MaryAnne Spinner, Chicago Master Gardener

When the Chicago winter reaches its icy, snowy zenith, the uninitiated always ask me what we house-bound gardeners do this time of year to get our jollies. The answer lies in a stack of reading material on my desk at this very moment: no less than 37 garden catalogs awaiting my attention.

As the self-coronated Queen of Catalogs, I have learned that there is a right way, a wrong way, and an I-know-better-but-what-the-heck way to order plant material and supplies by mail. Following are some tips from many years' mail-order and mail-disorder.

What should you buy–or not buy–by mail?

As a mail-order neophyte, I often got carried away and ordered every pretty little thing that I saw, only to find that much of what I had ordered was available a couple of months later at every garden center in town. Now I ask myself: Is this something I absolutely, positively know I never saw at the 10 or 12 nurseries I shopped last year? If it's a new introduction, has every garden magazine hyped it this winter? If so, then it will probably be available locally. On the other hand, if I know I'd be miserable without a certain plant (like gaura or cuphea) that probably could be purchased close to home, I may order a few just as insurance.

If you've been growing 'Better Boy' and 'Early Girl' for years, try one of the dozens of tomato varieties offered at Totally Tomatoes . Tired of the same old red tulips and 'Stargazer' lilies? The choice of bulbs by mail is breathtaking. Brent and Becky's Bulbs is paradise for bulb fanciers. And you'll get the latest in seed-starting equipment and cool gadgets from sources like Gardener's Supply Company , Charley's Greenhouse & Garden and Lee Valley Tools .

Catalog versus Internet.

It's very difficult to comparison shop electronically among dozens of nurseries and seed companies without opening multiple screens, and the quality of photographs online is often poor or misleading. What looks like a six-inch bloom in a thumbnail photo often turns out to be exactly the size of your thumbnail. Thus, I generally plan and dream with catalogs, but order online, where it's quicker and more efficient. No faxing, no handwriting long lists, no postage. Occasionally, though, there will be no choice. A couple of my favorite mail-order sources, like the coleus champion Glasshouse Works and the vegetable specialist The Natural Gardening Company offer no or incomplete paper catalogs, but the upside is that they do a good job with their websites.

Seeds versus plants.

Many annuals and vegetables are now available by mail both as seed and as transplants. If you have the space, the time, and the inclination, buying seeds is the way to go. For example, a 20-seed packet of tomato 'Sungold' from the very reliable Territorial Seed Company costs $3.35, while a single 'Sungold' transplant from the same source costs $2.45. Financially, seeds are a much better deal, even if all of them don't germinate, and the shipping charges will also be much lower. Many old-fashioned flowers and heirloom vegetables are available only as seed, but remember that perennials bought as seed may be slow to germinate, grow, and bloom.

On the other hand, if space–indoors for seed-starting, and outdoors for planting–is a consideration, then transplants may be for you. They will typically be shipped at the proper point in the season, ready to plant out after a short hardening-off period. The trade-off (besides cost) is that a number of mail-order sources require a minimum order of 6, 8, or even 12 plants of a single variety. So unless you have someone to share an order with, you'll be growing a lot of something.

Cottage Garden in downstate Piasa, Illinois has a wonderful selection of plants (their Salvia 'Hot Lips' was a stunner in my container garden last summer). A delightful source for old-fashioned annuals offered both as seed and transplants is Select Seeds . For heirloom seed varieties of fruits and vegetables, I recommend Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Seeds of Change , which also has a nice selection of sunflowers.

Size matters.

Pay attention to the small print. If ordering by seed, read the packet seed count listed under an item's description to avoid disappointments at seed-starting time. The count can range from 6 seeds/packet for agapanthus, to 250 seeds/packet for portulaca, depending on the cost, size, and relative rarity of a varietal. Some catalogs are more user-friendly in this respect than others, and will provide the exact seed count. Other catalogs require you to do the math by providing unintuitive names for their alternative sizes, like "sampler" and "packet". Still others irksomely quantify their offerings by the gram or quarter gram. On an obscure corner of a page, you will find a conversion table.

