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             The Gardener Guy of Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Seed Catalogs

Let's start with the bananas. They have 11 different varieties, starting with Musa balbisiana: "Given rich soil, plenty of water and summer warmth, this species has been described as 'almost dangerously fast growing' O tolerant of cool conditions OWhen young it is well suited for indoor culture Oat Versailles they move this plant outside for summer in enormous containers, presumably with the aid of a forklift truck" . Hmm. No forklift, better not order that one.

Then there's the Snow Banana, grown at 8,800 feet in China and Nepal. "With a thick, waxy blue trunk, it bears large and noble waxy grey-green leaves, six feet and an awful lot more long." Nah, too big. Maybe the Flowering Banana, which they describe as being of "manageable proportions" with red-veined, rich blue-green leaves that are "only" six feet long. And it produces fruit that starts red, and ripens to yellowish-red. A bargain at only three pounds thirty for seven seeds, or about a dollar each.

Chiltern Seeds, by the way, is a British company that I learned about from illustrator Tasha Tudor, who regularly orders from them. You can contact the company by phone at 011-44-1220-581137, e-mail them at info@chilternseeds.co.uk or visit their website which is Chiltern Seeds.

I have a love-hate relationship with delphinium. I mean, it's a gorgeous plant, but staking it to avoid breakage by heavy summer showers is a pain. So I was delighted to see that Chiltern Seeds has some short ones that range from eight inches in height (D. chinensis 'Blue Butterfly') to 20 inches (D. grandiflora 'Blue Mirror'). Another, the plant mother of the "Pacific hybrids" commonly sold here, grows to six-feet tall but has smaller flowers and "needs no staking". It is a form of D. elatum that they call "True Wild Form" from the Tatra Mountains of Slovakia. I've got to give it a try.

The catalog has two flaws: First, the print is small and light, so in bad light I have to use a magnifying glass. Secondly, it doesn't give the zone hardiness for American gardeners. Those lucky Brits have a pretty mild climate, and the catalog is aimed at them. What I've done is look up families of plants I'm interested in one of my reference texts to see the zone hardiness of the various species they sell.

Common milkweed (Latin name: Asclepias speciosa) grows well in unmowed fields near my house, but I've never gotten around to trying any of the cultivated varieties - even though I've meant to. I looked up Asclepias in "The Flower Gardener's Bible by Lewis and Nancy Hill and found that two other species, A. tuberosa and A. incarnata are hardy to Zone 3 (minus 30-40), so I looked them up in the Chilvers catalog. It had four varieties, two of each, and they sound interesting. swamp milkweed, A. incarnata 'Soulmate', is a perennial that will produce flowers from seed in as little as three months, and produces rose-pink flowers on plants that are 2-3 feet tall. The catalog's writer keeps descriptions lively, noting that "You will doubtless be pleased to know that you don't have to have your very own swamp" to grow swamp milkweed.

Chiltern Seeds also sell a cousin of swamp milkweed known as butterfly weed, A. tuberosa 'Gay Butterflies'. It sounds interesting and is sold in packets of seeds that should produce a mix of colors- gold, orange, red and pink. It is said to be excellent as a cut flower.

Pincushion flowers or scabiosa are wonderful flowers that come as both perennials and annuals. Last summer I grew some Scabiosa atropurpurea, an annual, that produced nearly black flowers. Chiltern sells it, along with 3 other colors and packets of mixed colors. They have several perennial varieties including two that are hardy for us: S. caucasica and S. columbaria.

When I lived in Africa I learned that all bananas are not created equal: some are naturally tiny and extra sweet, while others are big and bland; some travel well, but most are best consumed where they were grown. I'd love to grow my own and eat them right off the plant. It remains to be seen, however, if common sense will prevail, or if I'll order some banana seeds. But either way, lounging in a deep chair with a good seed catalog such as that of Chiltern Seeds is a good way to spend a long winter evening.

Henry Homeyer is the author of "Notes from the Garden: Reflections and Observations of an Organic Gardener". He may be contacted at gardening.guy@valley.net, or P. O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, N.H. 03746. His Web site is www.gardening-guy.com.