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The following is from a press release from the National Direct Mailorder Gardening Association and offers tips on how to avoid problems when ordering from the association members.
The weather outside is frightful, but the garden catalogs are so delightful.
Inside where it's warm and cozy, the annual garden catalog season is in full bloom. Mailboxes are filling up with colorful garden catalogs, and millions of Americans are relaxing in their most comfortable easy chairs with stacks of colorful garden catalogs. Dreams of colorful spring flowers and a bountiful harvest of fresh vegetables dance in their heads.
It is no accident that January has officially been proclaimed National Direct Mailorder Gardening Month by the Direct Mailorder Gardening Association (www.mailordergardening.com), because the first of the year is traditionally when garden catalogs start arriving in mailboxes.
Garden catalogs are filled with colorful pictures of new plants and blooming gardens, so they offer a much-needed emotional boost for gardeners who are longing to get their hands into garden soil and raise another crop of gorgeous flowers and delicious vegetables.
"There is no better way to beat the winter doldrums than to flip through a stack of mailorder gardening catalogs or visit online gardening websites," said Howard Kaplan, president of the Direct Mailorder Gardening Association.
"Garden catalogs show you new possibilities for your garden and also serve as time-saving planning tools. Garden catalogs offer the widest possible variety of plants, seeds, bulbs and gardening supplies—including the newest products not yet available in retail stores. Plus, mailorder catalogs and online websites offer useful tips and information to help you create a more beautiful garden."
To get the most from gardening catalogs and websites this season, follow this helpful advice:
• Visit www.mailordergardening.com and click on "catalog search" to see a list of garden catalog companies. Then click on the individual names to visit specific websites and request garden catalogs.
• Use garden catalogs as planning tools for your spring garden. Flip through a few catalogs to see what kinds of new plants and products are being offered this year.
• Mark the plants, seeds, preplanned gardens, tools and garden accessories that you're interested in with sticky notes.
• Go back through the catalogs and review everything you've flagged with a sticky note. Make a list of all of the plants and products that you simply must have.
• Place your orders early. The most popular seeds, plants, and new products often sell out quickly. (Seeds will usually be shipped early in the season to give you the option of starting them indoors. Plants will be shipped when it is safe to plant them outdoors based upon your zip code.)
• Keep a list of all the orders you've placed so you can track the deliveries as they come in.
• File the catalogs in a safe place so you can refer to them later, and you can easily contact each catalog company if questions about your purchases arise. Remember, too, that most garden catalogs and websites have helpful gardening experts that you can contact to get additional gardening information and advice.
For more information about mailorder gardening— including a glossary of gardening terms, smart shopper tips and information about the winners of the annual MGA Green Thumb Awards for new plants and gardening products — visit www.mailordergardening.com.
