My Favorite Mail Order Plant Catalogue

Yesterday I mentioned that I prefer to buy plants locally whenever possible. I have had mixed success with mail order plants. The big potted plants you can buy at local nurserys cannot be shipped in the mail, the cost of shipping would be astronomical. So the plants that come by mail are bare root or small.
Even with small plants shipping is expensive. It is hard to part with a $10 or $15 shipping fee for a $10 plant. But nurseries can't ship for less, plant material and dirt are heavy. I tried selling plants on Ebay one spring and found I was losing money with most sales because I underestimated shipping costs.
But I do order from one mail order catalogue regularly, Gilbert H. Wild and Son. They send me sale catalogues several times a year and the prices during these sales are unbeatable. For example, Stella de Oro daylily is always $1.oo, Happy Returns $2.00. And the plants are always strong and good sized. I have bought most of my daylilies from their sale catalogues and they have all been excellent plants.
I also buy my peony roots from their sale catalogue, very reasonable prices and their roots are larger than several other catalogues I have tried that sell roots for two or three times the price. I like to buy three roots of a peony variety and plant them together to get a big plant quickly so a good price is very important. I don't have the patience to wait for a little $30 root to grow into a decent sized plant in five years.
I think I will try their iris this year, World Premier with dark purple falls and white frilly tops is calling out to me.

Find of the Day:

Joy in Mid-Air, what a perfect name for these lovely, ethereal earrings. These fiber, wire creations are quite large (4 1/2 inches) but almost weightless . Dancing blooms to brighten up a winter day. They are available in a variety of colors from Hypho on Etsy.

Edible Flowers

I found an interesting article today on
Whats Cooking America about edible flowers. Of course it made me think of summer and wish for spicy nasturtium petals to sprinkle on my rather dull winter salads. Nasturtiums are so pretty and full of sunlight. Daylilies are also edible and I think they are fried in batter in Japan for a special delicacy. I know the coneflowers in this bouquet have medicinal value (echinacea) but I am not sure they should be eaten. They are not included on the Whats Cooking America list.
Even a dandelion would be welcome in January. Dandelion and their greens are also edible and I have even seen seeds for large dandelions being offered in seed catalogues. I don't need any special seeds, the ones that sneak into my garden grow into monsters in the rich garden soil.
I am actually fond of these bright yellow weeds. We are not lawn people and my husband only mows the lawn when there aren't any wildflowers blooming in the grass. Since this is not a favorite task it works out well for him especially in the spring when the lawn is full of violets and ajuga.

Find of the Day:

It may be hard to find nasturiums in January but you can still eat a flower today. I love cupcakes and this orange chiffon cupcake looks like a peony but surely tastes much better. And you don't even have to bake it (I at least could never make this pretty a cupcake) you can order it on Etsy from Suite106Cupcakery.