How do I order from Mail Order Catalogues, and why would I want to?

Well, for the beginning gardener, January might seem like an odd time of year to be thinking about gardening, but in fact this is the best part of the winter - when the mail order catalogues come out, and we can page through them and dream of next year's garden. But this does bring to mind a couple of obvious questions. Why would I want to order from a catalogue, when there are plenty of seeds and plants available from my local garden centres? And why would I want to start plants from seeds? The garden centres are full of plants every spring, and starting seeds seems like a lot of work. Is it worth it?

These are good questions, ones that I asked myself only a couple of years ago. But curiosity got the better of me, and I sent away for a few catalogues just to see what all the fuss was about. And that answered one of my questions right away. The mail order catalogues contain many, many more varieties of plants then are available at the garden centres. There are so many, in fact, that it is totally overwhelming. Add to that the fact that many specialty companies sell hard-to-get seeds and plants, and it becomes even more compelling. You can get seeds for things like heritage plants (old varieties and cultivars from years past), native plants (plants that grew in a given area before humans started to introduce alien species), and plant varieties good for short growing seasons (great for us northern gardeners), to name a few. The mail order catalogues offer more then just seeds. You can also get bulbs, corms, bare root stock, plants, and often a variety of garden tools and accessories.

..next..

How do I order from Mail Order Catalogues, and why would I want to?
Why start plants from seeds?
Sending away for mail order catalogues
Deciding what to order

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