HerbDoc shares some of her favorite garden catalogs. Please feel free to share yours!

This is a wonderful time of year for gardeners.  Last year’s gardens have been put to bed, and the seed, nursery and tool catalogs have been stuffing my mailbox since just after Thanksgiving.  Is it just me, or were they extra early this year?  Now with snow on the ground and the holiday decorations put away, it’s time to sit down with last year’s notes, my box of saved seeds and the bounty of catalogs to plan the new season.

Since I’m heavily into herbs, heirlooms and sustainable plantings and practices, some of my favorite publications are:

1) Richters (Goodwood, Ontario LOC 1A0 Canada).  This 75 page catalog is a bonanza of almost every known herb, has great zone and historical information and wonderful products and books.  Plants or seeds are available.

2) Johnny’s Seeds (955 Benton Ave., Winslow, Maine 04901-2601).  Johnny’s is an employee-owned company that offers vegetable, herb, flower, fruit and cover crop seeds along with superb products and tools.  Valuable growing information is provided for each entry.

3)  Seeds of Change (c/o Marketing Concepts, PO Box 152, Spicer, MN 56288).  This company supplies only heirloom, open-pollinated and traditionally bred modern hybrids (no GMOs!); all are organic.  Owners believe that “Seed is the first link in a safe food chain.”

4)  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (2278 Baker Creek Rd., Mansfield, MO 65704).  This is an absolutely spectacular catalog filled with gorgeous photos, great descriptions and customer reviews for each listing.

5)  Gardens Alive! (5100 Schenley Place, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025).  All products offered are environmentally safe and all natural.  You’ll find products for your home, lawn, garden and pets, all of which have a 100% money back guarantee.  If you order by March 3^rd, you’ll get $25 off your (no minimum) order!

Two others that I couldn’t do without are Heirloom Roses (24062 NE Riverside Dr., St. Paul, OR 97137) which offers virus-free, winter hardy, own root roses from a very knowledgeable staff and Lee Valley Tools (PO Box 1780, Ogdensburg, NY 13669-6780), another Canadian company, that sells innovative, high quality tools for woodworking, gardening, and cooking as well as hardware.

All of these companies have on-line sites and some, like Johnny’s and Seeds of Change offer free email newsletters and updates.  I subscribe to these, but I just have to have to feel and smell  the catalog paper (with a huge bunch of stickies nearby!) to mark my favorites!