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The air is full of snowflakes and so cold that the rhododendron leaves outside the window have folded in on themselves. I sit at the dining room table as dusk draws in with a pile of seed catalogs at my elbow and a cup of vanilla tea to hand.
The mail is heavy with them, Burpees, Pinetree, Johnny’s, Gurneys, Farmer’s, Harris, Thompson and Morgan, Seeds of Change Territorial, Select, Baker Creek, clones following, piling on the counters, layer after layer of temptation. I sort them: a pile to go, two piles to stay, comparison shop - price per seed, species, varitey, cultivar. Have I purchased here before? Do I really need that many colors, this many sizes, all of the flavors? Is there any room left in the yard?
The air is full of snowflakes and so cold that the rhododendron leaves outside the window have folded in on themselves. I sit at the dining room table as dusk draws in with a pile of seed catalogs at my elbow and a cup of vanilla tea to hand.
The pile is smaller than some years. I have done the unthinkable and thrown catalogs away before they were barely in the back door, some because I have no interest in their products, some because they aren’t as reliable as they once were, some because I have one, or two or possibly three already lying around in various rooms.
These catalogs entice me to excess. I have already been through some of my favorites, Select Seeds and Pinetree Garden Seeds, Baker Creek and Cook’s Garden and underlined, outlined, circled, placed florescent exclamation marks, hi-lighted several things. Some I know will never survive in my zone five garden. Some I order every year and will again this year. Some are “NEW” and I am seduced by the idea of having them this one first year. I know that soon I will be filling out order forms and will be amazed and slightly embarrassed by the size of the checks I am forced write.
It is an annual exercise in conscientious consumerism, shaded with the rosy glow of doing good in my little plot of the earth. All of the seeds I order come with the intention of bringing green, growing things to a world in need of replanting. I try to pay attention to the possibilities of invasiveness, I order seeds and plants that are descendants of plants native to my continent and region. Those that are immigrants, I treat with care and caution, keeping them in check if they look to get carried away. I plant a small vegetable garden so that I can sit down to dinner with my family and know that the food was grown with love and minimal chemical input. I raise herbs and plants that bring hummingbirds and hummingbird moths to my garden, butterflies and bees and ladybugs. I blush with the knowledge that I am working in my small way to keep the earth fertile and viable.
But we all know, in spite of the fact that there will be good come from it, that it is January that puts the power of persuasion and the impetus of purchase in the cover of Burpees with the gorgeous red tomatoes rolling out of a full harvest basket and the blooms of sweet peas and old-fashioned morning glories trailing around the pages of Select Seed. It is the five long months before planting season and the empty grow table in the back room waiting for the first padded envelopes to come in the door with small, dry treasures that makes writing those embarrassingly large checks easy and essential to my well being.
About Kathleen M. Tenpas
We have a grazing dairy of 55 cows in the rolling hills of western New York State where we raised two daughters who have now blessed us with four grandchildren. I have messy, jungly beds of old roses, (some real antiques left by former owners), perennials, wildflowers and lots and lots of not so ornamental grasses! I have a Masters degree in Creative Writing: Poetry from Antioch University. I am a photographer and fabric artist and I bake a mean loaf of bread.
Posted by FlowrLady (from Olive Branch, MS) on February 2, 2007 at 3:52 PM:
Perspectives... Thanks for yours. There are so many of us who are plantaholics, and those magazines are like an elixir!
This message was edited Feb 2, 2007 2:53 PM
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Posted by Kathleen (from Panama, NY) on February 3, 2007 at 11:07 AM:
lol, they do make January easier, though!
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Subject: Seed Catalogs, How True
Posted by billyporter (from Nichols, IA) on February 1, 2007 at 9:23 PM:
Kathleen, I didn't realize how many comparisons I made till I read your article. It fit right down to the embarrassing large checks. You ARE a creative writer. I was right there with you!
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Posted by Kathleen (from Panama, NY) on February 4, 2007 at 6:25 AM:
lol, scary, eh?
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Posted by billyporter (from Nichols, IA) on February 4, 2007 at 11:19 AM:
ROTFL! I'm going to enjoy what ''we'' ordered tho!
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Subject: With Warmth
Posted by tcfromky (from Mercer, PA) on February 1, 2007 at 7:43 PM:
I could feel the warmth of your hand on the pen as I read this Kath. Oh, I know you typed it out as I do, in a Word document, but that don't matter. What matters is how the words flowed from the page to my eyes, and then down to both green thumbs - making me anxious to get my grow lights in order.
I have a hankerin for slice of fresh bread right now too.
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Posted by Kathleen (from Panama, NY) on February 3, 2007 at 11:06 AM:
Well, I started with a pencil and pad, maybe that was what you were sensing. I'm afraid I'm hopelessly old fashioned in some things. I do the rewrite on the keyboard.
You know I'm going to make some bread this afternoon and Mercer isn't that far away, but Stan says he wouldn't recommend the trip this weekend - it's sunny and cold now, but lake effect due to drop in as soon as the wind changes direction a little.
k.
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Posted by tcfromky (from Mercer, PA) on February 3, 2007 at 4:19 PM:
Listen to Stan; we've got about five inches on the ground now. Stan's the man. ;~)
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Subject: HI
Posted by Happy_1 (from Fort Lauderdale, FL) on February 1, 2007 at 4:54 PM:
I'm originally from Rochester. Had to move to garden year 'round. Do love Florida...
Hap
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Posted by Kathleen (from Panama, NY) on February 3, 2007 at 11:15 AM:
lol, be glad you're not in Rochester this weekend! Right now it's 9 here with 20 mph winds getting ready to swing around to the west and dump half of Lake Erie on us. Think of us as the sunshines there.
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Subject: Great article Kathleen
Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on February 1, 2007 at 9:29 AM:
Got me all "dreamy" and it's nice to know I'm not the only one with multi-colored highlighters :)
Dea
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Posted by Horseshoe (from Efland, NC) on February 1, 2007 at 11:30 PM:
Yep, ditto, Kathleen!
Nice piece of writing, and the words described something so very accurate in the homes/families of people all across the country! You hit the nail on the head!
Shoe
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Posted by Kathleen (from Panama, NY) on February 3, 2007 at 11:13 AM:
Dea, you too?? I have to admit to running several colors for serious buying, maybe buying and dreaming about buying. Occasionally I forget which color is which and just buy everything.
Hey Shoe, thanks. It is a comfort to know that it's an exercise shared by many. Next week a friend is coming over and we're going to make out some orders together. I'm luring her into the insanity a bit at a time.
k.
The mail is heavy with them, 
