I’m so happy to have received my Seed Savers Exchange 2009 catalog this weekend! I joined as a member of both Seed Savers and the Flower and Herb Exchange. Since the weather got cold, I’ve been kind of sad about not being able to garden. Good news though – It’s time to start doing some mental gardening while I peruse the new catalog.
The Seed Savers Exchange catalog is just the beginning of the flood (I’m guessing). I expect I’ll probably receive a number of other catalogs in the mail. I love flipping through the various pictures and imagining what my garden will look like next year. I dog-ear pages I want to go back to; I circle items that I think will be interesting; and I ponder on which colors and varieties of seeds I like best.
Below is a list of seed companies that I have ordered from before. I’m interested in hearing about others, so please post suggestions in the comments.
Native Seeds (native plants for the Desert Southwest)
Seeds of Change
Tasteful Garden
The Cook’s Garden
Thompson & Morgan
J. L. Hudson, Seedsman
Companies I have yet to try:
Chocolate Flower Farm
Johnny’s Select Seeds
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
The last Rose of winter.
Taken a couple of weeks ago. It was hidden behind a clump of bushes in an untended part of the subdivision.
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
I think Karen and Tina were right when they suggested that I found leaves from a Sycamore tree. The pup and I went on a scouting mission this afternoon, and found some more evidence in the natural area between the two subdivisions.
Mottled Bark:
One of the trees:
I think we have a winner!
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
Each of these hoya blooms is smaller than my thumbnail.
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
Hydrangea have always been a favorite plant of mine. Growing up on the East Coast we had an Hydrangea plant that, if I remember correctly, was grown from a cutting of my paternal grandmother’s plant. Our yard was very shady, so I don’t remember a lot of blooms, but it was always a fantastic, elegant plant.
It wouldn’t have been easy to grow Hydrangea in Arizona, and it wouldn’t have made sense to grow it there anyway with so many great desert plants. No, Hydrangea would have to wait until I moved to a more temperate climate. Now that I am in Northern Virginia, I see Hydrangea of all kinds serving as landscape plants. Oh happy day!
Just before meeting friends at a local outdoor mall on Thursday, I happened upon what I believe to be a type of Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). I think this is my new favorite plant!
(Please forgive the somewhat blurry photos. All I had with me that day was my cell phone camera.)
For more information on Hydrangea, check out the American Hydrangea Society and a site by an AHS member.
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
I still don’t know what kind of tomato this was, but it sure was tasty. I’m saving the seeds for next year, so I can attempt them again.
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.its development.
My Hardy Ageratum is blooming!
I bought two of these last year, and this is the second bloom season since I purchased them. They are easy to propagate from cuttings, grow well in less than perfect soil (mucho clay in my yard), and are apparently a cultivated version of a local native. I’m really happy with this plant and I will definitely be taking cuttings before we move.
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.its development.
“The holly bears a berry, as red as any blood…” but before it gets there, it’s green, and then brown. The holly outside our townhouse is currently very brown, but quite attractive.
I never would have planted this myself, but I’m enjoying watching
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.its development.
