I loved Michael Pollan's Second Nature. Also his Botany of Desire.

My favorite catalogs (for visual impact and text, as opposed to price, service, etc) are: White Flower Farm, Plant Delights and Dutch Gardens.

get Plant Delights...it's great. www.plantdelights.com

Cindy

For fruit trees, I like Jung's (www.jungseeds.com) in Wisconsin and a new one called Edible Forest Nursery (www.edibleforestnursery.com)

For bulbs, try John Scheepers [this one has pictures--their wholesale division (vanEngelen) catalog doesn't]--I've found them to be the best source for mailorder bulbs. They've always shipped large, firm bulbs that have bloomed well the first season after planting--not my experience with Dutch Gardens.

For new, sometimes unnamed perennials, Heronswood is a favorite--comprehensive and well-written.

And for sheer entertainment value, Plant Delights nursery--not a lot of offerings for zone 5 gardeners, but laugh-out-loud copy.

Song Sparrow (formerly Klehm's) produces a beautiful catalog, propagates plants in Wisconsin, has peonies and hemerocallis offered nowhere else, and ships fairly large plants for the price.

Good luck.

thanks for the referral to john scheepers, designwoman... it was funny, when your reply showed up in my e-mail box, I was AT THAT VERY MOMENT, looking through a dutch gardens catalogue for lily and glad bulbs... so I decided I'd look at Scheepers instead but they are 100 percent sold out until the autumn, I guess. Well, at least I have requested a catalogue for then-- I can order my lilies in the fall. they have really good deals on the bulk naturlizing collections..

kristen

One of my favorite catalogs for unusual plants is "One Green World". Not only is the name catchy,but the plants are just that. Large, lush and green! The descriptions are very good, as are the pictures. I've ordered 3 Akebias from them and was totally amazed at their size and health. Check them out!

Hi,

Well, By now we are already into summer but there is always next year. I like Park Seeds. Thompson and Morgan is another good one although quite expensive but worth it.

Bluestone, High Country Gardens, and Prairie Nursery.

My all time favorite is Select Seeds. Unusual seeds, beautifully photographed and described. Reasonably priced, too.

So many catalogs, so little time! Ithink I've learned at least as much from catalogs as from gardening magazines and books. Learned so much from ForestFarm I feel a need to recommends them in thanks, and they sell more plants more reasonably than anyone else I know. Brent and Becky Bulbs for--guess what! and other things too. I have folders saved of on-line catalogs I spend hours dreaming over.

Has anyone else seen Plant Delights' latest catalog "cartoon" cover? I thought it was kind of offensive.

Take a look and tell me what you think:

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Delights

Theatrum Botanicum (www.greenstranger.com) and Hudson (www.jlhudsonseeds.net).

Van Engelen for bulbs; Bluestone for perennials, especially in multiples; Wayside Gardens for one-of-a-kind perennials, shrubs, trees and dreams (really superb photos); Stark's for fruit trees; Vermont Beans for beans and peas; PineTree mostly for excellent variety of veggie seeds, also plants and bulbs are good quality and price, catalog is good only for those who know what they want (few pics but good text); Parks to get whatever I couldn't find at PineTree, and occasionally on-line sales (usually very good end-of-season prices).

I loved the most recent issue of Plant Delights' cover! I guess it depends on your politics and your appreciation of satire.

I love Select Seeds and Perennial Pleasures Nursery, and Thompson and Morgan!

I love and have had really excellent results with White Flower Farm. They have a beautiful catalogue, I have never been disappointed with them either. (except if they were sold out of something I waited too long to order)
Gilbet H Wild and Sons, catalogue is OK, prices are great and any orders I have received have been top notch.
Wayside Gardens has a lovely catalogue, but my experience has been hit and miss with them. Usually any order I have had, at least 1 or 2 things are dead or not viable. They replace them, but I find that the replacements aren't any better.
Song Sparrow Nursery has a beautiful catalogue.
John Scheepers has a great catalogue too, this is the first year I've ordered from them. I still haven't received my order, but from reading GW forums, I can't wait. Everyone seems to be very happy with them.
I haven't even finished planting my fall orders, and I can't wait for the spring catalogues, I have a few ideas and can hardly wait till December. Hope these suggestions helped.

