Select Seeds

The new catalogue from Select Seeds arrived today - and it's wonderful! I'd never seen it before, being a British gardening writer only now getting to grips with the American seed trade I've recently been looking at many American catalogues but this one is outstanding.

How they make a living I can't imagine as the ratio of varieties to pages is very low... but I was thrilled to see that so many varieties which are so hard to find were included:
Like the old Victorian striped snapdragon 'Brighton Rock';
Like an extensive collection of pre-Spencer sweet peas;
Like the Victorian variegated annual hop;
Like 'White Linen', the white California poppy;
Like a long list of double and fringed opium poppies;
Like the invaluable but so rare 'McGregor's Favorite' ornamental beet;

I've recently finished a book, Discovering Annuals, to be published in the UK by Frances Lincoln and in the US by Timber Press in the spring. And I was delighted to see that many of the varieties that I was tempted to exclude from the American edition, thinking them unavailable in the US, are in the Select Seeds catalogue.

I've no idea if their service is prompt (they say 6 days maximum) and I've no idea if the packets come with good information. But the listing is exceptional and the catalogue a delight to read...

Graham Rice
Northamptonshire, UK (and sometimes in NJ, USA)
Zone 8, (6b)
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