Unusual Seed Catalogs
This is a good time to talk about seed catalogs. I got a free catalog from J. L. Hudson, Seedsman, and a rare seed supplement from Sacred Succulents yesterday. Of course it helps to have ordered some of their amazing seeds last year. I first discovered the online catalog from J. L. Hudson while searching for seed of Lewisia rediviva two years ago. My aim was to order several grams of seed in the hopes that a plant rated for zone 4 would have a few individuals that could cope with the extremes of a zone 2b climate. Seeding that fall (in order to break natural seed dormancy – you see a pattern here, don’t you), I was pleased to see a smattering of tiny reddish individuals germinate the next spring (Last year). As I observed them through the course of the summer, the tops disappeared, but new, green tops appeared once more towards the end of the summer. This means that the original plants had either entirely died and been replaced, or more likely, that the original plants had gone temporarily dormant to deal with sandy soil and a hot summer sun. I anxiously await spring in anticipation of continuing this saga.
J. L. Hudson is not just any old seed distributor. They specialize in species of ethnobotanical interest. This means if indigenous peoples had a significant use for the plant, like food, medicine, shelter, clothing or religion, then it would be of interest to J. L. Hudson. They have stuff from all over the world, from flowers, to trees, to vegetables; their prices are reasonable, and their product is pretty good compared to some places I’ve ordered from in the past (Richters has not inspired confidence in their products of late).
Sacred Succulents also deals with ethnobotanical material while specializing in cacti and succulents. Stand warned that not even I am nutty enough to try to grow their plants outside in this climate. I love cacti and was previously discouraged in learning more about them, as the more common seed catalogs only had mixed cactus seed available for sale. How am I supposed to find out what species grew from a bunch of unknown mixed seed when it may take years for the plant to come to flower! Very frustrating to say the least! I am pleased to say that Sacred Succulents not only package one species in each properly labeled packet, for the more common species they have reasonable numbers of seed per packet. Also, even in the appalling light and temperatures in my house, I was able to get a few individuals to survive. Their catalog is valued somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.00USD ($4.00USD for international orders), but they have shipped me new catalogs for free because I continue ordering from them. You should not expect any glossy photos of bright flowers from either of these seed distributors. You should expect a brief story relating to the reported history and uses of each plant. If you’re like me and feel that each plant has a story to tell, then this will be of much more importance to you than some enhanced color photograph.
Another favorite nursery of mine is Lawyers Nursery in Montana. They are a wholesale distributor of trees and shrubs and they have an excellent supply of seed. The one drawback is that they are wholesale, so if you only want a couple of seeds to do some landscaping in the backyard, you are out of luck as they usually sell their seeds by the pound. However, if you’re like me and wish to do some serious selection from among a reasonably sized population, then this would be the place to go! They can usually get you stuff from all over the world, and they are very good at producing certification to get things legally across international borders.
All three of these nurseries have some listing on the internet. Here are their addresses: J. L. Hudson, Seedsman, P.O. Box 337, La Honda, California, 94020 USA ; http://www.jlhudwsonseed.net/.
Lawyer Nursery, Inc., 950 Highway 200 West, Plains, Montana, USA 59859-9706; www.lawyernursery.com
Sacred Succulents, P.O. Box 781, Sebastopol, California, 95473 USA; www.sacredsucculents.com
There are many other exciting catalogs out there, but these are the ones I am most familiar with at the moment. In the future, others will be added when they have proven themselves to me. Happy seed dreams! MM