At age four, I began gardening by planting onion sets in my sandbox. Now 78 years later, I still learn something every year! Each year I visit local nurseries to avoid big box store inventory that often runs low; while at mail-order nurseries – though many are very reliable firms there is something about certain catalogs I find unsettling; maybe that is just my personal inclination!
Gardeners delight in receiving seed/nursery catalogs at Christmastime; these gifts provide access to an incredible range of plants at more competitive prices than what local nurseries can provide and get your spring-cleaning mojo going! Every few months, another catalog from the same company arrives with different cover and innards; an impossible sell? (Possibly.) But perhaps they assume I threw out their first attempt, though in reality I tend to keep all such catalogs. After sending one catalog, they might send another several months later – can an organization afford such wasteful spending? And when you order from any catalog, word spreads quickly: other catalogs appear like rabbits multiplying overnight in your mailbox.
Hardiness zones and soil conditions are an issue when ordering plants online, although some will do fine regardless of your location. I find it more reliable to order from nurseries situated closer to where I live in the Midwest; will nursery stock from California or North Carolina do as well here (it depends)? Unfortunately, those catalogs end up going directly in the trash bin!
Photos of stunning fruits and vegetables can be hard to resist; just try looking at them on an empty stomach! I often wonder why some of mine don’t turn out as beautifully? Meanwhile, grand-looking evergreens and shade trees always draw a second glance; unfortunately at my age they likely won’t reach maturity anyway – a reminder for nurseries: It’s not you; it’s me.”
On the subject of visuals, what’s up with catalogs that present products as black-and-white line drawings or maybe with just a hint of water color to suggest yellow or pink flowers? Those catalogs end up getting dumped quickly. Perhaps their idea is to give an impression that a company has existed so long that its presentation techniques from when it began (say 100 years ago) still apply; I find such presentation techniques uninspiring; if sending out such an expensive catalog is important enough for you to do, make it visually engaging by including photos featuring real plants!
As soon as we moved onto our current acreage 18 years ago, there was plenty of real estate for flowers and bushes (I even left part of it as native prairie!) while also trying to reduce lawn space. Thank goodness we had fantastic neighbors who generously contributed plant divisions and seeds that they had saved; however, I also made the mistake of ordering from two “discount” nursery catalogs (both located near each other in central Illinois) at first. Big mistake. Some items were satisfactory, but others didn’t match what was depicted in their catalogs. Hardiness zones sometimes mislabeled; one order contained assorted iris bulbs of which half were rotten! At their worst, their “guarantee” requires you to send back the label from the box that your order was shipped in when registering a complaint – not enough evidence exists on receipt alone to substantiate a guarantee! Clipping and saving shipping labels is just another way of disproving it! Yet they still remain in business with mostly poor customer reviews – should have checked first as you definitely get what you pay for!
Sometimes customer service becomes an amusing comedy routine. A few years ago, I conducted an experiment by ordering nematodes intended to kill vine borers from my squash and pumpkin plants; these arrived early April. Directions stated they should be mixed with water and injected into vines within a week of receiving it, however we don’t have any squash growing in April! After calling customer service, I spoke with a gentleman with a heavy East Indian accent who could not comprehend that squash wasn’t growing at this time of year in the Midwest US. He suggested I order again but did not know whether there would be enough nematodes available during midsummer (my midsummer). All this information should have been clearly disclosed in their spring catalog.
Here are the catalog features I look for when selecting products: does the firm grow items themselves and provide details on their results; can it inform customers whether specific plants self-seed or spread; are there photos of owners and employees to give an air of authenticity and trustworthiness;
Final takeaways from this lesson: While browsing catalogs may be enjoyable, be loyal to companies where you have established long-standing and beneficial relationships.
