The Best Of The Best Catalogs

Last week we took a look at the tangled web of companies offering garden seed and some hard goods but this week the theme is family-owned businesses and companies you can trust for seed, plants and bulbs.

The Klehm family, owners of Klehm’s Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery in Wisconsin, has a long and lustrous history in the perennial business and they are known worldwide for their breeding work in peonies and daylilies. This is a classy operation, as is evidenced by the fact that they give catalog credits to the breeders for each plant they offer and they’re very clear that they ship peony roots only in the fall, when they’re dug.

Now you can buy peony roots from other vendors and they’ll ship them in the spring, but these roots were dug the previous fall and stored in refrigeration for six months or more. It’s no secret that peonies are best dug and planted in the fall. The trick is to place your order now, as most varieties sell out by fall planting time. The roots aren’t cheap, running from $20 on up per root but you get 2-year-old roots with three to five eyes, and that’s top quality.

Klehm’s also has similar quality offerings in daylilies but these are shipped April through November, which is fine as daylilies can be dug and shipped during the growing season without any problems so long as they get adequate moisture when planted. Again, the prices are steep, running from $19 to $45 for a double-fan division but keep in mind that most of these are collector varieties that you’ll rarely, if ever, find even at the finest garden centers.

The catalogs also have outstanding offerings of hostas. Again, with breeder names, as these too are for collectors and not folks who want to plant 100 of one variety. Or maybe some do.

Niche Gardens in North Carolina is one of those smallish nurseries that I love because they’ve retained their freshness and enthusiasm through 25 years of growing native plants and wildflowers as perennials, grasses, ferns, shrubs and vines. It’s where I got my favorite Baptisia Purple Smoke that blew me away when I saw it at a pool-side planting at dusk.

Niche maintains relationships with other small growers and breeders, which allows the company to bring little-known plants to the gardening world before everyone else discovers them. The prices are very reasonable and the catalog is very clear about what size pot the plants ship in.

The catalog descriptions are lengthy, helpful and accurate. Read the descriptions carefully, though, because since the business is located in North Carolina, it does offer a few plants that may be marginally hardy out here. But then that’s the kind of challenge a good gardener likes.

Territorial Seed Company from Oregon is another family-owned business that has been around for more than 25 years and just keeps getting better. Unlike other seed companies, Territorial does its own seed testing and growing trials. There’s nothing better than in-house trials to help you supply customers with the best growing and best tasting vegetables.

This catalog is a great garden reference that you’ll want to take good care of. It’s one of the largest and most comprehensive catalogs available during these days of downsizing.

Most exciting to me though is that this year Territorial is offering grafted tomatoes. I wrote about these last year and the fact that farmers have been having such great success with them in terms of yields and disease resistance. No, they are not mutations or the results of genetic manipulations but great tomato plants grafted onto tomato root stocks that are known to be disease-resistant and hardier than the plants you’d grow from seed.

Prices range from $7 to $11.50 per plant but I’m pretty confident that you’ll see a striking difference from similar varieties grown from seed. I’m sure they’ll be in short supply, and since they’re shipped from Oregon you should ask about expedited shipping.

If you’re looking for herb, vegetable and flower seed (and seedlings) from a company which is dedicated to only organic seed, then Seeds of Change in California is a place to check out. This is another catalog that should be a garden reference that you’ll use and save.

Each vegetable category has not only information specific to each variety, but a lengthy section that includes a description of the optimal growing conditions; how and when to start the seeds, including planting and transplanting information; complete harvest and storage details; and what to expect and what you can do about diseases and insects that might be particular to the group. This is great information for beginners, as well as an important reminder for those of us who may need memory updates.

For bulbs and the like, I’ve always been partial to Brent and Becky’s Bulbs in Virginia. They are family-owned and run and Brent Heath is one of the country’s top bulb experts. He travels to teach and lecture extensively.

Another interesting thing about this firm is that it was once gobbled up by a larger company. But, to our great fortune, it was able to break away from the tendrils of big business and come back to us.

You’ll find all the usual spring and fall bulbs in the Brent and Becky’s catalog and collections of other unusual roots, tubers and geophytes as well. An example is the wide offerings of alocasia and calocasia. Generally known as “elephant ears” for their large and floppy tropical foliage, you usually find one or two varieties of these plants in catalogs but here there are no less than 18 with variations in foliage color, texture, size and habit including venations that are just remarkable. There’s also a great assortment of caladiums and a smattering of perennials.

For hardy garden lilies—be they orienpet hybrids, trumpets, martigons, doubles or orientals—B&D Lilies in Washington is at the top of my list. Many of these lilies are best dug and planted in the fall, so again, it’s critical to do your ordering now through the spring to ensure fall delivery.

The newer and most popular varieties invariably sell out here. It’s not uncommon to find out long after you’ve ordered that a variety won’t be available in any given year because the company has to wait to see how the crop does before knowing what the inventory will be. At times I’ve had to wait two years to get a special variety that’s in short supply.

Since orders are shipped from Oregon, these bulbs need to be planted within days of arrival, unlike bare root perennials or trees which can be heeled in for weeks before planting. Know where they’re going and get the planting directions from the website so you know how they’re planted then get ready for some spectacular blooms and scents the following summer.

By the way, the orienpet hybrids are pretty neat.

Keep growing.