In recent years, Stokes Seeds, a Canadian family-owned company started in 1881, has published two catalogues 鈥� their traditional densely packed Grower version used by commercial growers across the country as well as by home gardeners, and a new Home Gardener guide featuring a selection of the company鈥檚 most popular varieties.
It鈥檚 a more spacious, easy-reading catalogue that also holds an alluring array of gardening aids that includes kits and packaged projects for children.
I suspect that many busy home gardeners will prefer the new, simplified and more visually appealing version. It聽is a delight to thumb through.
This year鈥檚 edition begins with 鈥淗ot New Products for 2019.鈥� These include Butterbaby, a miniature butternut squash, and Sunbuzz, a compact sunflower recommended for growing in pots. Several pages of seed starting and transplanting tips follow.
Among other new vegetables and flowers highlighted in the Home Gardener catalogue are Snackabelle, a miniature red bell pepper, and a mixture of award-winning colours in the wonderful Profusion zinnias. These bushy, 30-cm zinnias bloom early and long, creating a lush, easy-care carpet of flowers through the summer.
Conspicuously marked are 鈥淐ustomer Favourite鈥� varieties such as Big Beef tomato and Benary鈥檚 Giant zinnia. The Home Gardener catalogue is full of tips, such as space-saving ways to grow cucumbers, and interesting recipes. I鈥檝e particularly noted the Spanish Quinoa Stuffed Peppers and the Cauliflower Pizza Crust.
The Home Gardener catalogue from Stokes Seeds is fun to leaf through, and it鈥檚 full of useful ideas.
Still, I order mainly from the original Grower version because I鈥檓 always on the lookout for varieties out of the mainstream.
I also prefer, most of the time, to select individual, favourite colours, for example in pansies, violas and snapdragons, rather than the colour blends in the Home Gardener version.
Stokes has long been the best source I鈥檝e found for snapdragons in a broad range of plant heights. For years, I grew their dwarf snapdragons in bowl-shaped containers.
This year, they鈥檝e introduced Snaptini, a 20-cm-tall variety offered in the Grower catalogue in nine colours (including a stunning Burgundy Bicolour) and a colour mix. The Home Gardener catalogue lists just the mix.
The Twinny snapdragons are a little taller at 30 cm. The plants bear thick masses of semi-double azalea-type flowers.
The Home Gardener catalogue has a colour blend. The Grower edition lists a colour mix and seven individual colours. I chose to grow Twinny Peach, an award-winning variety that did not disappoint.
The Grower catalogue is a superb source for a dazzling selection of pansies and violas 鈥� so easy to grow, so long in bloom.
Hundreds of individual varieties and colour blends are packed into two pages. I鈥檓 quite taken by the new Pink Wing, a classic in pure white and dark pink, in the Sorbet XP series of violas.
The Home Gardener catalogue has seven popular colour mixtures, the ruffled Frizzle Sizzle pansies and the Penny violas among them.
You can order a Stokes Seeds catalogue by phoning 1-800-396-9238 or by going online.
On the 鈥淥rder Catalogue鈥� page, below your mailing information you鈥檒l be able to select the catalogue you want: Grower or Home Gardener.
Garden Events
Comox meeting. The Comox Valley Horticultural Society will meet on Monday, Jan. 21, at 7:15 p.m. in the Florence Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton Ave. in Courtenay. Laurene Ebbett will present a slide show on the Chelsea Garden Show and on public and private gardens of England, Wales, and Ireland. Membership cost is $20 per person, $30 for a family of two. Guest admission to meetings is $5.
View Royal meeting. The View Royal Garden Club will meet on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Wheeley Hall, 500 Admirals Rd. in Esquimalt. Chris Hildreth of TOPSOIL will present 鈥淕rowing Food Anywhere.鈥� Any unused space can be turned into a thriving micro-garden. The evening will also feature a judged mini show of exhibits from members鈥� gardens and a sales table. Non-member drop in fee $5.
Plant identification and cultivation. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, will host the next session of Plant identification & Culture, an ongoing, monthly course (can be joined at any time), on Saturday, Jan. 26, from 1 to 4 p.m. In each session, Diane Pierce introduces 25 new plants, with descriptions, preferred growing conditions, landscape uses and maintenance. Cost to HCP members per session is $35, others $45. Cost for 12 sessions: members $350, others $450. To register call 250-479-6162. hcp.ca
