The Catalog Cure: Dreaming in Color
The Enduring Appeal of Seed and Flower Catalogs
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Seed and flower catalogs are a much-anticipated winter ritual for this flower farmer. When the weather is cold and the landscape is bare, flipping through the vividly colored pages of blooms offers a welcome visual escape and a chance to reacquaint with color, texture, and incredible designs. These catalogs arrive like clockwork, acting as essential planning tools that fuel our dreams and shape our gardening work. The crisp, colorful cover photos instantly draw us in, sparking the deep-rooted anticipation of a new season of growing. There's no denying the joy of receiving them—do you love getting yours, too?
These glossy pages are far more than a visual escape; they are a critical tool for mapping out the year, allowing us to assess which proven favorites and exciting new varieties will make the cut. During the grey winter months, these catalogs connect us as a community of flower lovers, building anticipation and prompting us to invest our thoughts and resources into the coming season of blooms. However, if you are like me, this is where restraint often goes out the window, and a bit of 'frontal cortex' planning is needed. After all, bigger isn't always better, is it?
Sampling of Seed and Flower Catalogs from Vendors
Cycles are inherent to farming, and looking forward to the next cycle is regenerative for this flower farmer. Although spring is on our doorstep, the fields and beds are deep in snow, and winter lingers on indefinitely. Seed and flower catalogs fill a need; they are part of that pattern - motivation on a page. What I’ve learned in my years of flower farming is to honor and pay homage to the rhythms of the work. Thumbing through seed and flower catalogs represents rest and resetting, a boost to the imagination, and time to learn what’s new, what’s existing, and what’s possible in a new season. Wendell Berry's quote neatly sums up what I’ve dancing around the edges of learning as a flower farmer:
Basically, my kitchen island becomes a planning station, scattered with dog-eared catalogs and marked with circles. I marvel over the quality, the colors, the varieties and cultivars, and the photos. I linger over new varieties with which to experiment — an unexpected tiny pompon dahlia with apricot undertones, a textural filler I’ve never grown before — while also returning to the proven favorites that made last year’s market bouquet customers happy. Then, after much deliberation and analysis in a handy spreadsheet, it’s time to place orders. I’m adding elegant Lisianthus, cheerful China Asters, airy Verbena, architectural Globe Thistle, unique spheres of Allium drumsticks, and the delicate Snowball Feverfew. These new additions will bring depth and excitement to our summer and fall bouquets, building on the success and lessons learned from last year's garden.
Overall, it’s a big experiment, and that’s what one has to remember about growing flowers. Spring is closer than you think, and the promise of new blooms is only a catalog of inspiration away. Counting down the days till all my seeds, tubers, perennials, and corms arrive. What’s in your cart?
PS While waiting for your seeds to arrive, carry forward your love of blooms by checking out our Spring Tulip & Daffodil Club. Thanks for supporting local agriculture!