Every year the seed companies come out with an abundance of "new and improved" flowers and vegetables. It's very satisfying to try at least one new variety and follow it from seed to mature garden plant. Unfortunately, at least half the time, they don't live up to my expectations, or the glowing descriptions I read in the catalog. 

         

You can order most seed and plant catalogs online

A notable example of a flower I didn't like was 'African Queen,' the first yellow impatien. It looked tall, strange and kind of weedy in my border. It was described in the catalog as "stately" with exotic beauty. Different terminology--but basically the same thing!

          I've also learned never to go strictly by the photographs in the catalog. Many times they show a plant bountifully covered in blossoms. What they have done is taken many flower sprigs and photographed them all together. Another stratagem is taking close-ups of individual blooms to make them appear much larger and more impressive then they are on the real plant. When the photo is of only one flower (not the whole plant) it's usually because the blossoms are small and inconspicuous.

          One of the things I do look for when choosing seeds is the AAS (All America Selection) designation. This means that it has been tested in trial gardens all over the country and found to be a significant improvement over existing types. Rarely will you go wrong growing one of these flowers or vegetables.

          If a plant is described as "exclusive" to that company or catalog, it is usually a pretty good bet (the 'African Queen,' notwithstanding). If the grower is jealously guarding their patent, there is probably a good reason. Many times they will say a plant is "new" but don't confuse this with exclusive. It only means it is new to their catalog. The variety may have been around forever, but it has just been added to their inventory this year. Exclusive doesn't always mean that either. One year two catalogs claimed the 'French vanilla' marigold as exclusive to only their company.

          Don't let all these warnings keep you from trying something different this year. If I hadn't, I never would have discovered some of my favorite annuals. There are many seed catalogs that have sites on the net (I've listed my favorites below). For more comprehensive listings try Cindi's Catalog of Gardening Catalogs or mailordergardening.com

Source List:

Burpee

300 Park Avenue
Warminster, PA 18991-0001
http://burpee.com/

Renee's Garden Seeds

7389 W. Zayante Rd.
Felton, CA 95018
1-888-880-7228 or FAX 1-831-335-7227
http://www.reneesgarden.com/

Johnny's Selected Seeds

Foss Hill Road
Albion, ME  04910
1-207-437-4301
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

Thompson & Morgan, Inc.

P. O. Box 1308
Jackson, NJ 08527-0308
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/

Park Seed Co.

Cokesbury Road
Greenwood, SC 29647-0001
http://www.parkseed.com/