Thompson and Morgan is outstanding

I put catalogs basically into two categories. In the first one there are catalogs beutifully printed, wonderful photos etc. In this category my favorite this year is Tantau's rose catalog, and I used to love Wayside's rose catalog (this year I have not received it yet).

In the second category I put those that have very useful and detailed information re how to grow, fertilize, protect certain plants. Right now two of these come to mind, both are seed catalogs: Stokes is the best in terms of useful info, timing, germination info or what kind of fertilzere should be used and when. West coast's of British Columbia was the other one I found very informative and tailored to the needs of home gardeners. Pity that they stopped sending me their catalog.

Shooting Star sells natives. They are in Kentucky and have an outstanding selection of plants you can't get elsewhere. Good quality, too. Tripplebrook Farm in MA has a great selection of natives as well, but they also specialize in Bamboo. Sunlight Gardens is another winner with EXCELLENT, personal service and a great color catalog of natives. Plant Delights and Arrowhead Alpines are very enjoyable catalogs with unbelievable selections, but the former is pricey and the latter has less-than-friendly service. Heronswood, of course, is incredible. Let me not forget Hillside, which sells very fine natives, and last, but not by any means least the Glickster at Sunshine Farms and Gardens...talk about your esoteric selection!! Only internet, though... see the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunshine Farm and Gardens

My all time favorite catalog is Nichol's Garden Nursery Catalog. They are located Oregon. It's not big on pictures but, it does have a very wide variety of herbs and vegies, lots of fun and different plants. The herbs I've ordered from them were twice as large as what I find at the local nurseries and very healthy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nichol's Garden Nursery

I just recieved a catalog from
Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm
it's now my new favorite catalog

http://www.songsparrow.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm

Pinetree garden is inexpensive and so is T's flowers and things (although she runs on a limited operation)...... and sometimes runs out of seeds (T's is only a web-based business)...... Pinetree garden has a catalogue and really excellent prices......

Can anyone suggest good Canadian catalogues for native shrubs and/or perennials (for wildlife gardening)?

A fun online catalogue is Edible Landscaping (their URL is "eat-it.com"). They have selections for both northern and southern climates, and lots of unusual fruiting plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Edible Landscaping

i agree with bluestone and wayside, but in my opinion dutch gardens prices have gone up and the quality down.

What are your favorites for trees, especially fruit trees?

Check this link out for a list of catalogs, including price on some not free :)
Perri

Here is a link that might be useful: Free Catalogs

Any company that you would never order from again and why.

I am surprised that your respondants here failed to point out one important criterion for catalogs and mail or online ordering: shipping costs. These will be much less for you if you order from nurseries west of the Rockies. One nursery I can recommend is Forest Farms in Oregon. Not a "beautiful" catalogÂno pictures and only so-so (but clear!) typographyÂwith extensive listings of trees and shrubs and a good assortment of uncommon perennials. ItÂs thick.

Whichever catalogs you might request, you can check out nurseries performance ratings (regarding service, quality, price, etc.) at Garden Watchdog (formerly gardenwatchdog.com). ItÂs free, non-spamming and as anonymous as you want it to be with, overall, very good reviews from gardeners like us.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Watchdog

Yes, love his books.

Tis the season! Let's bump it back up!

My favorites 6 years later are... Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds and Seeds of Change. I'm also increasingly a fan of Fedco.

Does it matter where the company is located? I live in coastal GA. Should you order from companies that are relatively close to your area?
I like Parks. It seems pretty inexpensive. I look for that because there is a good chance that what I buy may not make it.

I'm amazed! I thought I had them all (laugh!). I'm surprised no one mentioned Raintree Nursery, they are in Washington State and Online. I've been working on an edible landscape and they have a huge fun selection of excellent quality. Prices are pretty close to average. The horticulture staff is excellent. The customer service is very personal (can you tell I like them?)lol... I do occasionally put up with Gurney because of their bargains, especially if you wait until the last minute - really cheap stuff , good if you're landscaping five acres of wilderness. If you call the regular phone number you can get a real person. If you e-mail customer service you can lock into a real person - but there doesn't seem to be any hort people on staff and their 800 number is a phone bank in India. Fruit trees (and I have an orchard full), I have ordered from Raintree and Starks. Starks has great quality and great hort staff. For flowers, I pretty much stick to bulbs because I need for them to naturalize... I just received my first order from White Flower Farm and the quality looks good. Bluestone is expensive but their quality is outstanding. Thanks for all the leads!