Terra's Garden
Monthly Column by Terra Hangen

The best part of winter gardening involves relaxing on the sofa with a cup of hot tea beside me, and a stack of seed catalogs on my lap, while I choose seeds and plants for spring planting. Nowadays, this dreaming can involve my computer and online catalogs, instead of print catalogs. 

Online catalogs offer some advantages: no trees died to produce paper they are printed on, the garden company didn’t have to pay to print and mail them, and you can choose from an exotically vast array of seeds and plants. I have several seed companies send me their latest offerings and sales via email, which is very helpful. 

There are seed companies perfect for every need, and I will describe a few here for you to consider, to aid you in garden dreaming. One funny thing I’ve noticed and will confess here to you is that every year I get too enthusiastic and buy a few too many seed packets. All the seeds look so enticing. I don’t consider this over buying to be a true fault; I do plan to plant some left over seeds in my next garden. My left over seeds include the tantalizing Renee’s Garden Babette French baby carrots, and Easter Egg II Rainbow radishes, Botanical Interests Slow bolting cilantro, and Bentley Lilliput mixed colors zinnias. Do you too have a stash of unplanted seeds? 

Territorial Seed Company
Their motto is “Seeds and plants for wherever you live” and they pay special attention to offering ideal seeds for people with small gardens (urban gardeners). This company sells all manner of supplies including Victorian Bell cloches, heat mats and cables, and a full selection of seeds, including Oriental greens and vegetables, Pole and bush beans, Popcorn, and Flower mixes (Honey bee, Hummingbird, Deer resistant, etc.).
www.territorialseed.com
800-626-0866 

Heirloom Roses
Specializing in “the world’s most fragrant roses”, they offer old, new and unusual roses. You can search by color like purple or multi-color and 18 categories including “Winter hardy roses”, “Ramblers” and “Romantic roses.” There are articles and a rose hardiness map at www.heirloomroses.com.
503-538-1576 

Renee’s Garden Seeds
This company, noted for its delightful watercolor paintings of plants on its packets, sells heirloom and cottage garden flowers, herbs and vegetables from around the world, and two light hearted cookbooks written by Renee. Seeds range from Tomatillos “Fiesta Dio”, container lettuce “Garden babies”, “Siam queen” basil, to the white and scarlet “Garden Bells” penstemon and themed seed collections. Renee’s articles can be read at www.reneesgarden.com.
1-888-880-7228 

Oakes Daylilies
Described as “the result of a hobby gotten way out of hand”, these people obviously adore daylilies, sell 400 varieties, and proclaim that they send extremely large plants that will bloom the first year. www.oaksdaylilies.com
800-532-9545 

Victory Seed Company
“Preserving the future, one seed at a time”, Victory Seed sells open-pollinated and heirloom seeds. One excellent feature is their theme gardens where you can buy the seeds for suggested gardens: 18^th century kitchen garden, Bible-themed garden, Moon garden, World War II Victory garden, and also seed kits like Salsa kit and Heirloom tomato collection.
www.victoryseeds.com
This company has only 3 people working there, and since they are usually in the garden, they prefer online or fax orders: 503-829-3126 or email info@victoryseeds.com. 

Park Seed Company
This is a giant well known seed company, featuring wonderful flower and vegetable seeds, including “the sweetest corn ever, Mirai corn”, a new pale green eggplant “Raveena”, the Balloon flower “Astra blue” and the hardy Gardenia “Grif’s select”, so zone 6 and 7 gardeners can rejoice.
www.parkseed.com
800-213-0076 

Wayside Gardens
Another well known powerhouse that offers perennials, roses, trees and shrubs, and has been in business since 1916 is found at www.waysidegardens.com 800-213-0379. I signed up at the website for their free email newsletter which today features a new coreopsis and geranium, reblooming daylilies, hellebores for your shade garden, hostas and fruit trees. 

Brecks
Brecks “Direct to you from Holland since 1818” specializes in the best bulbs, spring blooming like tulips, daffodils, crocus and alliums, summer blooming plants like dahlias, begonias, iris and perennials and collections of bulbs.
www.Brecks.com
513-354-1511 

Stokes Tropicals
For those of you truly dreaming of warm tropical isles and plants, visit www.stokestropicals.com where they offer banana plants, plumerias, hibiscus, bamboo and beyond, and the eerie and handsome Black Bat Plant and White Bird of Paradise, which will warm your heart browsing their catalog.
1-866-478-2502 

For updates on what the company offers, new plants, and seasonal planting suggestions, you can choose your favorites and sign up, as I did, to receive free email newsletter updates.

About the Author: For more of Terra Hangen's garden tidbits, fun garden photos of her black squirrel friend, tips for beginning writers, and a glimpse into her own journey as a writer visit her blog at http://terragarden.blogspot.com. She is celebrating the publication of her first book, Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, written with 6 Christian writer friends, and scheduled for publication Oct. 2008 by Leafwood Publishers.