Catalogs & suppliers
Finding and reading garden catalogs, choosing a trustworthy nursery, guarantees, and the rules on shipping plants and seeds.
- Buying plants and seeds across borders and state lines: USDA and state rules explained
What US gardeners need to know before ordering plants or seeds from another country or another state: when you count as an importer, PPQ 587 permits and phytosanitary certificates, small seed lots, unsolicited seed packages, federal domestic quarantines such as citrus, and state nursery rules.
- Buying plants by mail: shopper tips
Practical tips for buying seeds, bulbs and live plants by mail or online in the US: planning, comparing sizes and prices, reading guarantees, why the FTC's 30-day shipping rule does not cover plants, paying safely, choosing ship dates, and what to do if an order goes wrong.
- Choosing a mail-order nursery or seed company: guarantees, reviews and regulations
How to judge a mail-order nursery or seed supplier before you buy: transparency, plant naming, growing location, guarantees, shipping practices, state nursery inspection and certificates, invasive species, reviews and warning signs.
- Glossary of nursery and seed catalog terms
Plain-English definitions of the terms used in US seed, bulb and nursery catalogs: annual, bare-root, bolting, cultivar, days to maturity, F1 hybrid, hardiness zone, heirloom, open-pollinated, plug, rootstock, treated seed and many more.
- How to choose and request free garden catalogs
A practical guide to garden catalogs for US gardeners: the kinds of seed, bulb, nursery and supply catalogs, how to request print and digital catalogs, what a trustworthy catalog tells you, red flags, and how to keep your mailbox under control.
