Plant and seed catalogs

The Royal Dutch Garden mail order folks haven't given up on me, even though I haven't ordered for decade or so.  I see their 2014 catalog still offers the horribly aggressive Hummingbird Vine for just $2.99.  A dead-looking stick comes in the mail, and in a few years the poor gardener's life is forever changed.  But honestly, what birdwatcher wouldn't be tempted by a picture like this?

Trumpet vines spread (like poison ivy) by suckering deep underground runners which are pretty much impossible to dig out.  If you chop them up, the root just makes "more."  One garden website called it an "orange thug." Ha!

Well, enough complaints about bad plants for one week. I'm into low-maintenance gardening these days.  Maybe I'll place a small order with Royal Dutch for this pretty iris with the wonderful name Eye of the Tiger.   Nova is into BIG WILD CATS and she would like that.  If nothing else, an order might keep their catalogs coming for a while longer.

What is it about browsing those paper plant and seed catalogs? Internet shopping could never replace them.

Here are some beautiful vintage examples of old American catalogs. Many of these originals are in the Smithsonian archives. More than just pretty old advertisements, they speak volumes about what people grew and ate and loved, way back when.

 

Remember the time when all watermelons were sweet and had black seeds?