Catalog season is dream time for gardeners

By Dean Fosdick | The Associated Press • Published November 29, 2008

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Many seed catalogs and Web sites report the average order size has grown. Customers who already were vegetable growers are expanding their gardens to increase harvests, Schultz said.

Gardeners will have many appealing new varieties from which to choose once the catalogs land in their mailboxes.

Among the innovative products ready for launch are larger-blooming begonias (Park Seed Co.); flavorful micro-green growing kits (Thompson & Morgan Seedsmen); a fragrant dwarf variety of Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia "Angel's Dream") that blooms all year and makes a great choice for hanging baskets (Logee's Tropical Plants); multicolored chili peppers suitable for growing in containers (Cross Country Nurseries); the organic "Prairie Blush," a tasty, golden-fleshed potato with outstanding storage qualities (Wood Prairie Farm); and a sweet, personal-size acorn squash ("Honey Bear" from Johnny's Seeds).

Not the pits

And then there's the "Sweet Seedless," a meaty hybrid tomato that Ball calls "by far the most exciting new variety from Burpee in 2009."

"It has an entirely new type of tomato texture — juicy yet firm and full of flavorful flesh — rather than the large seed-related chambers found in normal tomatoes," he said, adding: "No seeds, no bitterness."

Seedlessness has been a goal of plant breeders for centuries, Ball said, but true seedlessness hasn't been possible until recently.

"The seedless trend took off in the 1970s with the first seedless cucumbers, first in Europe and later in the U.S. It was a great development since the fruit possessed additional attributes such as a premium-quality taste and texture. They became associated with gourmet use and a high market value," Ball said.

Overall, consumers lately have been demanding the functional and practical, said Maree Gaetani, a spokeswoman for Gardener's Supply Co. in Burlington, Vt. She cites such items as rainwater urns, carts, solar lights, lightweight hoses and composting sets.

"Grow-your-own is also popular," she said. That includes tomato-growing kits, nutrient-rich sprout packages, culinary herbs and even coffee bean plant collections.

"All kit-type things are huge for us," Gaetani said. "That market is made up primarily of new gardeners and a few older gardeners going to smaller homes but who still want to garden."

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