It Starts with a Seed

Seed catalogs bring early-season joy to gardeners.

by Lorne McClinton

Winter is finally over but April is often such a dreary, sloppy, muddy month in many parts of Canada and the United States that sometimes it's hard to believe that spring is upon us.

After being cooped up all winter, gardeners especially can hardly wait to get out into their yards to start another growing season. But just because the weather can be questionable outside doesn't mean you can't dream of brilliant flower beds, succulent vegetables, and fruits and berries grown in your own backyard. Thankfully you can always leaf through one of the seed catalogs to help spur your imagination.

Word of mouth. "I discovered seed catalogs through a co-worker," says Courtney Thompson from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. "She has an extensive garden, complete with her own greenhouse. I complained to her about the poor germination of seed I bought from a store and she told me she buys hers from a seed catalog because the seed quality was much better. I'd have thought that with all of the horticulture classes I took while I was in university, I'd have heard of them before, but I really hadn't."

Now Thompson, along with her husband Rob, have joined the throngs of gardeners who look forward to receiving their new seed catalogs in the mail every spring and fall. It's a lot like going through the Christmas catalogs they used to get when they were children.

"I think Rob actually gets more excited than I do," Thompson says. "There are vegetables, flowers, bulbs, rhizomes, and fruit trees. It's not all seeds either, there are tools, bird feeders, and greenhouses in them. There's lots of 'oh wow, look at this,' going on. It's a lot of fun."

Multiple companies in Canada and the United States publish seed catalogs every year. Every gardener tends to have their favorites. The ones published by Veseys Seeds, Canada's largest mail order seed company, based in York, Prince Edward Island (PEI), is Thompson's number one go-to choice.

"Veseys was founded by Arthur Vesey in 1939," says John Barrett, director of sales and marketing at Veseys. "He was a very interesting individual, a lifelong bachelor, and kind of a Renaissance man. Arthur taught piano, he produced dramatic productions here at the York Hall, was an amateur magician, and was the world champion giant pumpkin grower for many years. His first seed catalog was a very small little black and white one that was distributed in a very limited way. We're now mailing out upwards of two million catalogs yearly to customers who request them in all of the provinces."

In years gone by most people would receive their catalog and place their seed orders by mailing in the order form included in the catalog.

Today, mail accounts for only about 10% of the orders they receive. Most use the catalogs as buying guides and order whatever wares they want through the company's website.

"The catalog actually makes it easier to order from the website," Barrett says. "The catalog might have a two-page spread of carrots broken down by variety, and maturity date. They're all there right in front of you so you can easily compare between different ones and come to a decision without having to scroll back and forth through multiple pages."

Their busiest months are from February to May. There's another burst in the fall for blooming spring bulbs. While the company sells to commercial growers, 90% of their customer base is comprised of home gardeners.

Above. John Barrett says Veseys now sends out two million catalogs to customers from all over Canada. They do no blind mailings, they are only sent to customers who've requested one. They get between 70,000 and 100,000 new requests for seed catalogs every year. One big advantage to sourcing seed from a seed catalog is that the quality is vigorously tested, Barrett says. Jeffries says that Veseys Seeds source the 800 varieties they carry from as many as 27 countries all over the world. Only seed for one variety, the York turnip, is grown locally in Prince Edward Island.

Lots of testing. Veseys' seeds come from as many as 27 different countries. Only one of the 800 varieties they carry, the York turnip, is grown on PEI. All seed batches they receive are tested internally for germination rate, noxious weed content, plus a slew of other tests. They operate an extensive set of field trials on their grounds as well.

"Our top selling categories are beans, carrots, and tomatoes," says John Jeffries, commercial sales manager at Veseys. "After that there are the herbs, cucumbers, and peppers. There is also a growing interest in eggplant and other Asian vegetables. We've also recently added two oriental greens, wasabi mustard green, and Chinese spring cabbage. Hot peppers are growing in popularity, too."

Part of Jeffries' job is procuring seed from vendors. This involves trialing seed over two or three seasons to make sure they will thrive in Canadian growing conditions. Only two or three varieties out of ten will make it past the trial stage.

If you are looking at purchasing seed for the lowest possible price, you probably won't be interested in buying seed from a seed catalog. They generally focus on supplying the highest quality seed possible and will likely cost more than what you can get off the racks in big retail stores.

The catalog carries a lot of high-quality gardening tools and other accessories, too. It has everything from nifty plant markers and bird feeders to $7,000 greenhouses.

"We were surprised at how much interest there was in these categories," Barrett says. "We think we offer a lot of very innovative garden solutions," he adds.

"I'm a plant scientist so I primarily look for disease resistance when I'm choosing plant varieties so I'm usually going to pick a newer variety over a heritage one," Thompson says. "After that I look at days to maturity. We live in Saskatchewan so we have a shorter growing season."

Thompson does caution that it's easy to get excited and carried away when ordering from a seed catalog. Keep in mind you'll have to find the time to plant everything you purchased.

"One year Rob went and ordered a ton of lilies, just hundreds of bulbs," Thompson says. "It was a little intimidating when they all arrived, but we got them all planted and the next spring we had lots of beautiful lilies. We laugh about it now, but we did implement a house rule afterwards. Now if you order something, you must be around to plant it." ‡