I was only a bit startled to hear a bit of a crash in the living room the other day, followed by a plaintive “meow”. Our five-month old kitten Winston has been a little bit crazy lately, and loves to explore just about everything. I was amused, though, to see what he had managed to knock over this time… it was the large stack of seed catalogs stacked next to my computer. I found him on the floor, pawing through them, as if to say, “Are you gonna order any seeds already?”

I realized he was probably right – the catalogs have been sitting there for weeks, waiting for me to page through them as I watch TV in the evenings, dreaming and choosing and deciding and then starting all over again. So, I sat down with a purring cat on my lap, opened the Park Seed catalog (one of my favorites) and picked a few for 2012. I try to limit myself to seeds I know I’ll most likely have good luck starting (I never seem to do well with seeds requiring things like “cold moist stratification” or “scarification”), so I tend to stick to new varieties of plants I’ve had success with before: zinnias, gaillardias, salvias. Here are my choices for 2012 (all photos from ParkSeed.com):

What about you – have you chosen any seeds from this year’s new offerings? Tell us about it in the comments below! (And if you need some seed starting tips, check out this video at BirdsandBlooms.com.)

Tagged as: Flower Gardening