One of my favorite gardening activities in January is perusing the seed catalogs that magically appear in my mailbox. This year, I have received three of them so far.
The new one is R.H. Shumway's Illustrated Garden Guide (www.rhshumway.com). This catalog is laid out like an old-fashioned Sears and Roebuck catalog. It is printed on newsprint, the descriptions are written like magazine articles and the illustrations are hand drawn sketches. I've never ordered anything from them before but their prices seem competitive and shipping is reasonable. The old timey style gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling that makes me want to try them out.
Burgess Seed & Plant Company (www.eBurgess.com or www.DirectGardening.com) is the old standard. I remember looking at this catalog when it arrived at my home as a child. I love Burgess because they always throw in some free seeds or bulbs and they have sales, which appeals to my bargain hunter soul. Their prices are also very good but their shipping is higher ($9.99 per order).
My favorite seed catalog is Pinetree Garden Seeds (www.superseeds.com). They have all the varieties I like to plant and I'm able to purchase small quantities for my small garden spaces. They also have the least expensive shipping charges of the three companies.
Even though I order all my seed on-line, I love to do my shopping with the paper catalogs. Two important things to consider while dreaming about mouth watering vegetables and traffic stopping floral displays: these seed companies are all based in northern states and (bless their hearts) they have no idea how gardening is different in the south; they grow their test plants in optimal environments so their results are always going to look much better than mine.
It's time to go shopping for 2016! So many seeds . . .
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