IF YOU’RE one of those people who wait until January or February to order next spring’s flower and vegetable seeds and then suffer the disappointment of late and/or cancelled orders, this will hopefully act as your reminder. On the other hand, if you have never thought of getting your seeds via the mail-order seed houses, I hope this will give you the motiva- tion to try it, at least once, First, consider that few of the companies that offer off-the-rack flower and vegetable seeds try to supply us with the newest varieties. It touk years for ‘Early Girl’ tomato seeds to show up on the racks. In the meantime, many new and interesting varieties have been ‘hybridized, tested and listed in the. better seed catalogues. Fancy packaging is a necessary evil in the off-the-rack seed in- dustry. Sales depend on the bright, colorful pictures that have been designed to tantalize us with. vi- sions of luscious looking vegetables and startlingly beautiful arrays of flowers. This packaging is'a major ex- .pense and each new variety re- quires a large investment in order to introduce.this new hybrid to you in an informative way. I believe this. to be the major reason for _ their conservative. approach to new © introductions. In many instances, the com- panies will use an old package from a previously deleted variety by simply printing over the old leader. This practice does not. promote the supply of good information specific to the seed being offered; it is easier to switch packs if the label is generic. In my years as manager of a local garden centre, I was con- tinually troubled by the seed com- panies’ practice of recirculating old seed. Some seed will loose viability (the: ability to germinate) within weeks, let alone the years that are sometimes expected by these less than honest suppliers. In contrast, mail order houses gre continually updating their selections in order to maintain the * competitive edge in the marketp- lace. Their Jack of concern over at- tractive packaging enables them to do this more economically. The catalogues (generally free) are used to promote new offerings. At the same time they enable the supplier to include better informa- tion about seed characteristics and planting. The peculiarities of the mail- order. business allow the manage- ment to maintain an inventory that is more likely to sell out from year | Give Your Plants a Christmas Treat! to year. This provides us with more assurance that the seed will be as fresh as possible. Finally, there is the simple pleasure of pouring through four 23 - Friday, December 4, 1987 - North Shore News R.R. 1, King, Ontario LOG 1K0 Alberta Nurseries & Seeds Ltd. Box 20 over the garden gate by Geoff Tobiasson or five seed catalogues; looking for the new listings as well as finding some old friends. You’ find all sorts of other interesting things as well: planting tips, new tool offer- ings, oddball accessories, etc. Here are a few of the companies that you may wish to request cata- logues from: Aimers Wildflower Seeds Ltd. Cotswold, The Green Lane ates , Bowdon, Alberta TOM 0KO Becker’s Seed Potatoes R.R. 1 Trout Creek, Ontario POH 2L0 Bishop Farm Seeds Box 338 Belleville, Ontario K8N 5A5 ; pen Columbia’s Biggest & Best Picture Framers!’ ~ Super Quality Helpful Staff And a Big T & T Seeds Ltd. C.A. Cruikshank Ltd. 1015 Mount Pleasant Road Toronto, Ontario M4P 2M1 ($1.00 refundable) Dominion Seed House Ltd. Georgetown, Ontario L7G 4A2 McFayden Seed Company Ltd. Box 1800 Brandon, Manitoba RTA 6N4 Park Seed Cokesbury Road P.O. Box 46 Greenwood, S.C., USA 29648-0046 Stokes Seeds Ltd. 39 James Street Box 10, St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 6R6 . Box ino, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3P: William Dar: Seeds : Box 8400, Dundas, Ontario L9H 6M1 ‘ALL CUSTOM CUT METAL FRAMES From today until XMAS Posters, Posters, Posters “WHY PAY MALL PRIC. WE HAVE THE BIGGEST SECTION OF UNFRAMED & FRAMED POSTERS IN THE NORTH SHORE eqIS. PICTURES & & FRAMES _ WEST VANCOUVER 1432 MARINE DRIVE 922-3513 — LOCATION NORTH VANCOUVER 1425 MARINE DRIVE * New formula * Ideal for your indoor plants Next to Burger King — lots of parking * Soiless potting mix with 2 fertilizers ‘ , Available at North Shore locations E . of BEAVER LUMBER and SAFEWAY various GARDEN CENTRES and FLORISTS Natural Polymer Corp. NV. ALL STORES OPEN SUNDAY / LATE OPENING FRIDAY KITSILANO KERRISDALE RICHMOND 2857 \ W. Broadway 37th & West Blud. 5311 Na 3 Rd : LOUGHEED DOWNTOWN 107-4501 North Rd. B 1168 Robson St.