When it comes time to shop for flower seeds and plants for the cutting garden, mail-order catalogs differ greatly in what they offer. Here are some of my favorite ones. I tend to favor those that devote sections to cut flowers and everlastings.

Burpee

Burpee has been around for 131 years. This is a great source for cutting varieties. Their catalog features a complete cutting garden seed collection, which includes nine kinds of seed packs along with plant markers you can use in the rows.

The Burpee catalog is well-organized and easy to use. The 2006 edition had over a hundred pages. There is an index.

You can order by calling the toll-free number, mail, fax, and online.


The Cook’s Garden

I like this catalog because it has an entire section for cut flowers. This lists the individual flower varieties. In addition, they also sell seed collections as well that are appropriate for cutting gardens. In addition, The Cook’s Garden has floral supplies. This catalog is easy to use and has an index.

You can order by toll-free number, online, fax, and by mail.


Dutch Gardens

This company specializes in bulbs, but also sells some plants as well. A symbol under the plant name shows which varieties are good for cut flowers.

Dutch Gardens issues a fall catalog featuring hardy bulbs and plants. In addition, there is also a spring issue with tender summer flowering bulbs. They sell top size bulbs, which are shipped direct from Holland at planting time.

You can order by toll free number, mail, fax, and online.



Nichols Garden Nursery

For floral designers, Nichols catalog is very helpful. This devotes a section to everlastings. They also sell cut flower preservative. Easy to use, this catalog has a helpful index. For each variety, there is a description and complete details. These seeds are untreated.
You can order by toll-free number, mail, fax, email, and online.


Renee’s Garden

Renee’s doesn’t have a print catalog. However, it is available online. This offers a collection of seeds for cutting gardens as well as one of sweet peas, which would also be great for those interested in floral design.

Renee’s seed packs are unique. They’re best known for their lovely water colors. These also feature complete details about planting the seeds.

In addition to heirloom varieties, Renee’s offers the very best new flowers and herbs from Europe and elsewhere.

The premium quality seeds are available online at the website as well as at local independent garden centers and nurseries. You can also order by mail and fax.
Next time, we’ll look at a few herb catalogs along with some others.