My Favorite Gardening Catalogs

stef — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:04:18 +0000

Ongoing attempt to reduce the clutter around here…. getting rid of all my favorite gardening catalogs; yes, I have quite the pile.

The first part are all companies I’ve shopped from before; Renee’s Garden I ordered from when it was still “Shepherd’s Garden Seeds” which was bought by White Flower Farm. Papa Geno’s I haven’t ordered from in years but there were 3 years in a row back in the ’90′s when I was ordering from them and I was always very happy with the service and plants. I’ve included links to Garden Watchdog Reviews, which I always check before ordering from a company unknown to me — though sometimes if the deals are too good to pass up I’ll go ahead and order even if they’ve received a bad review before, e.g., Gilbert’s and Sons from whom I ordered some really nice peonies back ‘in ’04.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds | Garden Watchdog Review
The Natural Gardening Company | Garden Watchdog Review — this company’s great to order from if you’ve tried to raise organic tomatoes and other plants from seed and failed, or you ran out of time, etc. — I ordered from them last year.
Kitazawa Seed Company | Garden Watchdog Review – the best source for Asian seeds
Pinetree Garden Seeds | Garden Watchdog Review
J.L. Hudson, Seedsman | Garden Watchdog Review – THE source for unusual, hard-to-find, rare seeds; you get quite an education just from the catalog.
Gardener’s Supply Company | Garden Watchdog Review — this is an okay company if you’ve got money to spend on their gardening landscaping supplies, etc. I look mainly for inspiration, though they did have a bargain on a cold frame I’d been wanting last fall, so I went ahead and got it. Thinking of getting their tomato, eggplant and flower supports this year.
Fedco Seeds | Garden Watchdog Review – if you’re looking for bargain organic seeds, this is the place. Love the old-time illustrations on the black and white (or I should say, black and grey) catalog. The seed packets aren’t pretty but they serve the purpose, hey.
Territorial Seed Company | Garden Watchdog Review – I believe this is the company from whom I ordered my asparagus crowns in ’04. They did well except we left the house before we could harvest anything significant.
Brent and Becky’s Bulbs | Garden Watchdog Review – no complaints here, love this company.
Gourmet Seed International | Garden Watchdog Review – has good bargains from time to time.
Gardens Alive | Garden Watchdog Review – like this company for its coupons (hee) and its natural pest control, fertilizer stuff, etc.
Wood Prairie Farm | Garden Watchdog Review – I got salad mixes from and Egyptian walking onions from this one, and potatoes which I’m going to try this year.
Specialty Perennials | Garden Watchdog Review – another purveyor of hard-to-find seeds, love their flowers; I got the prettiest lupines in ’04.
Seeds of Change | Garden Watchdog Review – the very first company I ordered organic seed from, back in ’98-’02 (?) — some were still viable last year!
The Cook’s Garden | Garden Watchdog Review – good source for herbs and other veggie seeds. Love that their catalog is illustrated by Mary Azarian, one of our favorite artists — she illustrated Snowflake Bentley.
ValueSeeds | Garden Watchdog Review – the bargains!
Swallowtail Garden Seeds | Garden Watchdog Review – pretty seed packets, again, some unusual seeds.
Botanical Interests | Garden Watchdog Review – how one would be able to resist these lovely seed packet artworks, I have no idea.
Renee’s Garden | Garden Watchdog Review
Papa Geno’s Herb Farm | Garden Watchdog Review
American Meadows | Garden Watchdog Review
The Butchart Gardens | Garden Watchdog Review — some of the hard-to-find seeds that Jefferson was growing at Monticello, I found here.
Raintree Nursery | Garden Watchdog Review — ordered raspberry and blueberry canes from them in ’04. They did okay but I don’t know how they are now at our previous home.

Haven’t bought from these, but I like to browse their catalogs for inspiration, and reference for future orders:

The Watchdog Top 30

... and these Thy gifts ... » catalogs

My Favorite Gardening Catalogs