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This time of year, gardeners are in a slump. It's too wet and cold to be working the ground or doing cleanup. That's already been done in fall. All that's left is to wait for the first signs of spring and good planting weather. Rather than sitting around pining and itching to get out in the garden, smart gardeners are cozied up by the fire with a mail order gardening catalog - or two or three. There are big name nurseries, the small specialty nurseries and organic nurseries.

All you need to do is go online and search for the type of nursery you fancy. These sites almost always have their house mail order gardening catalog which they're more than happy to send to you. Just fill out the form and you've got your catalog within a week. You're ready to sit down with a cup of tea and dream and plan to your heart's content.

If you like to have some cheery spring bulbs brightening your landscape, now's the time to order. You'll notice that bulbs are graded by size. Larger bulbs and exotic varieties are more expensive, but also produce larger blooms. If you're looking to plant a field of daffodils, it's safe to go with the smaller sizes to cover that field at a reasonable cost. Nurseries ship your order according to the planting season for your area, so browse this catalog, pick your beautys and place your order.

Some nurseries specialize in flowers for every season. This nursery's mail order gardening catalog is replete with beautiful bloomers suited to every garden situation. Some large nurseries have a separate catalog for spring, summer and fall plantings. Once you're on their mailing list, they'll automatically send the next catalog at the time appropriate to your growing zone. This makes it easy to plan that rock garden, shady bed or summer display, as the plants shown in the catalog are all candidates for the season and situation. It's also more fun to browse, because the season is upon you and your choices can be in the ground in a matter of weeks.

Another benefit of the mail order gardening catalog is that the number of choices typically exceed those you'll find at your local nursery. For example, you'll find many varieties of phlox to fill that shady woodland area. If you're into ornamental grasses, your choices are astounding. If you're a hosta fan, you'll be amazed to find dozens of spectacular plants you may have never seen.

Mail order gardening catalogs not only provide a remedy for the winter blues, but offer countless choices to make your garden very special indeed. Ordering is simple and you never need to follow up to continue receiving future catalogs. You'll soon find that browsing the fall offerings with a tall glass of lemonade provides a pleasant respite from gardening chores on those hot summer days as well.

Labels: blues, catalogs, gardening, order, winter