You shouldn't believe that the plants in your garden will ever be as perfect as the ones in the catalogues, but that's no reason not to choose some beauties, writes Jane Powers
I've been having a grand time reading fantasy literature over the past few days. I'm talking about seed catalogues, of course. While other winter-wearied people are envisioning the sun-kissed sands and cerulean swimming pools of the travel brochures, we gardeners are being tantalised by the plump vegetables, fragrant sweet peas and exotic treasures that smile at us from the pages of the seed merchants' manifestos.
Looking into the future through the rose-tinted crystal ball of the seed literature, I see my patch filled only with healthy plants, sown and grown in perfect conditions, given just the right amount of care by me, and caressed by gentle raindrops and kind sunshine in the requisite proportions. Reality, and its spoilsport tendency to scupper my dreams, is still in hibernation.
For me, the glory days of summer are heralded by the first tomato. Last year it was 'Sakura' (available from Mr Fothergill's, the Organic Centre and Thompson & Morgan), a large cherry variety with such good flavour that it was difficult to bring an intact dish of them from greenhouse to kitchen. Luckily it is a mighty cropper, with generous trusses of fruit; and as it is also resistant to a host of diseases, it is suitable for organic growers.
If tomatoes are your thing, then let me recommend Simpson's Seeds. It doesn't sell 'Sakura', but it does have 85 other varieties on its list. Chilli heads, moreover, will be pleased to find 65 varieties of fiery capsicums among the numerous other vegetables.
"Heirloom" vegetables - that is, old-fashioned varieties - have won a place in our gardens in recent years. Many, to be honest, have been rightly superseded by modern cultivars, which often have more disease resistance and higher yields. But others, such as the rumple-bellied 'Marmande' and the thin-skinned 'Yellow Pear' tomatoes, can hold their own against today's kinds. Gardeners with an affection for historic plants will be interested in the catalogue from Lissadell House, in Sligo. Besides a selection of venerable vegetables, there is seed of alpine and herbaceous plant varieties that were once grown on the estate. And for those who like to grow baffling plants, there are esoterics such as rampion, skirret, scorzonera and liquorice (all roots), as well as caper bush and okra.
I'm more of a leafy person myself, keeping an eye out for greens that can be used in salads when young (often within a few weeks of sowing) and cooked when more mature. Such dual-purpose plants suit our too-small vegetable patch. This year I'll be trying, among other things, a new spinach, 'Bordeaux', with red-ribbed, dark-green leaves (Suttons, Thompson & Morgan), and 'Blood Veined' sorrel, new from Thompson & Morgan. The latter will add a tangy note to salads (used sparingly) and will be excellent in omelettes and soups.
Land cress (Barbarea vulgaris) is a welcome winter salad crop, enlivening shop-bought leaves with a bracing pepperiness. Thompson & Morgan has introduced a variegated kind this year, which I suspect will look better on the plate than in the garden - but I'm not a fan of splishy-splashy leaves outdoors.
We've never had clubroot, the dastardly disease that attacks members of the brassica family, and I hope we never will (don't accept brassica plants unless you are certain that they have been grown in disease-free soil). But less fortunate growers will welcome Suttons' new clubroot- resistant autumn cabbage, 'Kilaxy'. It "will produce a fine crop on infected ground", says the blurb.
If you fancy yellow courgettes (and they are such jolly-looking additions to the dinner plate), then you might try 'Soleil' (Mr Fothergill's, Organic Centre), which promises large yields on compact but vigorous plants, as well as a tolerance of powdery mildew, the scourge of the curcurbit family.
With seed catalogues, it's often my stomach that has first choice - as has happened here. So it's time for a quick look at the ornamentals. Mr Fothergill's cover flower is Echinacea pallida (also from Thompson & Morgan, Chiltern), a coneflower with languid, pink droopy petals, that will bring a touch of the prairies to your borders. Its relative E paradoxa (Chiltern, Thompson & Morgan), from Texas and Arkansas, is a confusing flower; instead of the expected pink or mauve, its petals are yellow, like those of a rudbeckia - a puzzler for your know-it-all friends.
Arisaemas, with their spooky, cowl-like floral structures, are not for everyone, but their saturnine looks are irresistible to collectors. Chiltern Seeds has added four new varieties to its list, making a total of 10 kinds. Patience is required, however, in their culture, as the plants take three or more years to progress from seed to flower.
More instant results can be had from first-year-flowering perennials. Two lovelies offered by Mr Fothergill's are pink-spiked sage, Salvia pratensis 'Rose Rhapsody', and the metre-high purple- flowered mullein, Verbascum phoeniceum 'Violetta'. (The first of these was introduced last year by Jelitto Perennial Seeds, a company favoured by professional nurseries and worth checking out if you are a really keen gardener.)
The best trailing patio plant to come along in years is Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls', also known in its native America as silver pony foot and aluminum vine. Seeds are available this year from both Mr Fothergill's and Thompson & Morgan.
It is sometimes described as a half-hardy annual, but it is possible to keep it going over winter in a greenhouse, or other sheltered place, and to take cuttings (ridiculously easy to root) in spring.
Finally, it's the eating department here that demands the last word: Brown Envelope Seeds sells organic seeds for kitchen gardeners. Madeline McKeever, its owner, grows and harvests seed at her home, near Skibbereen, in Co Cork, so it's sure to suit our climate: a good starting point for making that Irish fantasy garden come true.
WHERE TO GET YOUR SUPPLIES
Brown Envelope Seeds Ardagh, Church Cross, Skibbereen, Co Cork, 028-38184, www.brownenvelopeseeds.com
Chiltern Seeds Bortree Stile, Ulverston, LA12 7PB, England, 00-44-1229-581137, www.chilternseeds.co.uk
Mr Fothergill's Widely available. Inquiries to Goulding Garden Care, Portgloriam, Kilcock, Co Kildare, 01-6284025, www.fothergills.co.uk
Jelitto c/o Meadows (Fenton) Ltd, PO Box 78, St Ives, Huntingdon, PE27 6ZA, England, 00-44-1480-463570, www.jelitto.com
Lissadell Heritage Seed List, Lissadell, Ballinfull, Co Sligo, 071-9163150, www.lissadellhouse.com
The Organic Centre Rossinver, Co Leitrim, 071-9854338, www.theorganiccentre.ie
Plant World St Marychurch Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 4SE, England, 00-44-1803-872939, www.plantworld-devon.co.uk
Simpson's Seeds The Walled Garden Nursery, Horningsham, Warminster, BA12 7NQ, England, 00-44-1985-845004, www.simpsonsseeds.co.uk
Suttons Seeds Woodview Road, Paignton, TQ4 7NG, 00-44-870-2200606, www.suttons-seeds.co.uk
Thompson & Morgan Catalogue available from Mr Middleton, 58 Mary Street, Dublin 1, 01-8731118, www.mrmiddleton.coM
REVISED DIARY DATE
Bat Plants, Lolos and Ginger Lilies: an Adventure in Southern Yunnan, Seamus O'Brien's talk at the National Botanic Gardens, in Glasnevin, Dublin, will take place next Wednesday, February 1st, at 3pm (not on March 1st, as we previously reported)