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Catalog Shopping for Northern Gardeners

© Mary Henry

This week, I am going to do the first cut on my catalog wish lists. Over the years I have learned to let my imagination have free rein on the first go round and then go back and edit the lists. Sometimes, especially if I have procrastinated until I need the items right now, I get by with one ruthless pruning. However, I prefer to do it in at least two sessions - the first to get real (Do you really think you have enough sun for that? Is that marginally hardy plant really worth that much effort?) and the second to get practical (What are you going to get rid of to make room for that? The total cost is WHAT!!!?) But these considerations aside, there are factors I consider when I shop from catalogs that aren't visible to your naked eye, but are more important to the outcome for northern gardeners than the two mentioned above.

The first thing to consider if you are buying plants that will live in your outdoor landscape is hardiness. If the plant (annuals aside) isn't at least root hardy in your climatic zone, it will be a struggle to insure its survival in your landscape. If it is root hardy, will it give you what you planted it for? Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) trees and peaches (Prunus persicaria) are root hardy in zone 4 (bad winters will cause above ground damage, but the roots will survive), but they will not flower here because their buds are not hardy. Why have either if you will not get the flowers or fruit? So, be sure the catalog gives the USDA hardiness zones for the plants listed.

Some special things are marginally hardy in our landscapes, but worth the trouble to many gardeners. Redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) and blue hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla cultivars) are cases in point. If you have a suitably protected area and want to try something not fully hardy, be sure to be aware of the provenance of the stock you will buy. Provenance means where the plant was grown, not where it is native. Producers who grow these plants in places near their limit of hardiness use the hardiest strains and, the fact that they have been grown there, means they have been hardened as much as possible. If the catalog doesn't make clear that the stock is northern grown, call or email them and ask. If they give you the brush, choose from another catalog.