garden-a pleasant pastime for many a long winter evening and a positive help when planting time arrives.

Do not throw your catalogs away after you have ordered from them. Many contain valuable information that you may find useful in years to come. Many will grow in value as the years pass. I have many of ancient vintage that I would not willingly part with for any amount of money. Some are not much to look at, but they have pleasant associations.

Besides being a gardener, I am also an antiquarian book dealer on eBay and I see the value of old seed catalogs constantly increasing. Just last week I had to pay $6 for one published in 1870 and urgently wanted by a client.

The 21st century is a great one in which to be gardening. With half of our gardeners running around with a jar of colchicine in their hands and the other half carrying a book on plant breeding, new and sometimes improved varieties are popping up on every side. The grist of catalogs for 2010 is sure to have many exciting things in vegetables, annual and perennial flowers and shrubs and trees. Reading about them and ordering some for my garden will make my winter more pleasant. Why not let catalogs help you to happy winter hours and good gardening?