Why might one nursery's hosta 'Allegan fog' cost twice as much as another's? Sometimes it's the profit motive, but often it's the size and age of the plant itself. When ordering transplants, pay very careful attention to the size of their containers. The most common sizes are 3", 4", and one-gallon, usually with correspondingly sized seedlings. (The exception to this is when a company shamelessly "ships dirt". This also happens in garden centers, where a plant is sold in a large pot but its root system is still minimal. You think you're paying for more plant material, but you're actually paying a high price for more soil.) The difference between ultimate plant height and spread in one growing season can be enormous, especially with perennials. And many small perennials will not bloom in their first year. If you have a choice between 2.5" and 4.5"pots–as from one of my favorite sources of unusual tropical flowers, Logee's –go for the bigger size. If you've ever ordered a Meyer lemon tree and it arrived in a 2.5" container, then you know what I mean.

When it comes to vegetables, few companies describe the actual size of the seedling you can expect. In my experience, however, they all tend to ship transplants that are of an acceptable size and that are ready to go into the ground. And while annuals generally are shipped in tiny cell pots, they catch up quickly.

Do your research.

Some catalogs provide more cultural information than others, and afford a greater comfort level. For example, White Flower Farm provides hardiness zones, sun requirements, expected height and spread, and bloom time for all the plants it sells. Johnny's Selected Seeds provides such detailed and thorough cultural information for all of its flowers, fruits, and vegetables, that I save and use its catalog as my garden bible each season.

Beware the catalog that provides splashy photographs yet little information, especially as to crucial elements like hardiness or sun requirements, or that makes claims that seem overblown or flakey. Watch out for descriptions like "robust grower" (aka "invasive), or "loves bog-like conditions" (you will be watering every day), or "100% deer-proof" (oh yeah?). When in doubt, go to the Internet and google the plant using its exact cultivar, and see what others say about it. If you still question the suitability of a marginally hardy kalmia for your front yard, call the company's customer service desk and verify its guarantee policy.

Compare shipping charges.

Shipping charges can pile up fast. Catalogs quantify their shipping charges in writing, usually on the order form. Find and read these charts carefully and make note of the minimum and maximum fees–as a reminder, I summarize shipping policies in marker on each catalog's cover. Comparison shopping is vitally important to your pocketbook, especially since much of what you can buy is carried by multiple sources, which may or may not view shipping charges as a profit center.

Most companies levy shipping fees on a sliding scale, determined by the dollar value of the merchandise total. Up to $20, you'll pay $6.95, from $20.01 to $50.00, you'll pay $8.95, and so on. However, this formula may convert to a percentage once you get to a certain level, which is often when your order starts to get into serious money. At that point, shipping fees may soar to 13% to 15% of your dollar total. Other companies–my favorites in this respect–cap shipping charges at a maximum dollar amount, no matter how much you buy. For example, Burpee caps shipping charges at $9.95, and Harris Seeds sets a bargain-basement $7.50 limit per order.

Be aware that some companies also levy separate shipping charges for transplants, seeds, and gardening equipment. In these three-tier systems, seeds are shipped on a per-dollar basis, while plants are shipped according to a per-item charge, and gardening equipment is shipped according to dollar amount or weight. In particular, shipping charges for transplants can add $50 or more to your order. This is another reason not to buy something that you can find close to home. Again, comparison shopping between companies will help you minimize the bite.

Also, the method of shipping translates immediately to your bottom line. Regular postal service or ground shipments may add only a few of dollars to your total, while overnight or second-day air can add as much as 65% to your order! Some companies have strict policies requiring air shipment of transplants because of weather concerns; while this will guarantee that your plants arrive safely, you will pay dearly for that peace of mind.

Specifying realistic shipping dates.

Once you have decided on your source and shipping method, the next most important issue is the shipping date. Remember that seed companies and nurseries are in business to make a profit. They would prefer to ship your order immediately if they can, thus reducing inventory holding costs and improving cash flow. This will not be a problem for you if you've ordered seeds or capillary matting, and in fact you may want to receive these items as early as possible if you are going to start your seeds indoors. (For more information on seed-starting indoors, see an upcoming issue.) But if you live in Chicago and have ordered potted caladiums or tomato transplants in February, you will not want immediate delivery. One January I ordered patio roses from a nationally renowned rose specialist, and the nursery had them delivered to Chicago, bare root, the first week of March in the middle of a blizzard. Needless to say, the poor little things ended up in the compost bin.

On the other hand, some companies ship only when appropriate. Glasshouse Works, which has an awe-inspiring stock of coleus and other tropicals, checks the weather where its customers live, and will not ship out those notoriously cold-sensitive plants until it has warmed up.

