Snow? No problem — now’s the time to plan for spring Seed catalogs
A kitchen table with a variety of seed catalogs. A good activity for a snow day is to start ordering seeds and plants for your spring garden.
By Hugh Earnhart
OSU Extension master gardener volunteer
But you can count on the seed catalogs arriving. It seems they began reaching our mailboxes about the same time as the Christmas cards. For the horticulturist, who is always anticipating warm days, the catalogs are a blessing. They bring ideas and hope for next year’s gardening adventure.
It is a challenge to sort out all of the interesting flowers and vegetables. They all look great, but will they look good in my yard? In addition to the research the seed companies do, there are the All American Selection (AAS) trials done by universities and greenhouses/nurseries.
These AAS winners make it easy for you to try new things. These plants go through rigorous trials to get a rating based on everything from novel colors to pest and disease-tolerance. This ensures the plants will do great in your yard. All you have to do is provide a little TLC.
Here are the AAS winners to try in your garden this year:
Impatiens Bounce: Has a massive amount of bright pink flowers all summer; resistant to downy mildew; thrives in sun or shade.
Impatiens Sunpatiens: A seasonlong subdued pink flower; excellent root system; survivor under heat, rain, humidity; does well in sun as well as shade; downy mildew-resistant.
Pepper-Hot Sunset: A large spicy fruit that has good taste, as well as heat; disease-resistant plant; produces all summer long.
Pepper-Pretty n Sweet: Ornamental pepper that can be eaten and has fantastic taste. (Do we need a new word — Ornamedible”?)
Pepper-Flaming Flare: Ideal for chili sauces; sweet tasting; good producer.
Pepper-Emerald Fire: Hot jalapeno fruit suited for grilling, stuffing and salsa. At 2,500 scoville units, it is packed heat in a glassy, thick-walled fruit; disease-resistant.
Tomato-Chef’s Choice Pink: Beefsteak tomato that’s a sister to previous AAS Chef’s Choice Orange. Indeterminate plant that’s easier to grow than most beefsteaks; heirloom appearance; healthy; produces large harvest.
Basil-Dolce Fresca: Sweet, tender leaves; recovers well after harvest; good container or border plant; Mediterranean taste to enrich the cuisine — overall, a new and better variety.
Squash-Bossa Nova: New look for zucchini — dark and light green exterior. Early producer; longer growing season than most varieties; sweet and mild taste, smooth texture.
Squash-Butterscotch: Small butternut squash with exceptionally sweet taste. Perfect for small garden space; resistant to powdery mildew late in the season.
Salvia-Summer Jewel White: Dwarf-sized plant with prolific blooms all summer. Large flowers that will attract pollinators; suited for large landscape as well as container or border garden.
Petunia-Trilogy Red: Stunning, rich red compact dome-shaped bloom that will last all season. Provides constant mass of color in gardens or containers.
For more details and photos of the winners, go to: http://all-americaselections.org.