It's That Time of Year!! A Seed Catalog Comparison

Well, my favorite time of year has arrived. I begin to yearn for outdoor activities, I plant bulbs and other plants. I start to visit nursery's and plan projects. This year for instance, is to finish some left-over projects from last year. I want to build a fence around the back yard and a brick paver patio. How much of that gets done is still yet to be determined, but never the less, I get excited about being outside and working in the yard. Gurney's is usually the first one to hit my mailbox. Their catalog is always of a more paper feeling paper. Not quite like newsprint, but not like notebook paper either. It's never glossy. Their layout always has Yellow and Green. But from a design perspective, your eye is drawn to the red first. So, you see the starred coupon ad in the upper right as well as the huge red coupon in the lower left. Good balance there.

Through the years, I have placed orders with numerous mail order seed catalogs. I have never paid a whole lot of attention to the designs of these except to notice and sometimes be influenced by their front page deals and offerings. Other times I know what I want and just look for that, but more often, I'm just browsing for ideas. I like to find different or rare plants that aren't in the average landscape.

I like to try to find bulbs that I don't have to dig up every fall. Breck's has a lot of bulbs. Mostly tulips. But if you see my yard in the summer time I always have Elephant Ear Caladiums and Banana Trees and other tropicals. The Brecks catalog always has one large image on the cover and is always printed on glossy paper. The inside is filled with loads of large, full color images of  various flowering bulbs.

I've always wanted to visit this Four Seasons Nursery in Bloomington, IL. Heck, it's just up the road. Their catalog has a Gurney's feel to it as far as design. The boxes with various content advertised is usually an unbeatable buy. Even though much smaller, the red 1 cent SALE! in the upper right draws your attention.

Henry Fields and Burgess are great catalog companies as well. Henry Fields is another with a strong Gurney's feel to it. I see the bright red coupon first, just like with the Gurney's catalog.  Burgess prefers yellow corner tags that draw your attention and they add the little tag also sitting at an angle. 

And last but definitely not least, is my new favorite. Usually a large tropical or citrus plant covers the entire front cover of Logee's, which separates it from the rest (except Breck's). It is also printed on glossy paper. 

In Logee's I can find the Tropical's that I so often covet for my gardens. Everything inside is rare or naturally grown in warmer climates. I don't risk too much when considering a purchase from here. I usually research a variety for hardiness in our zone.  I usually have no trouble growing plants in the summer, but in the winter, when I bring everything inside, if it doesn't like the light or moisture it won't make it till next year. Sometimes one of my cats will give it a death sentence.