It’s that time of year again! Time to peruse, study, choose and order all your seeds, and even berries and trees and shrubs and perennials and summer flowering bulbs from the many wonderful and trustworthy purveyors who send out extraordinary catalogs each winter. Ryan, my gardener, and I await with pleasure the arrival of new seasonal catalogs, and we collect them all in one place and then start reading and choosing, marking with post-its and red circles, our choices for the upcoming growing season. It is so much fun to read and choose and dream about what will actually be in the garden this year as opposed to last and years past.

This year, I am concentrating on fewer varieties of each vegetable (for example, last year we grew 14 types of tomatoes), focusing instead on more different types of vegetables. I really need only six to eight different tomatoes, but I do want fava beans, lima beans, red runner beans, Russian kale and a good collard. I am also growing many more perennial flowers to add to the new flower borders, which last year did not produce enough cut flowers for my taste. I really want more delphinium, more asters, more sweet peas, etc.

So this weekend is being spent at the dining room table, in the sunshine (hopefully), going through this year’s pile of “books." When the seeds arrive, we will show you what we ordered. The list of seed growers that we use is included here. Many of these catalogs are also online for your ordering pleasure. Have as much fun as I am going to have!

[albumid2 id="SeedCatalogs"]

• Seeds from Italy, PO Box 3908, Lawrence, KS 66046, Phone: 785-748-0959, Fax: 785-748-0609, www.GrowItalian.com
• The Lily Garden, 4902 NE 147^th Ave., Vancouver, WA 98682-6067, Phone: 360-253-6273 Fax: 360-253-2512, www.thelilygarden.com, orders@thelilygarden.com
• B&D Lilies, PO Box 2007, Port Townsend, WA 98368, Phone: 360-765-4341, Fax: 360-765-4074, www.bdlilies.com
• Old House Gardens, 536 Third St., Ann Arbor, MI 48103, Phone: 734-995-1486, www.oldhousegardens.com
• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, PO Box 460, Mineral, VA 23117, Phone: 540-894-9480 Fax: 540-894-9481, www.SouthernExposure.com, Gradens@SouthernExposure.com
•  Van Engelen Inc., 23 Tulip Drive, PO Box 638, Bantam, CT 06750, Phone: 860-567-8734, Fax: 860-567-5323, www.vanengelen.com
• Annie’s, 740 Market Avenue, Richmond, CA 94801-2135, Phone: 888-266-4370, www.anniesannuals.com
• Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, 7900 Daffodil Lane, Gloucester, VA 23061, Phone: 877-661-2852, Fax: 804-693-9436, www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com
• Kelly Nurseries, Division of Plantron, Inc, 410 8^th Ave, N.W., Faribault, Minnesota 55021, Phone: 507-334-1623, www.KellyNurseries.com
• Stark Bros, PO Box 1800, Louisiana, Missouri 63353, Phone: 800-325-4180, www.StarkBros.com
• Rare Find Nursery, 957 Patterson Rd., Jackson, NJ 08527, Phone: 732-833-0613, Fax: 732-833-1623, www.rarefindnursery.com, support@rarefindnursery.com
• Kitazawa Seed Co, 201 4th St #206, Oakland, CA  94607, Phone: 510-595-1188, Fax: 510-595-1960, www.kitazawaseed.com, seeds@kitazawaseed.com
• Farmer Seed and Nursery, Division of Plantron, Inc., 818 NW 4th Street, Fairbault, MS  55021, 507-334-1623, customercare@farmerseed.com, www.farmerseed.com
• Jung Seeds & Plants, 335 S. High Street, Randolph, WI  53957, Phone: 800-247-5864, Fax: 800-692-5864, info@jungseed.com, www.jungseed.com
• R.H. Shumways, 334 W. Stroud Street, Ste. 1, Randolph, WI 53956, Phone: 800-342-9461, Fax: 888-437-2733, www.rhshumway.com
• Burgess Seed & Plant Co., 1804 E. Hamilton Road, Bloomington, IL  61704, 309-662-7761, customercare@eburgess.com, www.eburgess.com
• Select Seeds, 180 Stickney Hill Road, Union, CT  06076, Phone: 800-684-0395, Fax: 800-653-3304, info@selectseeds.com, www.selectseeds.com
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds, 966 Benton Ave., Winslow, Maine 04901, Phone: 877-564-6697, Fax: 800-738-6314, www.johnnyseeds.com
• Vermont Beat Seed Company, 334 W. Stroud St., Randolph, WI  53956, Phone: 800-349-1071, Fax: 888-500-7333, info@vermontbean.com, www.vermontbean.com
• Territorial Seed Company, P.O. box 158, Cottage Grove, OR  97424-0061, Phone: 800-626-0866  Fax:  888-657-3131, www.TerritorialSeed.com
• John Scheepers Kitchen and Garden Seeds, 23 Tulip Drive, P.O. Box 638, Bantam, CT  06750, Phone: 860-567-6086, Fax:  860-567-5323, www.kitchengardenseeds.com
• McClure & Zimmerman, 333 S. High Street, Randolph, WI  53956, Phone: 800-883-6998, Fax: 800-374-6120, infor@mzbulb.com, www.mzbulb.com
• Seeds of Change, P.O. Box 152, Spicer, MN 56288, Phone: 888-762-7333 Fax: 320-796-6036, www.seedsofchange.com
• Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, 5045 Robinson Canyon Road, Ellenburg, WA  98926, Phone: 509-933-7150, www.irisheyesgardenseeds.com
• Natural Gardening Company, P.O. box 750776, Petaluma, CA  94975-0776, Phone: 707-766-9303, Fax: 707 766 9747, www.naturalgardening.com, info@naturalgardening.com
• Sow True Seed, 146 Church Street, Asheville, North Carolina 28801, Phone: 828-254-0708, Fax: 828-254-0709, www.sowtrueseed.com
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, 2278 Baker Creek Road, Mansfield, MO  65704, Phone: 417-924-8917, Fax: 417-924-8887, www.rareseeds.com
• Seed Savers Exchange, 3094 North Winn Road, Decorah, Iowa 52101, Phone: 563-382-5990, www.seedsavers.org
• Adaptive Seeds, 25079 Brush Creek Road, Sweet Home, OR  97386, Phone: 541-367-1105, www.adaptiveseeds.com
• Totally Tomatoes, 334 West Stroud Street, Randolph, WI  53956, Phone: 800-345-5977, Fax: 888-477-7333, www.totallytomato.com