Catalogs coming in
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Winter is finally arrived in NC along with the first of the 2002 catalogs. I see all kinds of possibilities, this is a good time to be unrealistic. For me that means pouring over all those beautiful beans and greens from Seeds of Change. Better get over it before placing an order, and consider the brazen moves made by deer and moles during my three day holiday absence. Niche Gardens is here too, though I did a pretty thorough sweep there last fall. Are there any others circulating that I should have?
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(post #13158, reply #1 of 91)
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We got a couple Mags here already too, its a brutal time for me though. I am sitting here trying to plan Canoe trips, a garden, and a way to have the garden care for itself while I am away canoeing.
then there's the overlying question... will I have a job by then and be able to afford to do any of this??
(post #13158, reply #2 of 91)
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I've got both of you beat. Started receiving the mags in Nov AND I was officially one of the unemployed as of Nov 01. I'm still going thru all of the magazines and circling things, tho.
There has GOT to be a job out there that will allow me to live the life which I could become accustomed to.
(post #13158, reply #3 of 91)
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ahh yes, seed catalogs. I have received about 10 so far, just the beginning! ;-)
plantlust, I too hope you will find a job that will allow you to live the life which you could become accustomed to! :-) Good luck!
(post #13158, reply #4 of 91)
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I've already placed my T&M order. I'm waiting for the *real* catalogs...the ones with plants! Karen, what's up with the Niche thing? I didn't get one! :-P
(post #13158, reply #5 of 91)
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Jeana, if you don't get one in the next week or so send them an e-mail or something. After what we did last fall, they'll probably bring it over in person.
I'm pretty happy about the seeds of change catalog. They are offering seed for several Echinacea, including E. paradoxa (that I've managed to kill twice) and E. tenneseensis, an endangered species that I've only seen offered as plants by one nursery that had a special license to propagate.
(post #13158, reply #6 of 91)
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"For gardeners, this is the season of lists and callow hopefulness; hundreds of thousands of bewitched readers are poring over their catalogues, making lists for their seed and plant orders, and dreaming their dreams. It is the season, too, when the amateur gardener like myself marvels or grumbles at the achievements of the hybridizers and frets over the idiosyncracies of the editors and writers who get up the catalogues. They are as individualistic--these editors and writers--as any Faulkner or Hemingway, and they can be just as frustrating or rewarding. They have an audience equal to the most popular novelist's and a handful of them are stylists of some note. Even the catalogues with which no one man can be associated seem to have personalities of their own."
--Katherine S. White,
b Onward And Upward In The Garden
If you can find a copy of this book, now is the time to read it. It is a collection, published in book form in 1979, of White's reviews of seed catalogs. The originals were published in the New Yorker Magazine anually from 1958 to 1970. Imagine! The book review section fo the New Yorker, devoted to catalogs!
White was an editor of the New Yorker, a gardener, and the wife of E. B. White, who wrote the brilliant introduction to this book.
Read it if you can find it. You will enjoy reading your seed and plant catalogs even more after reading it than you do now!
By the way, I have been found only by White FLower Farm, Wayside Gardens, and Burpee.
Tish (can you tell that I spent many years selling books?)
(post #13158, reply #7 of 91)
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I just received my Niche Gardens today.
(post #13158, reply #8 of 91)
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13 and counting. Or is that spending? Still hoping someday they'll all get on the samne page with a downloadable cross-referenced spreadsheet format so you can do some comparison shopping without 28 square feet of flat surface to compare prices in all the various catalogues... or is that part of the fun?
(post #13158, reply #9 of 91)
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It better be part of the fun - otherwise I'm going to cry! ;-)
(post #13158, reply #10 of 91)
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I'm with you, Bill. In fact, I may dust off the Excel and do my own spreadsheet!
(post #13158, reply #11 of 91)
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Karen, how about I buy you a nice fat pot of E. paradoxa when they sell it at Home Depot in the spring? As for E. tenn., you realize that it grows naturally in only three counties right here in middle TN, I used to live right in the heart of where they lived at the old house. It's definitely worth it to have one just to let it grow next to a plain one. What you'll end up with is E. tenn.-ish looking flowers only taller, very drought tolerant, but they bloom all summer long.
(post #13158, reply #12 of 91)
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I'd love the Home Depot version of E. paradoxa if yours gets it in. I wish our HD would get that, but I've only bought it mail order from PDN. When you say I'll end up with tall 'E. tenn-ish looking flowers', do you mean they'll hybridize with my E. purpurea? I've planted E. augustifolia and E. pallida out there too. Maybe I'll plant some out there and keep some as a separate colony. Does E. paradoxa cross with them too?
(post #13158, reply #13 of 91)
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I've never had E. paradoxa cross with anything that I could tell. I finally lost mine after many years. Time to get a new one. Yes, the E. tenn. will hybrize with the E. pur. and you'll have taller upturned flowers that are so sweet looking and they bloom almost all summer.
