These Are the Most Interesting Seeds in This Year’s Gardening Catalogs
As gardening botanists, there are certain events that make our heads spin. The first week of soil temperatures that make spring planting safe. The day your first summer tomato is ready to pick. The morning when you check your seeds begins at the end of winter, and everything has already sprouted. But almost no event brings me such joy as receiving a new seed catalog. In December, most companies send out these messages filled with colorful plant pornography. You’d think we’d rush into them immediately, but since most of us are about to make some serious purchases, the gardeners I know are sitting on them and waiting for the day when they can really commit to the task.
Develop a Seed Purchasing Strategy
Browse the catalogs first without thinking about anything other than what you like. The dog’s ear is calling you, you dream of growing a rainbow of tomatoes, but at some point it’s time to get down to business. It doesn’t make a lot of financial sense to order from every seed company, so you’ll want to consolidate as many as possible. I start loading the web carts for each seed store and then start culling. Does the local seed store have any slow-blooming cilantro that can compete with the ones I see at Johnny’s? Take it there instead. Double check that you are not accidentally ordering two packets of seeds; I do this at least once a year. Consider which seeds you should buy in a larger package as they will last for several years. Once I’ve done as much consolidation and culling as possible, I look at what’s left to see the damage I’m about to do.
Share orders to save on shipping
At this point I reach out to my gardening friends to see who wants to combine orders. Since no seed company waives shipping fees, this is a great way to save money. As a bonus, I usually find that my friends order the same thing and we can split a packet of seeds. If you really want to save money, you might want to take this idea very seriously. For years, I discussed strategy with a friend during the planning stages. Each year we shared seeds and deliberately selected seeds together to share.
Don’t overlook small seed houses and leave room for experimentation.
No matter how hard you try, you’ll end up with a few smaller orders: a flower seed house that grows a poppy you can’t live without, or an Etsy seller who has agastache in five different colors. This is fine; Part of the joy of gardening is trying something new every year. I swear, every year I pick eight tomatoes to grow next year, and every year I add to my list.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
-
Harvest Moon Tomatoes : Johnny’s introduced three new tomatoes this year, but I really liked this one for its color and disease resistance. It imitates a larger heirloom in a smaller size, which means more fruit. Johnny’s has introduced two more new varieties: Strawberry Fields , a standard meaty red tomato, and Marmalade Skies , a golden-orange beef tomato.
-
Chalupa Romaine Lettuce: This bolt-resistant, fast-growing variety will produce better year-round and mean an earlier harvest. I’m very excited to try this.
-
Gershwin Pickles: These will be seedless (as long as you keep them away from other cucurbits so they don’t cross-pollinate) and produce an early harvest.
Burpee
-
Makah Ozette Potatoes : The New Disease-Resistant Fry Potato? I am inside.
-
Peppers, Sweet, First Taste : I’ve talked before about my love for small-sized sweet peppers, which grow much faster than full-sized ones, and usually sooner. This orange bell is on the must-have list for an early snack.
-
Salvia Gemstone : This new variety comes in purple, pink and red, and I picked up all three. Salvia has quickly become my favorite garden flower, and even though this information has been passed on to me, I say to you: Grow Salvia. She brings all the hummingbirds to my yard and stays on her stalks all season.
Floret Flower Farm
-
Zinnia Unicorn Mix : Floret is releasing its own hand-picked flowers for the first time in 2024, and the mixes are simply dreamy. These four foot tall zinnias are moving right in front of me.
-
Celosian coral reef . Growing celosia is so rewarding that those weird cockscombs are eye-catching and this color mix will be a success.
Botanical interests
-
Black Kat Pumpkins : I was all-in on white pumpkins last year, so these super dark green pumpkins going even darker are going to say yes to me. I imagine a black and white pumpkin arch over my garden. Squee.
-
Purple Emperor Trailing Nasturtiums : I love this unexpected color scheme in the trailer; it will look great in hanging baskets.
Rene’s garden
-
Early Jade Chinese Broccoli : I didn’t even know I wanted to grow Chinese broccoli until I saw this, but it makes a lot of sense in my spring garden. The harvest is short, so there will be room for summer.
Territorial seeds
-
Daisy Lambert Butterhead Lettuce : I need more lettuce seeds like a hole in my head, but look at her, she’s so pretty.
-
Coventry Carrots : I do well with Chantenay carrots and these tough little suckers are perfect for my garden. I hope to get them as soon as they arrive while the rain can germinate them.