… and these Thy gifts …

I don’t know what these are (yet) or I’ve forgotten; they’re right in the front yard welcoming guests

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Playing with photo editing software

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Galanthus nivalis

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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:

White Flower Farm | Garden Watchdog Review
D. Landreth Seed Company |Garden Watchdog Review
Musser Forests |Garden Watchdog Review
Dripworks | Garden Watchdog Review
Seed Savers Exchange | Garden Watchdog Review
High Country Gardens | Garden Watchdog Review
Horizon Herbs | Garden Watchdog Review
Forest Farm | Garden Watchdog Review
Mischel’s Greenhouses | Garden Watchdog Review
Wildseed Farms | Garden Watchdog Review
Kinsman Company | Garden Watchdog Review

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started 28 January 2008 and succeeding days:

Row 1

1. valeriana officinalis - valerian
2. satureja montana - winter savory
3. salvia officinalis - broadleaf sage
4. rosmarinus
5. pisum sativum - snow pea
6. perennial oregano
7. marrubium vulgare - horehound
8. spearmint
9. levisticum officinale - lovage
10. cress fine curled
11. inula helenium - elecampane
12. hyssopus officinalis
13. arugula - germinated week of 2/11/08, some died, okay again 3/25/08
14. carum carvi - caraway

Row 2

1. purple top white globe turnip
2. flowering chinese leek
3. bellis perennis
4. aubretia - sprouts 3/25/08!!
5. stachys byzantina
6. antirrhinum majus Night and Day
7. agastache rugosa honey bee white - mexican mint - 24″ to 32″ tall
8. tradescantia andersoniana
9. anchusa azurea
10. pansy black - sprouts 3/25/08!!
11. herb thyme old english
12. phormium
13. geranium Black Magic
14. polyanthus Gold Lace
15. lychnis Molten Lava - sprouts 3/25/08!!!

Row 3:

1. sisyrinchium bellum
2. viola odorata Queen Charlotte
3. herb parsley wild - sprouts 3/25/08!!!
4. four o’clock, from Bethany - sprouts 3/25/08!!
5. monarda - Red Shades - Fedco
6. muscari
7. ratibida columnaris - Mexican Hat
8. gloriosa daisy
9. wildflowers (American Meadows) - sprouts 3/25/08!!
10. wildflowers (Fothergills
11. mixed sunflowers - Yena
12. sunflower giant single - sprouts 3/25/08!!
13. bellis perennis
14. Wood Prairie Farm Fall and Winter Mix (salad)
15. scabiosa black and white

Row 4:

1. gypsophila Covent Garden
2. ipomoea morning glory small blue - sprouts
3. Papaver nudicale poppy iceland
4. penstemon strictus
5. scabiosa pink purple
6. salvia azurea
7. stokes aster blue
8. scabiosa columbaria nana - germinated 3/6/08
9. shasta daisy sprouts 3/25/08
10. gaillardia
11. candytuft - 2 kinds of seeds(?) — small and REALLY LARGE
12. sprouts 3/25/08
13. Forellenschluss lettuce sowed 3/6/08 - sprouts 3/25/08
14. Arnica - sowed 3/6/08
15. Lingue de Camarino Lettuce (sowed 3/6/08) - sprouts 3/25/08

Row 5, Sowed 3/6/08:

1. Lady’s Mantle (sowed 3/6/08) - #104
2. Lavender
3. Sweet Valentine Lettuce - sprouts 3/25/08
4. Rue
5. Lemon Balm #108
6. Borage
7. Wild Bergamot
8. Rose de Berne tomato
9. Aunt Lilian’s Yellow tomato
10. Golden Gopher Muskmelon (the beginning of trust )
11. Borettana Cipollini onion
12. Par-Cel Cutting Celery
13. Golden Purslane (first in Fage yogurt cup) #116
14. Chervil
15. Sweet Basil
16. Caraway and Early Jalapeno Hot Pepper

Part 2 here.

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- we traveled twice to St. Lou/Cape and back
- I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; The Omnivore’s Dilemma; Persuasion; Northanger Abbey; finishing up Mansfield Park today
- tried out Door-to-Door Organics and didn’t like it
- wintersowed roughly 46 seeds, with at least 4x more coming in the next few weeks
- changed our phone plan to something $10 cheaper and has an additional phone continue reading

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I finished up the last of my seeds of the ff:

Mentha spicata – Spearmint – Plantation 2006
Rosmarinus officinalis - Fothergills
Marrubium vulgare – Horehound – Fedco 2004
Bellis perennis – English Daisy True Wild Type – JL Hudson 2004
Mirabilis jalapa unknown color 2005
Brassica rapa – Purple Top White Globe Turnip – Seeds of Change 2002
Rudbeckia hirta Gloriosa daisy rustic colors from trade 2004
Wildflower Mix American Meadows 2007
Monarda didyma Panorama Red Shades Bee Balm Fedco 2004
Satureja montana – Winter savory – Fedco 2004
Inula helenium – Elecampane – Fedco 2004
Salvia officinalis – Broadleaf sage – Fedco 2004
Stachys byzantina 2004 self-gathered
Pisum sativum – Sugar Pod 2 Snow Pea – Seeds of Change 2004
Polyanthus Gold Lace – Mr. Fothergill’s 2007
Perennial oregano
Chrysanthemum maximum Alaska - Shasta Daisy – Butchart 2005
Scabiosa mix pink-purple-maroon from trade 2004
Scabiosa columbaria ‘Nana’ from Donn 2004
Penstemon strictus from trade 2005
Gaillardia Blanket Flower from trade 2004
Stokesia laevis – from Carolyn 2004

so they’re now off my exchange list, and going into my “waiting for” pile. Hopefully they’ll sprout this year so I can get more seeds.

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