catalog shopping? think like a seed breeder, says joseph tychonievich

Since I put this list together 7 years ago but I have now started to favour Kings Seeds (Suffolk Herbs) for my vegetables. I also get many more seeds from clubs and organisations rather than merchants.

Decorative gardens can benefit from growing seedheads for their own sake. Flowers With Seedheads

Springs and seeps are more than just a nuisance wet spot in the landscape; they’re considered types of wetlands and are an expression of groundwater flowing upward and surfacing on land. Sometimes springs and seeps flow after a deluge of rain while others, like popular springs in Florida, continuously produce large quantities of water year-round. Springs emanate (originate) from a single point in the landscape and have a defined channel, whereas seeps have more diffuse distribution across wider areas. Whether surface water becomes a spring or a seep depends on how much pressure is underground. Higher pressures will result in springs, whereas low pressure will likely produce seeps. While seeps may not be as diverse as springs when it comes to flora and fauna, they may harbor unique plants and animals not found in springs. When springs and seeps are located in sunny areas, both can be quite productive with a variety of aquatic plants, invertebrates, and amphibians. For plant enthusiasts, seeps can support a diverse array of carnivorous plants. Seeps and springs are also beneficial because they provide water to headwater streams, ultimately providing the water flow to create larger river systems. They’re also essential during the cold winter months because their movement often keeps water from freezing. This serves as a refuge or drinking water source for wildlife.

EVEN IF I WERE STARTING LEEKS AND ONIONS indoors from seed, two of the earliest things one might sow, it isn’t time yet here in Zone 5B. But if you live in a slightly warmer zone, or want to do a mental dress-rehearsal, I’ve assembled some of the seed-starting tips and tricks from around A Way to Garden, for easier reference. More to come as the time gets closer.Seed-Starting Basics: This one is what it sounds like, the basic countdown and gear and all the rest.

I REPEAT MYSELF A LOT, AND HERE I GO AGAIN: Think fall (yes, fall) in early spring, when the urge to shop for for trees and shrubs tugs insistently. Think fall, and think winter, too.

SO YOU ALREADY HEARD that the secret to making a year-round garden is to think all seasons, all the time. Yes, yes, I know it’s very un-Buddhist to be outside the moment (and believe me, I realize these things as I write my posts and worry about myself). But whether in the “be here now” or not, here’s my next tip:

To create a year-round garden, I recommend starting your shrub shopping in the “V” aisle, for Viburnum. It was the stately doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum tomentosum), that got me started in this outstanding genus of flowering and fruiting shrubs, so many of which are good in bloom, in fruit, and colored up in fiery fall foliage. The doublefile (bottom photo) is a plant whose habit of growth is so distinctive I could not help but notice. It stands with its branches held straight outward, like so many arms outstretched, and in spring they are completely covered with white flowers.The variety ‘Watanabe’ blooms off and on all season, May through summer’s end—how many other shrubs promise that? It is a compact version of the doublefile, reaching only 6 feet or so, an outstanding choice for smaller yards. If you can take the larger scale, the varieties ‘Mariesii’ and ‘Shasta’ (the most horizontal) are recommended. The doublefiles have another feature: handsome fall color, from a burnished wine color to smoky purple—another reason to include one in the landscape.Today I either possess or covet many Viburnum cousins, like the highly fragrant

IHATE SPENDING $1.49 OR EVEN 99 cents for a bunch of herbs, when all I ever need is a few springs at a time. And so I try to strive for herbal self-sufficiency, using simple tactics of growing and storing all the herbs I want all year—mostly in one of two basic frozen forms.You can make a “pesto” (as in: a sauce of crushed herbs) with many of your green garden flavors. Not just parsley (above), but sage, basil, rosemary, chives and garlic scapes will work—and probably more, using a little water or oil to semi-liquefy the harvest. I’m putting up some cilantro and dill, using both the ice-cube and rolled “log” tactics below, as a test this year, too.The recipes and how-to’s:Garlicky Green Ice Cubes. (How I make and freeze 365 days of basil pesto, and other herb pestos, too.) Will the Real Oregano Please Stand Up? (What a confusing herb this is! If your homegrown oregano tastes

FOR THOSE OF US WHO DEFINE “what I can’t live without” as “the entire botanical world,” and nevertheless dare to go seed-shopping online or on paper…caveat emptor. I’m one of those types, which is why I’m forcing myself to re-read my seed-catalog shopping rules before starting to write any orders.

UM, I GUESS OUR FRIEND Andre Jordan got a peek at the way we really order seeds, huh? Trouble is: I’m still stuck on Step 1, that “Bloody Brilliant Big List” thing.

At first, I thought this would be a post for beginners, but realized even experts are over-indulgently inclined. Some over-riding principles: I buy organic seed when available for my organic garden, and seek out regionally appropriate varieties. Here’s why, in detail.For me, resisting buying everything requires an annual review of the basic mathematics of vegetable gardening. Now (not after 11 boxes of seeds arrive that you forgot you ordered) is the time to crunch your own numbers:How many of A, B and C plants can fit into my Y square feet (and for what cost in

UNLIKE MANY VEGETABLE CROPS we grow to eat—which are typically picked young and tender, and therefore grown for a shorter time—the same plant cultivated for a seed harvest must be grown to a much older age, requiring much more water, fertilizer, and chemical controls against pests and diseases.Seed crops are coddled, and regulations on chemical usage when raising them is also looser than on growing the same vegetable for the food market.Besides the pollution and waste of resources this results in, it fails to do something else really important: It yields seed strains that “expect “ this kind of pampering—not ones that are well-adapted to organic growing conditions in our home gardens, where we (hopefully!) don’t rush in with a chemical at every turn of events, or prop things up on synthetics instead of diligent care for our soil.Read More: