On a Clarence Day when the gamey temperatures here in Minnesota will belike not get about minus-15 and the wind is making the garden look like an Arctic landscape , seminal fluid catalogs are like a cup of hot chocolate or a warm flaming — comforting , reliable and cheering .
The come catalogs have been arriving since just after Thanksgiving , but it ’s in these early weeks of January that the mailbox draw especially full and the catalogs throng up , waiting for the time when gardeners set off leafing through the pages , folding back edges , circling varieties that sound specially alluring . What await interesting in this year ’s catalog ?
TheBurpee’scatalog arrived with a huge photo of its young ‘ Steakhouse Hybrid ‘ tomato on the cover . Advertised as the “ world ’s biggest beefsteak , ” this new variety is supposed to get to 3 pounds with an heirloom sapidity . The seeds are pricey ( $ 6.25 a ingroup ) but it might be exciting to see just how big a tomato plant can get — and whether a self-aggrandizing tomato is a better Lycopersicon esculentum . Seed order is all about taking chances !
The book from Seed Savers Exchange was the first one to arrive this year, but many more seed catalogs are on their way.
cum Savers Exchange’scatalog is gorgeous with a colored mixing of beans on the cover — many in tad of blue , violet and pinko . This is always a favorite catalog , packed with old favorites and recently found heirloom varieties . One of the challenging new offerings isTall Utah cultivated celery . Celery is a challenge to grow in Minnesota and seldom has the thick stalk you see in the supermarket varieties — though it ’s often more saporous . That might be a industrial plant deserving trying this year . Or how about trying a unexampled butterhead lettuce called ‘ Gulley ’s Favorite . ’ I ’ve had great luck with Seed Savers ’ lettuces and a butterhead is a beautiful kickshaw in a salad . Or , how aboutMamie Brown ’s Pink beefsteak tomato , which boasts declamatory fruit with a utterly balanced relish .
The catalogue from Territorial Seed Co. is not as slick as some others , but this is a favourite seed provider among serious vegetable nurseryman . Territorial is promoting engraft Lycopersicon esculentum . ( Here ’s ablog postby Meleah Maynard about the drift . ) One of the Territorial offerings has two tomato plant diverseness on one industrial plant ! Grafted Lycopersicon esculentum have the vigor of their rhizome but the tone of the grafted variety . This is one way to get more production from heirloom varieties , which have corking flavor but are sometimes less fat . Territorial also has a graft basil that looks like alittle bonsai tree — a fragrant addition to the terrace garden .
I ’m also eye the herbaceous plant offering fromRichters , the gorgeous salad days fromBluestone Perennials , and the potatoes fromIrish Eyes Garden Seeds . But there are more catalogs to get including the beautiful catalogue fromBaker Creek Heirloom Seedsand the delightfully tomato plant - centricTomato Fest . They all make great version on a polar January night .
What is your pet garden catalog ?