Reputable companies will give you a choice of shipping dates for plants, whether on their order form or on their website. While they often can't guarantee an exact shipping date–much depends on their own growing schedule and the weather in their home locations–they will honor your requested dates as best they can. Be conservative in your choices. For Chicago I aim for delivery the first or second weeks of May. Don't forget to factor in any upcoming vacations when no one will be around to receive and plant out your seedlings. Also, know that nurseries typically ship on Mondays or Tuesdays so that your shipments will arrive just before the weekend. If you can't locate a statement about shipping dates and are not asked to provide one, call customer service or don't order.

Pick appropriate shipping locations.

The next consideration is selecting the appropriate shipping location. If your employment or volunteer work takes you out of your house Monday through Friday, or even if you just go out to the health club for a couple of hours each day, then by no means should you specify your home address for living things. Use your office address, the home address of a reliable and willing neighbor, or a fee-based mailbox facility like the UPS Store.

I have found from unhappy experience that the U.S. Postal Service has no qualms about leaving packages in front of my door if no one is at home to accept them. If, like me, you tend to use your back door to the garage more often than not, those packages will languish on your front steps until the little seedlings have perished from lack of air and water, or have been pilfered by passersby. While the major delivery services like FedEx, UPS, and DHL don't abandon your plants on the stoop; they will take them back to their facilities to await further instruction. If that happens to be on a Friday and you don't notice the little sticky note they placed on your door, by Monday your plants will be history.

Unfortunately, sometimes the seed company or nursery errs and sends an order to your billing address (i.e., home) rather than your shipping address, and the package "disappears". July rolls around, and you realize, too late, that the pelleted lettuce seed never arrived. I suggest that you create a spreadsheet listing everything you have ordered (last year mine was four pages long...). Record the item name, company name, ship-to location, and requested shipping date. As each package comes in, check it off. If the tomato 'Black Plum' transplants haven't arrived by the time you had expected them, call the company and politely ask them to check and see if they used the correct shipping address.

Then when you write up your annual notes on what worked and what didn't in the garden (hope I don't sound too compulsive!), this is a good place to record the name of any companies that made fatal shipping errors this season. The following year, enter the requested shipping address on their order forms in all caps, with a reminder to ship to the CORRECT address this time!! If that doesn't help, then the next year their catalog should go into the compost bin, along with the frozen roses.

Rely on guarantees.

So you've done everything you can, but still something goes wrong and your xanthosoma arrives lifeless. The good news is, mail-order sources almost always guarantee their product, for the duration of the shipping process as well as for some specific period thereafter. This might be as short as one week, or as long as 30 days, so once again it is advisable to comparison shop.

As long you can demonstrate that the xanthosoma died en route, or that the problem was not due to your subsequent negligence, the good companies will honor their guarantees. In the case of my patio roses, the nursery replaced the frosty specimens at their own expense, no questions asked. The key is to contact the company immediately, and clearly describe the problem. Customer service should offer you either a replacement, if one still exists in their inventory, or a refund. Anything else is a pain in the dibbler. One mail order source (which had also shipped my order to the wrong address once), could not replace some moldy caladium last year. Instead, they issued me a credit–but not a refund to my credit card, as most companies would. The credit was good against a future purchase and came in the form of a little postcard, which then got lost over the ensuing months. I'll probably not order from them again.

Then there was my first ever pepper crop failure. Last year I purchased two seed packets of an old favorite, the lovely 'Corno di Toro yellow'. This was part of a first-time order from a large seed company. After three trials using both packets and my best practices, I was unable to get a single seed to germinate. The company promised me a refund, but first they wanted exact details of my procedures, so that they could replicate my trials and see if they could solve the problem. I appreciated their diligence and would have cooperated, but they sent me a list of 25 questions to answer (from soil temperature to fluorescent bulb wattage), for each trial and each seed packet. Since I determined that life was too short to create and send them a spreadsheet with 150 detailed answers–all for $1.20 worth of seed–I politely declined. When they realized I was not going to jump through that hoop, they gave me a refund anyway.

So remember: the squeaky wheelbarrow gets the grease. If something goes wrong, tell the company, and they should make you whole. If they don't, then vote with your feet. There are still another 36 catalogs out there to choose from.

Do you have a gardening question? Email the Extension's Electronic Plant Clinic at rwolford@uiuc.edu, and our Master Gardeners will be glad to assist you.