(post #13158, reply #14 of 91)
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The beautiful White Flower Farms catalog arrived today. They have a couple of things that tempt, but the high prices on plants I find locally persuade me to think twice. The Asarum splendens for $25 really floored me. PDN has it for $12 and I found it at a local plant sale for $8. Speaking of PDN, they are on line with their 2002 catalog now. And Jeana, here is the web address for Nurseries Caroliniana. http://www.nurcar.com/
(post #13158, reply #15 of 91)
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Looks like I'll be on the computer a while today.
(post #13158, reply #16 of 91)
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Jeana, you come up for air yet? It's a perfect winter evening here. The snow has arrived and may reach 6 or more inches overnight. I'll finally see my red twig dogwoods the way they should look, against a pristine white background. The kids and dogs are frolicking, while I've come in to dry off and sip a little Grand Marnier, as I pour over my
i paper copies of PDN and Singing Springs Nursery catalogs that came today.
I'll post the new website for Singing Springs after I get my order off. (Just kidding, it's still under construction. I wouldn't hold out on anyone, at least I wouldn't admit it.)
(post #13158, reply #17 of 91)
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Ahh, the White Flower Farm catalogue. If I'm not mistaken, the unit price on their standard-issue perennials has risen a dollar a year for the last 3 years. Ten bucks apiece for the rank-and-file, stuff every garden center will have for 2 or 3 dollars less and 4 times the size! I'm guessing they're catering to the SUV/McMansion set, those to whom it's not worth it if it's not expensive. Turn to the next-to-last page and check out the prices on those slipper orchids! ($145) Also, I notice they did away with the index/chart that listed color, light requirements, etc., which was always a handy reference. I haven't studied it thoroughly enough yet to know if there are any gotta-haves, but I will be very careful to see if what I want of theirs can be had elsewhere. Sheesh! (Of course, I'll have to order
i something,
just to keep receiving the catalogue. Eye candy galore, especially this time of year.)
(post #13158, reply #18 of 91)
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Trust me David, you *don't* have to order anything to keep receiving the catalog.
(post #13158, reply #19 of 91)
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I agree. I have never ordered anything from White Flower Farm, and I get the catalogs. I think that I'm pegged as a high-end buyer because I buy from the Signals and Wireless close-out catalog. Either that or it's the hat my husband ordered for me from Smith and Hawkins five years ago.
I'm on some list that's being swapped around by pricey retailers, when really I'm a broke student (and a penny-pinching miser.)
(post #13158, reply #20 of 91)
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LOL I was thinking of this thread when I drove past Litchfield tonight and commented to those in the car that WFF is the catologe that the gardeners love to hate.
BJ The Gardeners Husband
(post #13158, reply #21 of 91)
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Curious...
Whe DO gardeners love it hate it? I enjoy reading it. (And I enjoy all the bulbs I've ordered from them.)
(post #13158, reply #22 of 91)
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Because they rarely order anything other than common stock and everything they offer is *WAY* overpriced.
(post #13158, reply #23 of 91)
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Theodora D.
Love the photos, even tho it seems as if they saturate the colors abit. Hate the prices. I too have ordered from the WFF bulb catalog both before AND after the Daffodil Mart was made an offer they couldn't refuse from WFF.
(post #13158, reply #24 of 91)
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Oh, OK, I agree on the price thing, definitely.
(post #13158, reply #25 of 91)
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My Singing Spring Nursery and Plant Delight catalogs arrived yesterday. I about drowned myself with all the drool that was produced! I see a lot of variegated stuff I want to order.
(post #13158, reply #26 of 91)
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Why not I get Singing Springs?
Of course, this is like a drowning person asking, "Why aren't you throwing me gold coins?"
(post #13158, reply #27 of 91)
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Lookee what I found while looking for Singing Springs Nursery..a site that collects evaluations of mail order nurseries:
http://pbmfaq.dvol.com/list/
I'm going to spend a few minutes checking this site out. Do any of you know anything about it?
(post #13158, reply #28 of 91)
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Um, yes. Don't let me ruin the joy of your discovery, Theodora, but this link has been enshrined in the "References and Resources" folder for some time now, under "Mail Order Catalogues and Collected Opinions link". I believe it was Jean that brought it to our attention some time back. Great site - aside from the honest opinions entered by anyone who feels so inclined, it's a great place to get URL's, phone #'s, and mailing addresses. I use it often, but the testimonials must be taken with a grain of salt. Lots of good reading there for sure.
(post #13158, reply #29 of 91)
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Got home last night from the Bahamas to find a stack of mail including several catalogs. A couple worth mentioning are Select Seeds - Antiques Flowers (www.selectseeds.com) and Seneca Hill Perennials (www.senecahill.com). Select Seeds is home of that glorious nicotiana I grew last year. Seneca Hill, of course, is one of the homes of Phlox 'Jeana'. The print catalog has no pictures but great descriptions and the website makes up for it with great photos!
(post #13158, reply #30 of 91)
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Oops, thank you though, because you have given me a good idea. I can spend some of these winter hours going through all the folders and discussions that happened before I stumbled here. And with cabin fever it is a good solution. I am about to go out and find a large city and spend money, so I need a distraction.