The weeks that follow the holiday season can be so dreary. The nights are long, weather is cold and there are few signs of life evident anywhere. The depressing realization settles in that the road to spring is long and dark.
But lo!, what should appear in my mailbox to brighten my dark winter days? Why, it’s the first of the gardening catalogs! Huzzah!! One of the earliest harbingers of spring has arrived.
To paraphrase: Yes, MrVintageMan, there really is a growing season.
I count myself fortunate that there are two really good nurseries within easy driving distance from where I live. Over the years both of these nurseries have added quite a few native and drought tolerant plants to their inventory. The plant selection they have on hand during the growing season are usually plentiful and diverse.
Unfortunately, no matter how well stocked a local nursery is, there is no way for it to have in stock every plant a gardener might desire. And that, my friends, is where mail order nurseries (and their wonderful catalogs) come in. By providing plants for a national customer base, these mail order nurseries tend to specialize and so they are able to offer a much larger variety and inventory.
While I often view a mail order nursery’s catalog online, there is just something almost spiritual about lying in bed on a cold winter night perusing tangible garden catalogs, flipping through the pages and imagining how these plants might look my garden in the months ahead. This feeling is something no digital catalog can possibly replicate.
Below is a list a few of my favorite garden catalogs; the ones I return to time and time again when I can’t find something that I absolutely must have and it’s not at one of my local nurseries:
High Country Gardens (High Country Gardens | Pioneers in Sustainable Gardening): located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, High Country Gardens is the go-to source for drought tolerant and xeric plants that are adapted to the harsh conditions of the American West. Correction: High Country Gardens is now based in Vermont! Apparently they were bought out a few years ago and moved their headquarters back East.
Bluestone Perennials (Bluestone Perennials — Home): based in Ohio, Bluestone Perennials is a more generalized nursery, one that provides plants that will grow throughout most of the United States. Most of the plants they offer do better in the wetter portions of the country. Still, they’ve got an inventory of over 1000 different plants and many will do quite well west of the Mississippi.
Prairie Moon Nursery (Prairie Moon Nursery): this nursery, based out of Wisconsin, is a excellent source for native plants. You can order natives in seed, plant or bareroot form.
White Flower Farm (White Flower Farm): this nursery out of Connecticut is a little pricey, but in addition to plants they sell tools, clothing, outdoor décor and much more. Much like Bluestone Perennials, their plant inventory is geared more toward the eastern part of the country, but many of their plants that will do well in the drier West.
Gardener’s Supply Company (Garden Tools, Planters, Raised Garden Beds +More | Gardener’s Supply): you won’t find many plants from this company (the ones they do offer are houseplants), but you can find all kinds of tools, lights, furniture, artwork and almost anything else your gardening heart might desire.
So there you go, MrVintageMan’s favorite garden catalogs. Now if you will excuse me, it’s time to kick back and idly spend the afternoon with my nose buried deep in a garden catalog.
